It's Rovers and out as Hutchie 96 shine through rain

It's Rovers and out as Hutchie 96 shine through rain at Arboretum

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Published Date: 04 November 2009

By ALEX SCHWEITZER-THOMPSON

IN the midst of the torrential downpour that hit Scotland's east coast at the weekend, an oasis of footballing skill shone brightly through the dark clouds at Arboretum as Hutchison Vale 96 dispatched Grange Rovers 6-3 in the Under-14 Scottish Youth FA Challenge Cup.

The game was awash with deft touches and sporadic bursts of outstanding technique as players enjoyed the freedom to attempt some freestyle football in between the more serious matter of the game's nine goals.

Hutchie rained the shots on Grange goa

lkeeper Gary Gray in the first half and shocked the visitors – top of the league in their district – by racking up four goals before the interval.

The Grangemouth side then staged a thrilling comeback, or at least part of one, by hitting three quickfire goals after half time, but Hutchie again found strength and forced home two late strikes to complete the scoring.

Hutchie defender Dean French defied the elements to secure an early lead for the hosts, converting past Gray after a flowing forward move. Grange appeared more than a match for their opponents but failed to create any openings, and were duly punished for this absence from their game.

Hutchie, by contrast, carved open the visiting defence three more times prior to the break. Darren McCowatt's shot was well saved by Gray, but Thomas Meldrum was first to the loose ball and netted, before a similar goal arrived after Lee McGregor's strike was palmed away by the goalkeeper and Daniel Pacitti snapped up the rebound.

Some mesmeric trickery by McGregor on the edge of the penalty area had the Grange backline entranced, and the busy midfielder then hooked the ball through to Pacitti, who from close range beat Gray.

McGregor equally lit up the second half with some impressive close control and crowd-pleasing touches, and the highlight of a display from boys determined to showcase their abundance of technique was an outrageous back-heeled volley by an airborne Fraser Eddington. Forget the fact that he was merely trying to play the ball ten yards to a Hutchie team-mate on the left wing, the moment of magic would have been worth any admission fee. Maybe they should start charging for under-14 matches at Arboretum.

While Hutchie had perhaps spent the half-time break daydreaming about a place in the latter rounds of the national cup, Grange through gritted teeth were plotting a comeback in the relentless rain.

Livewire midfielder Jordan Cook was first to peg back Hutchie, converting from the penalty spot after a clear misdemeanour in the box.

Minutes later, Lewis Laird showed sufficient muscle to hold off marker French and sidefooted low into the bottom right-hand corner past Rian McDermott.

Then Cook, from another dead ball, floated a wonderful free-kick over the wall and into the top left-hand corner of the net as the visitors came within a whisker of drawing level.

The Capital side, though, were able at this stage to draw on their plentiful reserve of attacking prowess and duly put the game beyond Grange with two goals in the final 15 minutes, both courtesy of the impressive Ryan Clarke.

Firstly, the ball broke somewhat fortuitously to the big striker and he calmly buried the ball past Gray from close range. Then, for his second trick, Clarke timed his run to perfection to meet Eddington's inswinging corner from the left and powered a perfect header into the net.

Coach Mike Stein paid tribute to his team, in particular his defence and the 'wee Jimmy Johnstone' of the side.

He said, "I thought the boys did well in the first half, and they showed what they can do.

"I think Lee McGregor's been excellent. For the size of the lad, he's got great ability, good feet and terrier-like tackling. He's got so much stamina, you could call him a wee Jimmy Johnstone. I thought our whole back four were brilliant. Our right-back Mark (Stein] and left-back Fraser (Sutherland] were exceptional getting up the wing."

Hutchison Vale 96: Rian McDermott, Mark Stein, Chris Suttie, Dean French, Gavin Birrell, Tony Hepburn, Thomas Meldrum, Lee McGregor, Cameron Atwell, Daniel Pacitti, Nick Mortimer, Cameron Waddell, Ryan Clarke, Fraser Sutherland, Fraser Eddington, Darren McCowatt.

Grange Rovers: Gary Gray, Thomas Marshall, Cameron Ure, Jamie Lunn, Dillon Graham, Jordan Mitchell, Andrew Meade, Jordan Cook, Darren Tomaszewski, Lewis Laird, Robbie Dewar, Jonathan McClure, Stuart Martin, Murray Smith, Connor McCrae, Mark McClure.