HEARTS big pitch at Tynecastle was always going to be a difficult hurdle for Willie Bauld Cup finalists Hutchison Vale and Cavalry Park Park under-14s, but the downpour of rain in the first half made it even more difficult for both sets of players. Fortunately, on this occasion, spectators were sheltered from the rain in the relative comfort of the main stand. The final score was 2-0 in favour of the very good Hutchison Vale outfit, while Cavalry Park were hard-pressed throughout the second half to keep Vale from running in a few more goals.

In fact, big Vale keeper, Fraser Napier, spent most of the second half watching his team-mates swarm round the Cavalry Park goal. Although the first half was much more even, Vale still looked the better side in this prestigjous final attended by officials of the Willie Bauld Memorial Club and special guests, including former Hearts greats, Freddie Glidden and Bobby Kirk, two of the players from arguably the best Hearts team of all time, from the 1950s era. Cavalry Park keeper, Connor Power, was in excellent form while up front, the dangerous Lewis Tracey looked capable of scoring goals while the Hutchison looked impressive playing their own high-quality passing game.

However, in the pouring rain, the first half ended goal-less although Vale had the opposition defence under constant pressure. With the score 0-0 at the break, the final was still in the balance at the start of the second period with the floodlights on to brighten the gloom of a Scottish summer night. At the start of the second half, it was Vale who splashed their way in to an early 1-0 lead with the speedy Ryan Somerville hammering a low shot from the left of the 18yd box in to the far corner of the Cavalry Park net, following a cross from the right wing. This goal was brilliantly put away by this good young player in the wet conditions.

Tracey relieved the pressure on the Cavalry Park defence with a wonderful run from the half-way line, controlling the ball brillantly, until crowded out in the Vale box before he could get a shot in at goal. The pressure put on the Cavalry Park defence by the eager Vale forwards kept builing up and there was panic in the goalmouth at the school end of the big pitch time after time, with desperate clearances keeping Vale’s lead down to 1-0. The hard-worked Cavalry Park goalkeeper lived up to his name in a Power-packed display as he kept Vale from increasing their lead. And it was not until the closing stages of the game that Vale got the second goal they deserved to clinch the silverware – and it came from a penalty.

Vale’s brilliant young skipper, Liam Bathgate, was chopped down in the box in another all-out raid on the Cavalry Park goal and he took the spot-kick himself to simply blast the ball past Power to make the final scoreline 2-0. Referee Brian Walker and his two assistants, Alan Knox and Stewart Robertson, had an easy game to control. The conduct and sportsmanship of the players was exceptional at this show-case final in the Eastern Region Youth FA.

While Bobby Kirk handed over the individual awards to the losing squad, it was big Freddie Glidden who did the honours for Hutchison Vale and he also handed over the beautiful piece of silverware bearing the name of the all time Hearts great, the late Willie Bauld, to the winning captain, Liam Bathgate. Despite the rain, it was another night to remember for these two young sides and their noisy fans at Tynecastle.




Hutchison Vale – Fraser Napier, Greig Paterson, Ross Nisbitt, Patrick Lewis, Dale McKenzie, Aaron Scott, Ryan Somerville, Scott McDonald, Patrick Robertson, Liam Bathgate, Daniel Currie, David Welsh, David Stewart, Tom Irving, Andrew Husband, Kevin Brown.

Cavalry Park – Connor Power, Ross Watson, Dalton Day, John MacDonald, Matthew Watson, Jason Risi, Danny Fisher, Richard Milligan, Lewis Tracey, Craig Greenhill, Lee Reilly, Scott Harrison, Kieran Stimpson, Sean Pryde, Evan Gray.