Youth wrap: Scottish Cup final beckons for Hutchie Vale 13s

First-half goals from Zane Russell and Jamie MacLeod gave them the victory in what was largely a close match against the Glasgow side.

It was a cagey affair, as is often the case when there’s so much at stake and as a result goalmouth action was at a premium.

The closest we came during the first 20 minutes was at the end of a slick move from Grassroots, with Calum Crearie flashing a dangerous ball across goal, but there were no takers.

Hutchie began to threaten with Bryan Mwangi’s passing looking like it could be the key to unlock something.

That proved to be the case when the midfielder floated the ball over the top of the defence to put Russell in the clear and the winger closed in on goal before showing composure to slot into the far corner.

And five minutes later Hutchie’s joy was doubled when they edged further in front through MacLeod. After a bit of pinball in the box, he calmly shifted the ball on to his left before steering into the same bottom corner as Russell.

The Development side pushed and pushed in the second half, but the men from Edinburgh did a good job of nullifying them.

A snapshot from Adam Kyle, after the left winger had dribbled into the box, was dealt with by Dean Brownlee.

And with six minutes left to play they were inches from pulling one back when Jack Rice fizzed in a free-kick which skimmed off the crossbar and bounced down inside the six-yard-box.

That could have set up an interesting finale, but Hutchie were delighted to secure a spot in the final against Cove Boys Club.

• Also celebrating in knockout competition were Haddington Athletic 13s, who are this year’s Polar Foods Cup winners after defeating Penicuik Athletic 2-1 in the final. The sides are doing battle in Division Four, currently neck-and-neck at the top, but it was Haddington who got their hands on some silverware this time out. A wonderful free kick from Luke Cowan and a second goal by Leo Harrison put them on the way to victory.

• Musselburgh Windsor got through a tricky away Division One match at North Merchiston by winning 2-1 after recovering from losing an early goal. Murray Wheeler had put the home side in front, but Dalziel Cron and Devan Craighead put Windsor into the driving seat after Merchiston were forced to play the final 20 minutes with ten men. They could have added to that but the post, bar and Merchiston keeper Christopher Wood all got in their way.

• Ten-man Longniddry Villa 17s threw away a two-goal lead to draw 2-2 with Hutchison Vale Colts in Division One. Having gone ahead through Macauley Anderson, Villa were reduced to ten men. But that didn’t deter them from going 2-0 up when Marc Forsyth finished high into the net after a nice passing move. However, two second-half goals from Colts ensured the points were shared.