Holyrood 2 Braidhurst 4

Braidhurst made it through to the semi-final of the under 15s Scottish Shield after a very eventful match.

Braidhurst lined up without their deadly striker Dylan Falconer who was absent due to a calf strain.

Rico Quitongo moved from central defence into midfield whilst the ever reliable Dillon McCreath took his place alongside Ross Wilson in defence. This gave Jake Hastie a chance to be wide left in a front three.

After a tense start Braidhurst settled down into their natural game with Jake Hastie giving the Holyrood right back a torrid time. The away team soon opened the scoring through Nick Mullen which settled the nerves even more.

The heavens then opened and tremendous downpour took place leaving players and coaches soaked through. Luckily this had no real effect on the play as the pitch was 3G. If it had been a grass pitch then the outcome could have been very different.

Jordan Duncan was doing well down the right hand side despite some heavy handed treatment from the opposition. In fact it took several fouls before the referee finally booked a Holyrood player.

The referee awarded the home team a foul for a push just outside the box. Holyrood managed to convert this free-kick bringing the game back to all square.

Then came a real moment of controversy. Braidhurst restored their lead through Ryan Watt only for the referee to send off Nick Mullen for what he deemed to be an obscene gesture. This bemused not only the player but also the onlookers who could see no wrong in his celebration.

Holyrood came close to equalising as one of their players rounded Adam Sinnet in the Braidhurst goal only to see his shot run agonisingly past the post.

Half-Time Holyrood 1 Braidhurst 2

The half-time team talked revolved around getting the players to keep calm and move into a 5-3-1 formation for the second half.

Despite the nature of the team talk Jordan Duncan exacted some revenge for the treatment he had been receiving and was rightly booked by the referee.

Braidhurst kept coming at Holyrood and managed to claim a corner from which a scramble ensued in the box which led to Ross Wilson heading the ball into the net giving the away team a much needed two goal cushion.

Holyrood kept plugging away at Braidhurst and a ball over the top saw keeper Sinnet come to meet the ball and collide with the on rushing Holyrood player. The referee saw this as a foul and awarded a spot kick which was converted.

All this with twenty minutes remaining. Braidhurst defended very well and Ryan Watt playing up front on his own displayed some wonderful hold up skills buying his team some much needed respite.

Then Andrew McNulty found himself free in the middle of the park and looking up saw the Holyrood keeper off his line and chipped him to score the last goal of the game.

With their two goal lead restored Braidhurst managed to see out the rest of the game and take their place in the semi-final of the tournament.