SALVESEN Boys Club beat Cramond Boys Club 4-0 in emphatic style in their Steve Maskrey under-16 cup semi-final at Forrester High School. The top rated side in this age group in the Eastern Region Youth FA were much better all round than the gallant outfit based in Davidson’s Mains in this important cup clash. An early goal from Chris Milligan set Salvesen up nicely to control the game and they added another goal in the 25^th minute of a free-flowing first half, with visiting keeper, Stuart Sugden, furious with his defenders for not clearing the ball after the goalie had made a great stop from a free-kick. With the Cramond defenders ball watching, it was Salvesen No 11, Paul Coleman, who took advantage to score a brilliant second goal and make it 2-0 at the halfway stage. Cramond defended well in the second half against a side boosted by their two-goal advantage, but the much better passing of the Salvesen players continued to create problems for the visiting side and their defence was breached again when Coleman scored a third goal for his side to make it 3-0 and when big Jordan Lauden hammered a shot from the byeline on the left in to the far corner of the net, Cramond’s cup run was well and truly over. Salvesen look a very good under-16 side and they are certain to feature in several cup finals in the weeks ahead as the season reaches its climax for youth club football.

An adjoining pitch at Forrester High School housed the under-16 Jackie Faichney Cup semi-final that was switched from Edinburgh Academy and it was Musselburgh Windsor that emerged triumphant in a 2-0 win against Hutchison Vale. This game was marked by a stupendous opening goal from Windsor striker, Darren Flynn, who fired an incredible shot from away out on the right touchline in to the opposite side of the Vale goal. The Newbattle High School pupil has not been scoring many goals lately, but he will remember this one for a long time to come. It was an absolute beauty. Windsor goalkeeper, Steve Greens, also distinguished himself in this game with two outstanding one-to-one saves from Vale’s gifted young striker, Leigh Griffiths, nicknamed ‘sparky’! Windsor went on to book their place in the final of this cup event when Dale Murray headed home a second goal to put them comfortably 2-0 ahead in the second half. But Vale will look back on the two incredible saves from the Musselburgh goalkeeper as the turning point in what was a superb game of football at this level while Flynn’s wonder goal was truly something special!