St Ninian’s High School – U13 Scottish Schools’ Football Association Cup Winners 2021-2022
Congratulations to the St. Ninian’s High School S1 football team who won the U13 Scottish Schools’ Football Association Cup after beating St. Ambrose High School in a penalty shootout on Friday 10 June 2022. The game finished 1-1 in regular time, with Conor Baillie scoring the equaliser. This is the first S1 Scottish Cup title for St. Ninian’s, after having won all other year group Scottish Cups.
The game itself began at blistering speed. The opposition went 1-0 up within the first 5 minutes after an excellent move down the right hand side with a cross and accurate finish to match. St. Ninian’s then settled into the game and enjoyed a spell of possession resulting in a vast number of free kicks and corners that somehow evaded the St. Ambrose goal.
The game was played in a great spirit with both sides deserving huge credit as the game moved from end to end. The second half was also a close affair with both teams creating chances. Right midfielder Rory Kelly made an excellent run into the box, struck the ball with power, hitting the underside of the bar.
Ethan McGilivray came on from the bench and caused problems for the St. Ambrose defenders and helped sway the game in St Ninian’s favour. Nevertheless, it was St. Ambrose who had the next big chance, their striker broke through in the box and looked certain to double their lead. However, centre back and Man of the Match, John Joe Leddy, seemingly from out of nowhere dives in with a sliding tackle, winning the ball and keeping the tie alive.
With less than 15 minutes to go and chances for both teams Conor Baillie, St Ninian’s left back, took a great first touch which allowed the ball to move nicely onto his right foot. Instinctively, Conor struck the sweetest of strikes and the ball fired into the top left-hand corner from well outside the box. This will undoubtedly go down as goal of the season.
St Ninian’s pressed for the crucial second goal, but with no avail. The referee then blew the whistle and called for penalty kicks. First up was St. Ambrose who were terribly unlucky hitting the underside of the bar. First for St. Ninian’s was Sam Gallagher who had worked extremely hard down the left-hand side within normal time and was calm, sending the keeper the wrong way scoring the first penalty. The first St. Ambrose penalty was hit with power and precision but goalkeeper Elliot Dunn pulled off a remarkable double handed save. Rory Kelly then scored the next penalty accurately, handling a pressurised situation excellently. Third up for St. Ninian’s was Ethan McGilivray after St. Ambrose scored their next penalty. Ethan slotted the ball into the bottom left-hand corner meaning St. Ninian’s only needed to score one of their last two penalties. Dara Jikiemi then walked up to the ball and as cool as you like simply passed it into the bottom right-hand side of the goal in what can only be described as one of the coldest penalties to win the National Trophy. The referee blew the final whistle which resulted in jubilant scenes from the St. Ninian’s players and fans.
A massive well done to all the boys who are now enshrined in St. Ninian’s folklore. Not only a first national title at S1 level but also a treble winning season as the boys won their respective league & league cup. Truly a season to remember & treasure for years to come. The final congratulations goes to captain Rocco Di Giacomo for leading the team throughout the year, showing exceptional leadership, resilience and for being an excellent role model for his fellow teammates.
Squad List:
Elliot Dunn, Dara Jikiemi, Conor Baillie, John Joe Leddy, Vincent Cairns, Shay McCracken, Rocco Di Giacomo, Matthew McAllister, Connor Sweeney, Ethan McGillvray, Sam Gallagher, Rory Kelly, Luke O’Donnell, Antony McIlvaney, Brodie O’Donnell , Andrew Devlin.
