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Dunedin display Cup spirit

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Published Date: 23 September 2009

By ALEX SCHWEITZER-THOMPSON

HUTCHISON VALE shrugged off the disruption to their decimated squad with a clinical dispatch of Division Three Dunedin in the South East Region 16s Steve Maskrey Cup.

Despite having only 11 players to choose from and with no option but to field two goalkeepers – one in attack – Hutchie found the going comfortable at Wardie playing fields against their dogged lower-division opponents.

The relative giants of Loth

ians youth football certainly would not have had time amid their scoring spree to spare a thought for their one-time goal machine Dean Carse, who recently signed a two-year deal at Aberdeen and whose lively presence will be sorely missed. A further four players from this crack Hutchie team also signed professional deals.

The black and golds still boast at least one exceptional performer in their ranks, though. Shaun Meikle, a box-to-box midfielder, who stylishly dictated much of the play and was as much a menace going forward as he proved destructive in breaking down Dunedin's rare forward forays. For the home team, star player Ryan Macmillan duly rose to the occasion.

It was an ironic paradox of the game that Hutchie should boast two more than able goalkeepers and be forced to place one up front, while Dunedin's regular stopper was unavailable and had to be replaced by Martin Dunn, a midfielder.

While he inevitably struggled to single-handedly stem the anticipated Hutchie onslaught, it was Vale's goalie-turned-goalgrabber Bradley Reid who helped his team build an early lead.

Reid's strike partner Alan Clark flighted a corner that was bulleted into the net by the head of Mike Langdale, then Reid himself tapped in before seizing on a loose ball by Sean McGrouther and beating Dunn in a one-on-one standoff from the left-hand side of the penalty area.

It was 4-0 on 20 minutes after an unfortunate slip by Dunedin midfielder David Hunt. Striker Clark chased down the loose ball and, although he was initially crowded out by a determined home defence, the Hutchie forward won the ball a second time and beat Dunn with a powerful mid-height finish into the left-hand corner.

Meikle complemented his influential display with a goal to make it five on 25 minutes, with a speculative half-volley from the right-hand edge of the penalty area that took a deflection before looping over Dunn.

Meikle's fellow midfielder Ross Brady, who also put in a dominant display, found the net from long range in similarly stirring fashion shortly before half-time, but beaten goalkeeper Dunn can be happy with his effort in levelling the scores in a personal duel when, two minutes later, he denied Brady with a great save by dropping to his left.

The lopsided nature of play continued into the second half despite the best efforts of the hosts' Macmillan and Ezu Alem, who tried to conjure some attacking play to counter Hutchie's prowess in front of goal.

Dunedin, to their credit, were never guilty of a lack of application and it must be stressed that Vale's goals were merely down to clinical finishing when chances did arise.

Home manager Steven Morrison and his players can hold their heads high in light of a positive showing despite defensive lapses. The Dunedin coach refused to criticise the structure of a competition that can pair together such ill-matched teams, saying: "If you are on a good run in the league, it's a good test to play against bigger teams to see how far you've come.

At half-time I told them to try to up their performance, and we got that for 30 minutes in the second half."

Dunedin: Martin Dunn, Jamie Murray, Gregory Dommett, Brian Hickey, Ryan White, Sean McGrouther, Ryan Skedd, Ryan Macmillan, Ezu Alem, David Hunt, Reber Inddel, Stevie Pearson.

Hutchison Vale: Kerr McLernon, Mike Langdale, Ryan Scott, Shaun Meikle, Ross Brady, John McInally, Allan Hay, Alan Clark, Craig McBride, Chris Deignon, Bradley Reid.

The full article contains 666 words and appears in Edinburgh Evening News newspaper.

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Last Updated: 23 September 2009 10:52 AM
Source: Edinburgh Evening News