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Whitehill Welfare 2 Edinburgh City 3
Whitehill Welfare lost 3-2 to Edinburgh City in the The Image Printers Cup final at Ainslie Park on Sunday. In front of a crowd of 453 Steven Manson gave the Rosewell side the perfect start when he was played in on the left hand side of the box after a great move and he coolly finished across the keeper to make it 1-0. Whitehill were flying and they pushed again for a second goal however the Edinburgh City defence managed to hold out. With an extra man in Midfield City gained a foothold in the game and began to make life very difficult for Whitehill. Robbie Ross and Paul Devlin stretched the Welfare defence and forced Darren Walker into a couple of great saves. The pressure continued though as Whitehill continually lost possession under pressure and after a spill from Walker, Ross slammed home to give City a deserved equaliser. On the stroke of half time, after a scramble in the box Ross hooked in from close range for his second goal and to send City in 2-1 in front at the break.
Rab Paget made two changes at half time with Mikey Herd and Wayne Sproule both introduced. This didn’t have the desired effect though as a similar pattern of play resumed and it was the Citizens who looked much more likely to score again. Kevin Moffat was injured in a block tackle from a free kick and minutes later Welfare faced an even more uphill task as his replacement Mike Bruce was shown a straight red card for a studs up challenge. It seemed very harsh however Grade 1 referee Stephen Finnie had no such doubts. Shortly after Robbie Ross was on the score sheet again for his hat-trick and at 3-1 City then hit the post with Whitehill rocking at the back. With ten minutes left City were themselves reduced to ten men and this seemed to reinvigorate Welfare. After some good work in the box Sproule’s cross was handled and he slammed home the resultant penalty to pull it back to 3-2. After such a disappointing performance Whitehill sensed the chance to somehow salvage the game and in a frantic finish they could and possibly should have forced extra time. Wayne McIntosh dribbled through in the box and rounded the goalkeeper only to lose control at the vital moment, Sproule struck the foot of the post from close range before Darren Walker came up for a corner in the dying seconds only to see his bullet angled header tipped over the bar. A disappointing performance from Whitehill and a well deserved win for Edinburgh City who ended their 13 game losing streak in cup finals. Next up Whitehill face City again at Meadowbank this Saturday, kick off 1.30pm.
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