Murieston Utd Blue progressed into the third round of the Scottish Cup after a hard fought, but deserved, win over Edinburgh City Colts at sunny Sighthill this afternoon.

The A league side from the West Lothian Youth League were pushed all the way by their third division Edinburgh opponents but two second half goals proved decisive for the Livingston outfit.

In an evenly contested game, it was Murieston who made the most of their possession and on the balance of pressure and chances created they more than deserved their victory. The West Lothian outfit had to rely on an own goal to put their noses in front and they wrapped up the win in the 65th minute with Sean Joyce pouncing on hesitation in the Colts defence.

The opening exchanges were very evenly contested with City more than matching their higher league opponents. Alan Reid and David Hutchison linked up well on several occasions to cause a few problems in the Murieston rearguard. For the Blues, Chris Caldwell, gave early notice of his menace with several tricky and pacy runs down the right wing. But for all the nice build up play, chances were at a premium.

Murieston started to take a bit more of a control of the game and might have gone ahead in 14 minutes when indecision in the Edinburgh City defence allowed Caldwell to poke a shot off the upright from a close range scramble and the danger was cleared for a corner.

Murieston were causing City all sorts of problems down both flanks with Caldwell on one side and the rampaging left full back, Andy Lingham, on the other. But they were finding it difficult to create anything clear cut in a defence superbly led by Chris Marshall on the left of the back three.

Whilst Murieston were attacking by pushing the ball out wide, City preferred the more direct route and this nearly paid off in the 22nd minute when Chris Graham broke free in the right hand channel. But he chose to shoot with his right instead of his left and the shot was sent wide of the left hand post.

2 minutes before half time Murieston should have taken the lead. A high, speculative ball was missed by the Edinburgh City Colts defence and it fell to the feet of Kyle Storrie 10 yards out. He struck the ball perfectly but goalkeeper Adam Moore pulled off a fantastic save to his left to keep things level at half time.

Colts started the second half much more brightly with substitute Jordan Lock having an immediate influence on things. Bleached haired, Alan Reid, and David Hutchison were also doing well at this stage and Nicky O'Donnell went close shortly after the restart. Lock was causing problems on both wings and his fresh legs sent him on a couple of lung bursting runs. But again the end product wasn't there for City and Blues goalkeeper, Darren Forrest, continued to have a fairly relaxed afternoon.

Murieston were causing problems of their own with substitutes, Ryan McGraw and Greg Brown combining well on the left hand side. It was this pair that led to the opening goal for the Livingston side after 48 minutes. Brown was sent away on the left. He beat his man and cut the ball across the goal only for luckless City captain, big Ciaran McGuire, to turn the ball past the outstretched hands of Adam Moore and into the net.

7 minutes later and it could have been two. Brown again showed good skill on the left and this time his low cross was met by the outstretched boot of Sean Joyce but the ball went agonisingly wide of the right hand post.

In 65 minutes, Murieston wrapped up the game. A long throw-in on the edge of the box was allowed to penetrate deep into the City box by the hesitant defence and it broke to Sean Joyce. The Blues striker had time to steady himself before shooting low and hard into the back of the net from 12 yards. It was a poor goal to lose from a Colts' point of view but it was greeted with joy from the large West Lothian support on the touchline.

City were struggling to make any real impact up front now. The game was fiercely contested in midfield but the Murieston defence was holding out comfortably with anything City could throw at them. And as they pushed to get back into the game they were leaving gaps at the back. 3 minutes from time the game's best move almost resulted in a third for Murieston. The ball was played wide onto the right hand side to Chris Caldwell who controlled it brilliantly and swung in an early cross into the box. It was met first time by Ryan McGraw and his superbly struck volley from 16 yards smacked off the bar.

That was the last of the action in a match that was played in the best of spirits and run well by referee Alan Downie.

Colts can be very pleased with the way they pushed Murieston all the way with the game still in the balance right up until 15 minutes from time. Striker, David Hutchison, showed great feet throughout and the blond haired Alan Reid was always passing and probing away. Big Ciaran McGuire was always in the thick of the action and Chris Marshall had a fine game in defence. Jordan Lock did well after coming on and tried his best to pull City back into the game. And Adam Moore looks a great wee goalie with his save just before half time outstanding.

For Murieston, Andy Lingham was very impressive at left back. The big defender attacked down the left with Kyle Storrie always ready to provide cover for him. Ryan McGraw and Greg Brown had terrific second halves and Sam Ashbee had a fine game in midfield.

But The Pink Man of the Match award goes to Chris Caldwell. Always comfortable with the ball at his feet, Chris showed some great wing play and had a great contest on the right hand side with Chris Marshall.

Chris Caldwell