Youths: Spartans Reds win Prison Officers Cup in style

Spartans Reds wasted no time in getting off the mark against Fernieside 17s

Having already secured the Victor Paris Bathrooms Cup, Spartans were keen to add another and they began strongly. With five minutes gone, they were rewarded for a blistering start as they found the net with their first effort on goal. Mark Mackay brought the ball down the left before teeing up Cameron Dawson in the area. He dummied the ball before setting up Ogulcan Yildirim to blast in with his left peg on the edge of the box.

Spartans continued to push high up the park, trapping Fernieside in their own half for an extended period. Fernieside should have been back in it with 20 minutes on the clock. A hopeful ball forward fell to Juwon Abubakar in the box and after he twisted and turned his shot was smothered by Spartans goalie Jamie Mitchell.

Fernieside’s Liam McIntosh got good power behind a shot but it lacked placement and Mitchell was able to watch it sail over his crossbar.

Up the other end, with half an hour gone, Spartans went close once again. Lewis Hall hit a first-time cross in from the left and Dawson’s free header flew marginally over the Fernieside crossbar. Then, eventually, Spartans had a second. Cameron Dawson showed a turn of pace down the right and drilled a low ball into the box which Yildirim tucked away.

Spartans were flying and with the momentum in their favour they made it 3-0. Mackay fired in from five yards after Dawson pulled the strings in midfield once more.

Then, with the half almost up, Spartans added another two goals to further demonstrate their superiority. Patient build up on the left flank allowed Mackay to tee up Hall to steer the ball in at the right hand post. Then, a minute later Mackay side footed the ball into the bottom right corner from 12 yards to make it 5-0.

It wasn’t going Fernieside’s way and they ended the half even worse for wear as Ewan Wilson turned the ball into his own net from a Spartans corner.

Fernieside introduced all of their substitutes in a desperate bid to change their fortunes but still couldn’t deal with the Spartans attacking threat. Spartans subtitutes Oran Hosey and Matthew Brady combined for Brady to race through to fire in past keeper Alex Johnson.

Substitute Liam Currie looked to extend the scoreline for Spartans with a long-range strike but Johnston got down low to save to his left. Another goal was inevitable though and Jake McCreadie got his name on the scoresheet when he spun in the box to fire in a loose ball.

There was no stopping McCreadie’s side and into the final ten minutes they continued to reap misery on their opponents. Brady sent Dawson through on goal and he buried the ball into the Fernieside net. There was a proverbial rain cloud hanging over Fernieside and their luck didn’t improve as Lewis Sloan put the ball into his own goal from a Spartans corner.

It had been a rampant performance from Spartans.

Spartans Reds 17s: Jamie Mitchell, Daniel Sutherland, Sean McCorkindale, James Pringle, Jake McCreadie, Oran Hosey, Josh Williamson, Lewis Hall, Michael Allan, Dillon Floyd, Cameron Dawson, Liam Currie, Mark Mackay, Jack Murray, Matthew Brady, Ogulcan Yildirim.

Fernieside FC 17s: Alex Johnston, Juwon Abubakar, Ronan Clelland, Craig Swanston, Jordan Thomson, Liam McCabe, Brodie Duncan, Jack Thomson, Cameron Douglas, Kyle Taylor, Lewis Sloan, Daniel Combe, Nathan Hardie, Evan Smith, Ewan Wilson, Liam McIntosh.