Under 20s celebrate Edinburgh Derby win

Posted on Friday, October 9th, 2015

A sensational three goal five minute first half spell saw Spartans Under 20s race an unassailable lead in a comfortable 4-0 win over Edinburgh City at Ainslie Park.

The youngster’s version of the Edinburgh Derby got off to a fairly inconspicuous start as both sides looked to stamp their authority on a game played in unseasonably mild conditions in the North of the City.

Les Atkinson’s side, keen to bounce back from their defeat against BSC Glasgow seven days earlier, were unlucky not to take a 10^th minute lead when Dylan Tait rounded the keeper but the narrow angle he was forced to shoot from was tight enough for City to scramble a defender to desperately clear on the line.

Then, midway through the opening stanza, a phenomenal 25 yard strike from Shaun Miller – one he’ll be dining out on for a wee while to come – kicked-off a quite breath taking five minutes that had City taking a proverbial ‘eight count’ on the ropes.

Four minutes later and the electric pace of Jordan Brown left his marker behind before rounding the keeper to slide the ball home to double the lead.

Then, less than sixty seconds later, City were delivered a triple-whammy after Anthony Laing’s tenacity to win the ball allowed him to deliver a pin-point cross which resulted in a well-executed Dylan Tait strike which saw the onion bag bulge.

Half Time: Spartans 3-0 Edinburgh City

The euphoria of the first half was, perhaps understandably, a difficult one to replicate as Spartans looked to ensure City – who returned for the second spell a full four minutes before the hosts – were kept at bay.

The first piece of noteworthy action came in the 74^th minute when Anthony Laing had the City keeper sprawling to deal with a free-kick from the edge of the area.

It was the same player who had a carbon-copy opportunity moments later however this time it was the City post that denied Laing.

With the game entering into added time, Harry Girdwood broke the offside trap to race in on the City keeper before rolling the ball into an empty net to secure three points to propel the Ainslie Park side to joint top after the second round of league fixtures.

Full Time: Spartans 4-0 Edinburgh City