LEITH Academy under-15s won the Colonel Clark Cup for the second time this season – 100 years after becoming the first school to have their name inscribed on the trophy!

This genuine silver hallmarked cup was introduced in to school football in Edinburgh in July 1906 and it has taken the Leith school 100 years to win it back again. It sits proudly in the lovely new school in Quarryholes in Leith but the boys in the current under-15 squad are not too impressed with the appearance of the old cup they won. But the Leith ‘ton-up’ boys should have a close look at the trophy and they will see that it is a genuine silver cup and it was made by Sydney Latimer, Jewellers, George Street. School football coach, Robbie Huxtable, was at the game that saw the trophy make a very rare return to Leith Academy and this is his match report of the historic Centenary cup success:

“ On a windy Wednesday afternoon, this prestigious Secondary Cup final took place at Wardie Playing Fields. This game between Broughton High and Leith Academy drew a large crowd from both schools. Leith came into this game on a high after defeating a strong Currie High School team in the semi-finals at Forrester. Broughton decided to shoot with the wind at their backs with a hope of scoring an early goal.  Leith was pinned back by a strong attacking Broughton team and a strong wind. Leith struggled to clear the ball any distance and almost paid the price after some poor clearances resulted in the Leith keeper, Alasdair Adams, saving a string of shots. Leith eventually got to grips with the game and the wind and played some decent passing football and almost scored minutes from half-time when a shot hit the woodwork. It was still 0-0 at the break but Leith started the second half the stronger and used the wind to press back the Broughton team.

Broughton defended well for long periods of the second half but goal for Leith looked certain to come. It was a fantastic goal and it came ten minutes from the end of the game. Neil Hastings linked well with Johnny Coleman to open up the Broughton defence and delivered an inch-perfect pass for Lee McKenzie to fire in a shot at goal. The Broughton keeper tipped the ball on to the bar and Darryn Cain nipped in to win the ball, round the keeper and slip the ball over the line to put Leith Academy 1-0 up. Broughton threw players forward in a bid to equalise but Leith held out to win by this solitary goal. The final was played in good spirit and finished with sporting handshakes between the players. Winning this trophy represents a momentous accolade in the history of football at Leith Academy. The school is extremely proud of all pupils concerned as it has been exactly 100 years since a team from Leith Academy first won this trophy. The current under-15 squad have brought the back back ‘home’!”

While the ‘ton-up’ winners lined up for a historic team picture in the sun shining down on the playing fields at Quarryholes, Robbie added: “I hope Leith Academy don’t have to wait as long to win the Colonel Clark Cup again!”