Jamie Devlin slots home his second and Edinburgh City 93's ninth at Sighthill

Roseburn Colts had a day to forget as Edinburgh City 93 ran riot in the second half to record a heavy defeat on their promotion counterparts from last year. Sighthill was bathed in winter sunshine as these two went head to head with a close game expected. But '93 put them to the sword as the Colts' heads went down in the latter part of the second half.

This impressive win enabled Edinburgh City 93 to leapfrog Roseburn in the first division table and into the top 2.

The game opened evenly without either side creating much in the way of a chance. Both sides seemed to be feeling their way into the match and then suddenly, in the space of 8 minutes, we had 4 goals. It was a period of the game that the Roseburn Colts defence will want to forget.

Edinburgh City's influential midfielder Callum Burns scored two in two minutes to put his side 2-0 ahead and leaving Roseburn chasing the game. His first came in 8 minutes. The ball was swung in high by his central midfield colleague, Gavin Sullivan. The ball was cleverly controlled by Steven Harley who set it up for Burns to smack the ball through goalkeeper, Glen Moir, and into the centre of the net from 20 yards.

His second came directly from a free kick on the wide right. The high looping ball was parried under pressure by the Roseburn goalkeeper but he didn't get enough on it and it fell into the empty net. It looked like a foul had been committed on the keeper but nothing was given and City found themselves two up.

Three minutes later and Roseburn pulled one back. This time it was Roseburn's turn to score what looked like a soft goal. A free kick on the right was knocked home by Colts' Jordan Finnie without much of a challenge from the '93 defence. It was another easy goal.

But almost immediately City restored their 2 goal advantage. The ball was played into the feet of Jamie Devlin who was allowed time to turn and shoot past the helpless Glen Moir into the bottom right hand corner.

At this stage of the game City were well worthy of their lead. They were dominating midfield with Gavin Sullivan and Callum Burns running the show. There was a threat on both flanks. Ryan Ma on the right hand side, in particular, was causing all sorts of problems with his trickery and pace. Roseburn were finding it difficult to get anything going and organisationally they looked out of sorts.

But they started to put some decent possession together and began to have some success of their own down the left hand side. On 29 minutes they got their reward when James Cuthbertson poked the ball home after what can only be described as a stramash in the Edinburgh City goalmouth.

Roseburn had clawed their way back into the game but once again concentration was their downfall and they conceded again within 2 minutes. Jamie Morrison played a terrific ball inside the Roseburn left back for Ryan Ma to run onto. He touched it forwarded with a great first touch and smashed the ball home from a difficult angle past keeper Moir. A fabulous finish from Ma after a wonderful ball from Morrison.

Just before half time Jamie Devlin almost made it five when he found himself with space inside the box but his shot shaved the base of the post when he probably should have scored.

Half Time 4-2

The Edinburgh City players were made to wait by Roseburn to take the field for the second half as an extended first half post mortem was conducted by the Colts' coaches. But it was to prove futile as City turned the screw in the second 40.

On 42 minutes Jamie Devlin should have scored when he was sent clear on goal but his finish lacked composure and he sent the ball high and wide. But the next goal was merely delayed 5 minutes.

A free kick on the right was played to the back post where the unmarked Lewis O'Connor simply headed the ball back across the goalkeeper and into the net.

Four minutes later and it was six. Callum Burns was played through after some clever midfield interplay and he made no mistake as he tucked the ball away for his hat-trick with the Roseburn defence non-existent.

Roseburn were crestfallen and Edinburgh City '93 showed no mercy as they tore their offside trap apart in the final 20 minutes.

Number seven came on 62 minutes. Craig Lamb had been caught offside on three occasions beforehand but this time he judged it right, knocked the ball past the onrushing Glen Moir and strode forward to guide the ball into the empty net with no-one within 20 yards of him.

Number eight was a carbon copy of seven. This time it was Callum Burns' turn to spring the high line being played by Roseburn and he strode forward from midfield to again knock the ball past the exposed Roseburn keeper. It capped a magnificent performance from the Edinburgh City midfielder.

With eight minutes remaining Jamie Devlin scored his own second and City's ninth. The ball was played out short to the Roseburn left back by keeper Moir. But the ball was lost under pressure and Devlin raced in on goal to sweep it past the keeper from 12 yards. Devlin then hit the post two minutes later after good set up play on the edge of the box.

Colts almost pulled one back in a rare foray up the other end but James Cuthbertson could only head over from close range after good work on the left by Fraser Neave.

The final say went to Edinburgh City '93 as they scored a tenth on 78 minutes. Craig Lamb got his second of the game as he steered the ball home after an initial shot by Jamie Pyper looped high over the goalkeeper's hands.

Full Time 10-2

A remarkable result in a game that everyone expected to be very close. For Roseburn I think it was just an off day. They struggled to make any real impact on the game and were outfought in midfield throughout. The tactic of playing a high line in the second half just didn't work and was a big contributor to the high scoreline. James Cuthbertson did well as did Fraser Neave on the left hand side. Jordan Finnie and David Honjigawa tried their best in midfield but fell out of the game as City took complete control.

For Edinburgh City 93 this was a really positive result. The team played well throughout from David Ritchie and Jamie Morrison at the back, through Callum Burns and Gavin Sullivan in the middle and up to Jamie Devlin and Steven Harley up front. They had pace on both wings and Ryan Ma put in a brilliant show on the right wing. And Craig Lamb had a great second half capped by two goals.

A difficult choice for Man of the Match but we will opt for Callum Burns for an outstanding midfield display capped by 4 goals.

The season holds great promise for '93 whilst I am sure Roseburn will be back to better days shortly.