LASSWADE High School travelled to Shotts Bon Accord FC to play Auchinleck Academy (Ayrshire) in the final of the U16s Scottish Shield, where a really good turnout of pupils, parents and staff from both schools turned out to support the teams,writes CHARLES OWEN.

Lasswade made a slightly nervous start to the game as they played into the wind in the first half, and did well to survive some heavy pressure from Auchinleck in the opening half-hour, but with Lasswade having begun to exert their dominance in the game the teams went into the dressing room 0-0 at half-time. The start of the second half saw Lasswade have much of the possession and it was Lasswade who created virtually all the chances to score, both Gary MacCormack and Kenny Cummings coming close to putting Lasswade in the lead. Despite controlling much of the game for the whole second half though, Lasswade were unable to find a goal and the game went to extra time still at 0-0.

Two further periods of end-to-end play in extra time by two very tired teams still failed to bring a goal – the number 5’s for both teams (Ricky Ramsay for Lasswade and Scott Kelly for Auchinleck) both producing outstanding performances. With no score after 100 minutes of football the final went to penalties, and unfortunately for Lasswade it was Auchinleck who were able to emerge victorious after the penalty shootout ended 5-4 to Auchinleck. Both teams deserve great credit for their part in such an entertaining and hard-fought final, which was played in good spirit and controlled extremely well by match referee Tom Hyland and his two assistants.

Lasswade - Scott Fraser, Scott Wallis, Alex Chapman, Douglas Hearn, Richard Ramsay, Mark Cherrie, Darren Gourlay, Jonathon Kelly, Nathan Moncrieff, Gary MacCormack, Kenneth Cummings, Keith Hoatson, Wayne Purves, Ben Short, Ryan Ramsay, Drew Taylor. Team coaches: Craig Dewar, Mark Baxter

Auchinleck - Michael Mullen, Shaun Palmer, Andrew Carter, Gary Paterson, Scott Kelly, Michael Watson, Martin Reynolds, Craig Duff, Stuart Dalziel, Alex Harkiss, Murray Johnstone, Kyle Rae, John Rutherford, Colin Sinclair, Ryan Gemmell, Colin McIlheron. Team Coaches: Graeme Kidd, John Kirkland

Match Referee - Tom Hyland