Youth football: St Bernards 13s edge classic nine-goal semi

St Bernards Mid Blues 13s had to weather an extraoridinary fightback from Craigroyston to eventually prevail 5-4 at Craigie Park

By the half hour mark it looked like the cup tie was only going one way as Saints dominated the play, with three goals to show for their efforts. Zak Manson opened the scoring with a reaction header in the box before adding another to round off a neat counterattack by Saints. Then, Steven Todd made it 3-0 as he chased down Logan Whitson’s long ball to finish one-on-one with goalie Steven Cinar.

Craigie pulled one back before half time as Owen Hanratty lobbed Saints goalie Sam Whitson and it proved to be the catalyst for a revival. After the break Craigie scored two in two minutes; Hanratty scored directly from a corner and immediately from the restart he bagged his hattrick to single-handedly change Craigie’s fortunes.

There was very little between the two sides and it was Saints who stuck together as the half wore on as they found two more goals to put the tie out of reach with Niall Kemp and Manson again on the scoresheet.

Craigie pulled one back again as Elliot De Vries’ shot was deflected in, but Saints showed resolve late on to make it through.

n Edinburgh South 14s secured a shot at silverware as they defeated Peebles FC 14s 2-1 to reach the David Innes Cup final.

Peebles, who hadn’t played a home game since November due to flooding issues, more than held their own in the opening 35 minutes at Kerfield Park.

But after the cagey opening half was done, South came out after the break looking confident. It wasn’t too long before they went ahead. Isam Mohammed’s dangerous freekick wasn’t cleared by Peebles and the ball ended up nestled in the bottom-right corner through multiple bodies in the box.

It was a great start to the half for South and minutes later it got even better. Mohammed was in the thick of the action again as his cross from the right picked out Tom Gill at the backpost and he steered the ball in.

Peebles had to fashion a  response and they did so in a timely fashion. Aaron Russell’s inswinging corner somehow sneaked in at the front post to give his side some hope with time left on the clock.

The home side continued to press for a leveller, but South held off their opponents attacking efforts to pick up a massive victory.

n Edina Hibs 15s showed their class to make it into the Scottish Youth Cup final with a comfortable 3-0 win over East Kilbride outfit Mill United 15s.

At Kilbride Park, the Edinburgh side dominated the early stages of the semi-final and they got themselves ahead midway through the half. Liam Edmonston was hauled down just inside the box and the referee pointed straight to the spot. Dean Burgess took responsibility for the penalty and he fired straight down the middle for 1-0.

It seemed like only a matter of time before Edina added another as Allassan Jones rattled both post and crossbar. But United didn’t heed the warning and they conceded again not long after. Edina captain Stephen King’s free-kick into the box deceived Callum Herd in the United goal to go through a tonne of bodies and into the back of the net.

It was one way traffic and Edina added yet another before the break to put one foot in the final. Fraser Blackie’s cross from the left picked out Lewis Sives in the box and he drilled home a third.

After the break, both sides were happy to sit back and see out the game with Edina  content to preserve their lead to reach the final.