Ouzy See straight out of Covid isolation to fire Edinburgh City into Scottish Cup third round

Edinburgh City striker Ouzy See struck the winner in the Scottish Cup second round tie against Airdrie. (Photo by Mark Scates / SNS Group)

The 26-year-old hadn’t kicked a ball in over a fortnight after testing positive for coronavirus but his second-half header proved enough to see the Citizens through at the expense of League One Airdrie.

It’s the second time in eight weeks that the Capital men have left the Penny Cars Stadium victorious following a 1-0 win in the Betfred Cup group stages in November.

And See, whose goal has set up a third-round trip to Forfar later this month, revealed his match-winning heroics in North Lanarkshire was the first time he’d stepped foot outside this year.

“I tested positive just after Christmas so I had to self-isolate for a fortnight,” he explained. “This was my first day out of the house as my incubation period only ended on Thursday. I hadn’t trained at all and was limited to some online workouts in the house. I was only meant to play about 60 minutes but the gaffer (James McDonaugh) kept me on and it paid off.

“It was good to get back in the team. Blair (Henderson) picked up a knock in training so the gaffer was limited with his options. He sent me a message just the night before the match to see if I could play so I’m glad I did.”

Goalscoring opportunities were at a premium in what was a rather laboured first half, although City looked the more threatening on the break and enjoyed some neat passages of play.

The biggest talking point of a disappointing opening 45 surrounded Diamonds boss Ian Murray’s dismissal midway through the first half for kicking a water bottle in wake of Lee Hamilton’s tackle on French winger Thomas Robert. The former Hibs captain looked perplexed at the decision to say the least.

The deadlock was finally broken in the 65th minute and it was no more than the visitors deserved. Rafa De Vita’s surging run forced a corner and from skipper Craig Thomson’s dead ball, See got across his marker to head the ball back across goal and into the far corner.

The hosts responded with a triple substitution but rarely looked like forcing extra time.

Boss McDonaugh said: “I told the boys before the game that lightening can strike twice and it has. The players worked really hard for 90 minutes and you really couldn’t tell there was a league between the two sides. The back four was the first time they’ve played together as a defensive unit and they limited Airdrie to just a few half chances.

“We’re just happy to be in the draw for the next round so we’ll go up there and give it our best shot."

Airdrie: Currie, MacDonald, McKay, Kerr, Chighton, Fordyce, Thomson (O’Reilly 70), Stokes (Sabatini 70), Connell (Roy 70), Carrick, Robert. Subs: Murdoch, Gallagher, Ritchie, McCann.

Edinburgh City: Antell, Thomson, McIntyre, Black (Crane 82), Laird, Brown, Hamilton, Campbell, See, L Henderson, De Vita (Balatoni 90). Subs: Jarron, Quate, Newman, Harris, Jardine.

Referee: David Lowe.

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