Under 20s: Grotlin grabs hat-trick in nine goal thriller win

Posted on Sunday, May 8th, 2016

Jonny Grotlin’s fifteen minute flurry in front of goal saw the hat-trick hero help Spartans Under 20s to victory over Lothian Thistle Hutchison Vale in thriller at Ainslie Park.

The league meeting between two of the league title challengers was billed as the game of the night and it certainly didn’t disappoint as the teams shared nine goals in a 5-4 win for Les Atkinson’s youngsters.

With the game only eight minutes old, it was the visitors who took the lead.  Spartans defence failed to clear their lines from an early break and it was left to Viola to slide the ball past Morton between the sticks.

That lead was turned on its axis in a 60 second spell as Grotlin netted twice in quick succession with almost equally thumping finishes after penetrating the Lothian back-line who saw their offside appeals waved away both times by the match official.

As was the unpredictability of the game so far, it was all square again shortly after when Kay found the net – and we were level pegging at 2-2 with just a quarter of an hour gone.

The supporters inside the ground had to patiently wait a further nine minutes before seeing the ball hit the onion bag and it was Grotlin on hand to net his third of the evening, drilling the ball past Gibb who could only look on despairingly after being beaten again by the same player.

Half an hour on the clock and it was another for Spartans. Miller delivered a perfectly weighted corner into the box that found Corbett who rattled the ball home in off the crossbar.

Not to be outdone, the generous Spartans side then offered Lothian a chance to reduce the deficit back to a single strike following a foul inside their own box.  Taylor stepped up and sent Morton the wrong way to make it 4-3 at the break.

HT: Spartans 4-3 LTHV

Surely the second half couldn’t match its frantic cousin?  Within two minutes of the restart it, Spartans restored their two goal advantage courtesy of a Dishington shot that left Gibb with the unenviable task of picking the ball out the net for the 5^th time.

Cometh the hour and it was Taylor who netted his second of the night after springing the offside trap to score the ninth goal of what was a game unlikely to be described as ‘defences on top’!

Tait forced his way into the box setting up a head to head with keeper Gibb however it was the stopper who came out on top, pushing the striker’s effort round the post for a corner.

With three minutes left on the clock, Lothian’s chances of earning a last-gasp point were damaged when Begbie was despatched by the Ref for some rather fruity language directed his way for a non-award of what was deemed a foul by the frustrated player.

As the game entered deep into injury time, Hare nearly pulled a rabbit out of the hat when his shot crashed off Carswell’s crossbar before being hoofed out the park for safety.

FT: Spartans 5-4 LTHV