St Andrews & St Brides 2 Braidhurst (Under 14’s) 3

Braidhurst scraped through to the semi finals in the defence of their Scottish Shield and now face Peter the Apostle on 7 May at the Vale of Clyde ground in Tollcross, Glasgow.

The game started evenly with Braidhurst, through the prompting of Hastie and Mullen in midfield, beginning to take control of the game. After a couple of near misses, Braidhurst were awarded their first big chance of the game when Thomas Smart was barded off the ball inside the box. Hastie’s well placed penalty was sensationally saved by the excellent home keeper.

Both sides had chances but the score remained 0-0 when the halftime whistle blew.

The second half started at an even quicker pace and it was the home side who took the lead after a goalmouth stramash following a corner from the right. The Braidhurst boys knew they had to get back into the game quickly and began to press. This possession paid off when Ryan Watt turned two defenders before finally beating the keeper with a low strike.

The home side then took the lead to make it 2-1 with only minutes on the clock and then almost scored again with Ross Wilson clearing off the line. The Braidy boys now threw everything into attack and the pressure paid off with Deryn Lang equalising and forcing the inevitable penalty shoot out.

The bold Derrick Boafour had other ideas. On as a sub and with the referee glancing at his watch and about to blow for full time, the tricky winger slalomed his way through a series of tackles before slotting the ball past the keeper to make it 3-2. A new Braidhurst hero was born!