Sandys skipper, Alex Hood,
heads a brilliant goal for his side as he falls to the ground in
the Stirling University box
SANDYS, from the Lothian & Edinburgh Amateur premier
division, beat Stirling University 6-4 in extra time in a
brilliant East of Scotland Amateur Cup tie in Craigmillar.
This game between the experienced Sandys
combine and the well trained and organised outfit from Stirling
University was a wonderful tribute to amateur football. And what
a game the home side had on their hands when the good
footballing playing students went in to shock 2-0 lead in the
opening 11 minutes.
Craig Glass got both opening goals, with the
second coming following a magnificent pass up the right from
Kevin Enright. On both occasions, the home defence was in
complete disarray. After that, the inspirational Alex Hood lead
by example as Sandys hit back in the spirited manner that is
part of the make-up of all amateur sides from Craigmillar. Hood
reduced the deficit to 2-1 in the 27th minute with a
magnificent diving header following a corner. In the 34th
minute, it was 2-2 with Sandys second goal coming from Thomas
Crease, who flighted a brilliant lofted ball over the visiting
keeper from the left side of the 18yd box in to the far corner
of the goal.
It was a wonderful game of football, with
play flowing from end to end and great action in both
goalmouths. Duncan McNeill smashed a header against the Stirling
University post shortly after Neil Shave hammered a tremendous
long-range effort over the Sandys crossbar. It was still 2-2 at
the break, despite all the pressure on both goals.
Sandys made the better start after the
interval, with the students looking a wee bit lost in defence
for a change. They were made to pay for it, too, when John
Robertson was hauled down in the box and excellent match
official, Kevin Masterton, rightly awarded a spot-kick. The
Sandys No 10 took the penalty himself and slammed the ball in to
the corner of the Stirling net to go 3-2 in front.
Sandys looked to haven taken control of the
game, but the brilliant 20-year-old Sandys goalkeeper, Scott
Gordon, produced one of his many stunning saves to deny Stirling
an equaliser. When play switched to the other end of the pitch,
it took a great saving tackle to stop Robertson as he bored in
on goal. The action was non-stop, with both sides having good
spells and it was the students who were celebrating again in the
77th minute when Callum Forbes fired a low shot past
Gordon to make it 3-3.
The unrelenting pace of the game continued
right up to the final whistle and the tie then went in to extra
time. After a goal-less first stage, the game went in to
overdrive with Ian Crease scoring a spectacular fourth goal from
fully 30yd out and the ball crashed past visiting keeper, Callum
Chalmers in to the top corner of the net. What a wonderful goal
that was, but the students went on the attack from the restart
and, guess what, they squared the game once again with a
tremendous back post goal from Adrian Dempster, after the Sandys
defence allowed a cross from the left to go across the face of
their goal.
That made it 4-4 in this fantastic cup tie
but there was a lot more to follow in the closing minutes with
Robertson the local hero when scoring two more goals to clinch
Sandys’ place in the second round of this prestigious cup event
sponsored by Bathroom Planet Livingston. Robertson made it 5-4
when he curled a glorious free-kick in to the left of the
Stirling goalkeeper then completed his hat-trick to make it 6-4.
Even then, the game did not falter and the students went on the
hunt for more goals to save the tie, but time ran out on them to
leave Sandys celebrating a wonderful win in a game that
portrayed all that is good about amateur football.
