NORTH Merchiston under-21s looked to be on their way to lifting the City Financial Edinburgh Eastern Region Cup at Hallhill in Dunbar holding a comfortable 2-0 lead in the final against Bonnyrigg Rose Athletic ‘A’ – then the ‘sleeping Midlothian giants’ woke up and sparked off a wonderful fightback that led them to a magnificent 3-2 win in extra time.

Bonnyrigg, who had done everything possible to help Merchiston establish a 2-0 led with shocking defending, misplaced passes and giving the ball away cheaply and needlessly up to the fateful 57^th minute of the game, when Graeme Cole produced a great header following a corner on the right to reduce the deficit to 2-1. In the build-up to the opening goal for Bonnyrigg Rose Athletic ‘A’, Michael Lambe took advantage of a mix-up in the heart of the opposition defence to score the opening goal for North Merchiston in the 12^th minute.

After that balls-up by the Bonnyrigg defenders, they went on to frighten the life out of their wonderful stalwart on the touchlines, Ian Richardson, losing possession without being challenged time after time! It was almost criminal they gave the ball away and when North Merchiston went 2-0 up, deservedly so, in the 35^th minute with Chris McLeod setting up team-mate, Chris Weir, with a lovely weighted pass for him to finish off brilliantly, they were good value for what should have been a match-winning lead.

But they, and the good crowd at the lovely New Countess Park stadium in Dunbar, were to find out once again that football is never that simple! While their opponents from Midlothian continued to lose the ball due to unforced errors, the score was still 2-0 at the break for Merchiston. By that time, Ian Richardson, had almost ‘lost the plot’ in his despair at seeing his beloved club side go 2-0 down in a cup final they were expected to win.

At the start of the second half, their was a much more obvious urgency about the play and attitude of the Bonnyrigg outfit, however, with David Anderson setting the example for others to follow with his non-stop running and challenging for the ball. Cole’s headed goal in the 57^th minute was a further boost to the Rose players and they responded magnificently, scoring the equaliser in the 75^th minute when Joe Dunbar lobbed the ball over Merchiston keeper, Scott Walker, after a superb pass from Anderson. That goal was greeted with delirium on the pitch by the players, while Ian Richardson was jumping(?) about wildly in delight/relief on the sidelines, too!

The well-organised and good North Merchiston players got their act together and had a real go at getting back in to the lead in the remaining minutes left to play in what was now a ‘real’ cup final between two good teams but it was still 2-2 at the final whistle.

In extra time, Ian Richardson took himself away up in to a corner of the stadium at Hallhill, sitting on a table and trying to calm himself down. That was no easy task for the Bonnyrigg stalwart, however, with several scary moments for Rose keeper, Michael Atai, and his defensive colleagues in the first period of extra time. Games such as this often produce goals ‘in a million’ to decide the destination of cups and it duly came for Bonnyrigg Rose and Ian Richardson with only 5mins left to play! Cole, again, was involved in the move, playing a superb little cut-back to Damian Gielty on the left of the 18yd box and the Bonnyrigg midfielder produced the most perfectly hit ball to send it crashing in to the far side of the net at blistering pace to put Bonnyrigg 3-2 ahead!

All hell broke out on the pitch as the Bonnyrigg contingent swamped Gielty and Cole in celebration and Ian Richardson leapt(?) off the table to stand with his feet apart, grimacing aggressively with both arms up the air and shouting: “I’m happy now!” The actions of this lovely man actions brought smiles to the faces of all those near him, but the North Merchiston contingent looked totally gutted at the change of fortunes. They had, indeed, ‘snatched defeat from the jaws of victory’ and it was not a very pleasant feeling by the looks on the faces of their subdued players at the presentation of individual awards and the cup by City Financial Edinburgh’s Andrew Ramage and Gary Henderson.

The Player of the Match Award, sponsored by Edinburgh City Youth FA, was presented to Bonnyrigg star, David Anderson for the inspirational example he set throughout the game. The Bonnyrigg squad, coaches and, yes, Ian Richardson, too, had a prolonged stay at Halllhill as their bus broke down in the car-park, but this centre in East Lothian has a lovely lounge/bar/ refreshments lounge and it was a nice place for the cup winners to celebrate until they could leave for home. North Merchiston, meanwhile, must have returned to Edinburgh wondering: “How the hell did we lost that?"