CUP FINAL SPECIAL
WEDNESDAY 23rd APRIL, 2008 U14 DAVID INNES CUP FINAL SAUGHTON ENCLOSURE, 6.30PM
LEITH ATHLETIC COLTS	0	2	SETON BC
			'9   Cranston '25 McClure

■Calum McClure slots away Seton's second goal

Goals from Calum McClure and Andrew Cranston gave Seton Boys Club the edge over Leith Athletic Colts tonight in a very tight but entertaining cup final at Saughton Enclosure.

The East Lothian side emerged 2-0 winners with both goals coming in the first half. Leith had plenty of possession and pressure but didn't create any really clear cut chances against a solid Seton team that were physically bigger in stature than their Edinburgh opponents.

And the boys from Seton might have added a third when Robbie McLeod hit the base of the post with 6 minutes remaining.

The afternoon rain had cleared leaving the supporters at Saughton bathed in warm evening sunshine, albeit pestered by the first signs of the dreaded midgie!

Sometimes when you go to a final you are left disappointed if the game hasn't been end to end, stacked with chances and a score of 5-4. This game didn't include any of these ingredients but was strangely absorbing all the same. As the game wore on you sensed that if Leith Athletic Colts could finally breach the magnificent Seton defensive wall then we would all be in for a grandstand finish.

Prompted by captain Thomas Lyall the Colts probed away at the big yellow and black shield. Forwards Andrew Keighren and Lewis Smith pestered and jostled. Tricked and jinked. But there was no way through. The Seton backline were organised, strong and skillful. David Lamond, Dean Riddell and Thomas Stevenson were in command. At times you thought wee Lewis Smith might duck in between their legs rather than try and go around them. The end result was as much about the defensive unit as it was the goalscorers.

Leith's best, perhaps only, real chance in the second half was when Michael Downie managed to wangle his way past his marker on the left wing. He squared across the edge of the box where the ball was helped onwards by Lewis Smith to Andrew Keighren but his shot flew past the right hand post.

Frustrated at his side's inability to trouble Seton goalkeeper Joshua McFarlane, Thomas Lyall resorted to a hat-trick of shots from outside the box. All went close but not close enough and McFarlane continued to have a comfortable evening.

And then as Leith pressured, and Seton soaked it up, the East Lothian side were cleverly starting to open the Edinburgh side up on the break. The ball was always played along the ground from the back via the midfield, but with speed and accuracy to ensure the increasingly over-committed Leith players were exposed.

The first indication of this fell in the 56th minute when the ball was quickly played into the centre of the pitch to Fraser Johnston. As he strode forward, space opened up. He considered his options and picked the best one, a direct shot at goal. It was struck well but a little too straight and Leith number one Ross Wood got his body well behind it.

Then, with 6 minutes remaining, Robbie McLeod found himself at the end of a sweeping attack down the left hand side. He knocked the ball past the advancing Wood, across the face of the goal but it hit the base of the right hand post and was cleared to safety.

Wood has earlier made a fine save from Calum McClure, tipping a vicious, dipping shot over the bar.

The goals that settled this game were simple but effective. Both were confidently taken. The first one came in the 9th minute when Seton played the ball from left to right and into Andrew Cranston. The Seton forward surged forward and shot accurately past Ross Wood and into the opposite corner of the goal.

The second came in 25 minutes. Big Calum McClure was fed the ball directly through the middle and he out-sprinted the chasing Leith defenders before despatching the ball into the bottom right hand corner of the net.

That was the only two times that the Leith centre backs, Andrew McCallum and Gavin Pinkerton were exposed. Both went onto have fine games at the centre of defence showing excellent footballing skills and, akin to their Seton counterparts, always looking to pass the ball out of defence.

A fine game of football between two good football teams knocking on the door of the top division for next year. Seton had that little bit extra in terms of size and physical maturity and on chances created they deserved their win and the trophy.