Our 19s went down 3 – 1 to Leith Athletic in the final of the Bob Bankier Cup final yesterday afternoon, unfortunately the team have lost 3 finals in 6 days.  With the team all eligible to play 19s again next season we’re in a great position as they move up to EoS 19s.

The 13s went down 4 – 0 to Tynecastle in the final of the Lothian Buses Cup, getting to the final of a trophy including the teams in the league above was a great achievement for the boys.

The Girls 13s had a better day however beating Murieston 2 – 1 in the Scottish Cup to move through to the last 16.

Finally the Scotland Womens 19s drew 3 – 3 with Italy in their final game last night, the first time we have taken a point in one of the games in the finals.  The team will return home from Macedonia with many of the players looking forward to getting back to their 8am start at the Academy each weekday morning for Debbi’s coaching.

Our 19s lost 2 – 1 after extra time last night in the Bob Bankier Cup Final against Leith but take on the same opponents again on Sunday at the Academy in the Federation of Hibs Supporters Clubs cup final, ko is 2pm.  Also on Sunday morning our 13s also have a cup final, ko 11am.

Just a reminder that our Saturday 19s take on Leith Athletic in a cup final at the Academy tonight.  Alec Cunningham’s team lost their first final to Musselburgh 2 – 1 earlier in the week but tonight gives them a quick but difficult chance to bounce back.  The ko is 7pm.

Spartans Junior side ended their season tonight with an impressive 3-0 victory over league winners Broxburn. There were changes to the line up with Dale Robertson, Paul Roberts and Jacob Crolla all getting starting positions. Broxburn started strong as they looked to gain their first every victory against Spartans. As the half went on we came into the game more and more. On the half hour mark Nick Reid had a shot from outside the box touched onto the crossbar by the keeper as it looked destined to thunder into the net. With just minutes of the first half left a ball was crossed from the left wing to find Crolla at the far post to fire home the opener.

Spartans came out for the 2nd half and started strongly and it took just 60 seconds for the lead to be extended. Adam Perry did well to great space down the right wing. His cross was mis-hit by Roberts, however the ball fell at the feet of Reid who fired home.

Spartans’  task was made harder on the hour mark when Adam Perry was shown a very harsh straight red card for a tackle near the corner. Broxburn hoped to take advantage of the extra man and were pushing  forward to try and get back into the game as the Spartan defence and midfield worked continuously to contain them.

Ten minutes later and Spartans had the result secured. A great pass out from defence allowed Paul Roberts to challenge the Broxburn defence for the ball. Having brushed off the centre half, he looked up to see the Broxburn keeper off his line and chipped a perfect ball over the goalie’s head to make it 3-0.

Spartans had to worked hard for the remaineder of the game to ensure they kept the clean sheet. Paterek pulled off a great save with just minutes left as we held on for a deserved victory.

The result means we have secured 2nd place in the South District League after our first attempt. It is a phenomenal achievement for our debut season in the Junior set up and credit must go to all the players. The great team unity and pride they have shown has helped secure some fantastic results. In a season where early expectations were midtable we have far exceeded that. A special mention must also go David, Stuart and Stef who have helped turn a team of mainly amateur players into a top junior side that everyone involved with Spartans can be proud of.

We hope the players will stay with us for next season as we aim to go one better and win the league next season. With the current players and management team we would certainly be confident of achieving that.

Team: Paterek, Cruickshank, Steele, McKibben, Scott, Reid (Cartwright), Crolla, Antoni, Perry, Roberts (Young), Robertson (Boyes)

The Juniors play Broxburn at Bathgate tomorrow in our final league game of the season, ko is 7.15.  A win would put us second in the league.  Broxburn clinched the league on Saturday…it might have been so different had interim coach Andy Gray managed to beat them in his one game in charge earlier in the season where a 1 – 1 draw has proved crucial.  In true Spartans comic book style we did have to play the last 5 minutes with ten men after ‘keeper Dawid Paterek failed to hurdle the perimeter barrier at City Park in his haste to get the ball back into play and had to be carried off.  Coach David Cowan has almost a full squad on show tomorrow with only James Hair and Paul Sutherland missing.  We have had a great season in our first in Junior football in a very tough league with only one promotion slot.

Over in Macedonia the Scotland under 19 womens team with their heavy Spartans influence went down 3 – 1 to England yesterday in the first of their games.  A full report is on our Womens web site.

We are delighted to announce two new signings - Chris Townsley and Jack Beesley. 

Chris is a central defender having played the last six seasons at Alloa Athletic where he has a tremendous record.  Chris is just about to graduate from Heriot Watt University and had decided to move into non-league football from the SFL.  

Chris

Jack has signed from Edinburgh University where he has played for the last five season.  Jack is a versatile midfielder or striker who has caused us all sorts of problems over the last few seasons.  Jack is also replacing Dan is his Academy role as one of our community coaches. 

Co-manager Sam Lynch is delighted.  “We have known both players for some time and it is great they have chosen to come to Spartans.  It sounds as though our rivals are strenthening their squads so we’re looking forward to a really competitive league next season.”