Image Printers Cup Semi Final - Vale of Leithen 1 Whitehill Welfare 2

Whitehill progress to Image Printers Cup final

(report and photos by kind permission of Alan Ramsay)

Whitehill travelled to the borders looking for a quick double over the Vale in successive matches with a place in the Image Printers Cup Final awaiting the winners.

Manager Rab Paget was forced into one change from the team who beat the Vale the previous Saturday, Scott McCulloch being replaced by Kevin Moffat.

The home side were first to threaten and only a superb tackle from Hall denied a goal scoring attempt. Vale were the more dangerous team in the early stages and Walker in the Whitehill goal was happy to see a long range effort hit just over his bar. Whitehill were forced into an unplanned change when Herd was replaced by Young.

Slightly against the run of play, from a move involving Moffat and Herd, the full back fired a cross into the box that was met perfectly by Aaron Somerville, his header coming off the far post only to be knocked back into his own net by the unfortunate Vale keeper Mark Wilson for a 1-0 Whitehill lead.
Sproule was next to test the home defence, his run and low shot just scraping the post and going to safety. Walker was the Whitehill hero with two great saves within 5 minutes. The first a point blank stop from a shot form 12 yards, the second, a superb block when it looked like Moffat had equalised for the home side, however the Whitehill keeper got down brilliantly to smother the shot.
Whitehill replace Moffat with Andrew Kidd at half time and he barely had time to touch the ball before the Vale were level. A miss placed pass at the halfway line allowed Radzinski to run through on the Whitehill goal and he slotted the ball past Walker for 1-1.
Whitehill responded immediately, and Dayne Robertson came close with a long range effort that just scraped the bar. However within a minute Somerville ran on to a through ball from Robertson, skipped past two defenders, rounded the keeper and fired past the covering defender to restore Whitehill's lead.
On the hour, ex Vale player and local boy Somerville nearly completed his hat-trick, his shot well saved by the keeper. Manson then thought he had doubled the lead, his shot from a Sproule cutback, but his shot from the penalty spot was superbly saved by the Vale keeper.
With 10 minutes to go Swanson replaced Robertson . He was soon involved, just being inches away from getting on the end of a driven cross by Hall.
In the closing minutes the Vale pushed for an equaliser, Moffat coming closest with a header Walker was happy to tip over. Whitehill played out the final few minutes with no more scares to progress to the Image Printers Cup Final where they will meet Edinburgh City at Ainslie Park on Sunday 4th December.

Whitehill team: Walker; Herd (Young 18), Hall, W.Kidd, Thom; Sproule, D.Robertson, (Swanson (68), Somerville, Manson; McIntosh, Moffat (A Kidd 45).