Welfare woe for Under 20s as Whitehill win under the lights

Posted on Saturday, November 7th, 2015

Two second half goals saw Whitehill take a share of the spoils in Friday night’s Under 20s League clash under the lights at Lasswade.

An opening minute attempt from a Welfare attacker clearing the cage with consummate ease set the tone for a frustrating opening period for both sides.

The Mid Lothian town’s sky may have been awash with fireworks however the closely fought encounter would be best described as a damp squib in terms of noteworthy incident.

The game struggled to get off the ground due to frequent breaks in play, mainly for minor transgressions that brought lengthy lectures from the whistler.

Then, in the 40th minute, Welfare’s Ben McGinley pulled off two sensational saves to keep the scores level at the interval.
The youngster thwarting a thunderous shot from Adam Corbett then from the resultant corner, the shot-stopper somehow turned Harry Girdwood’s close range header over the bar.

HT: Whitehill Welfare u20s 0-0 Spartans u20s

The home side took the lead nine minutes after the restart. A free-kick lofted into the box was nudged on into the path of Mark Wilkie who, from what looked like an offside position, didn’t wait for the whistle and slotted home.
Spartans hill to climb became mountainous on the hour when Scott Mercer capitalised deep inside the visitor’s penalty box after a goalmouth stramash to double his side’s lead.

Ten minutes later, Andy Mair’s inviting free-kick into the Welfare box evaded the plethora of players around the penalty spot to find Dylan Tait who was a shoelace width away from setting up a grandstand finish.

With four minutes left on the clock and the incessant fireworks still lighting up the Lasswade sky, Jonny Grotlin’s cheers turned into sideline jeers from the visiting support as it finally looked as if the Ainslie Park side had finally breached McGinley’s fine last line of defence. Unfortunately for the Spartans man, his effort for ruled offside.

FT: Whitehill Welfare u20s 2-0 Spartans u20s