SAUGHTON Enclosure’s big pitch may be rough due to lack of any maintenance but the wide open spaces were fully used by a very good Edinburgh City under-14 squad as they cruised to a 5-0 win against a luckless Bonnyrigg Rose outfit in the final of the Paladin Cup.

The weather was pefect for the big crowd that turned up to see these young sides in action but officials of both clubs commented on the disappointing state of the playing surface at the Enclosure. Despite the poorly maintained pitch, Edinburgh City went on to dominate the game, playing an excellent passing game that Bonnyrigg Rose just could not cope with. But the result of this game could have been so different if the team from Midlothian had not missed two glaring chances in front of goal in the opening minutes.

Bonnyrigg were made to suffer for these two missed chances, too, with Edinburgh City opening the scoring from an OG in the 20^th minute. The neat and accurate passing style of City created another goal before the interval, with what looked like an misplaced attempt at the Bonnyrigg goal from Sam Finlayson turning in to a great cross for Sean Wringe to head a great second goal to put City 2-0 ahead at the halfway stage.

While the Edinburgh side grew in confidence in the second half, Bonnyrigg’s self-belief slumped and when Wringe, again, went on to make it 3-0 when he bundled the ball over the Bonnyrigg goal-line, Edinburgh City turned on the style and went on a goal spree to the delight of their big army of fans on the touchlines, including incredible 52-year-old granny, Carol Brooks. With two pom-poms flailing and her voice ringing out across the Enclosure, she shouted her support for the Edinburgh City players, although her dance routine left a lot to be desired!

The best goal of the game came in the 20^th minute of the second half, when a defence-splitting forward pass landed perfectly for Stuart Ogilvie, who controlled the ball brilliantly to beat a couple of Bonnyrigg defenders to make space for himself and fired a shot in to the right-hand side of the goal to take the score to 4-0.  The same player then brought down the curtain on an emphatic win for Edinburgh City with another great solo goal, set up this time by Brian McColgan with a lovely weighted pass on the edge of the 18yd box. In the second half, Ross Afirakis and Chris Wallace battled away bravely up front for Bonnyrigg without getting any reward for their efforts.

The Edinburgh City defence and goalkeeper, Andrew Turnbull, were in no mood to give anything away in this great display of positive football. It was left to the ebullient granny to brighten up the award ceremony with her very own brand of ‘entertainment’ as Evening News Sports Journalist, Colin Greenhill, handed over the medals and cup. When asked her age, Carol replied: “21 plus vat!” She was sober, too, but she certainly brightened up the closing ceremony! Carol  made everyone laugh and, for that, she too deserved a medal!

Edinburgh City – Andrew Turnbull, Jack Wilcox, Calvin Smith, Danial Smith, Tony Boyle, Sam Finlayson, Ruari Stevenson, Brian McColgan, Lee Walker, Stuart Ogilvie, Sean Wringe, Bryce Reynolds, Aiden Collum, Mark Kelly, David Thomson, Zane Nicholson, Andrew Laidlaw, Craig Chalmers.

Bonnyrigg Rose – Jamie Brown, Sean Ryan, Mark Coull, Allan Brown, Scott Wilson, Liam Barton, David Paterson, Ryan Cherry, Nairn Blackwell, Ross Hepplewhite, Keith Flynn, Dale McLean, Chris Cummings, Ross Afirakis, Chris Wallace, Connor Gillespie.