Derek Hall’s report from Easthouses Lily v Edinburgh South on Friday 3rd December

Derek Hall
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Easthouses Lily 2-3 Edinburgh South

A Friday night EOS Conference B fixture under the lights as Easthouses Lily entertained Edinburgh South and with the previous league game having resulted in a seven goal thriller won by the away side, there was plenty to look forward to. It’s a slightly abridged report tonight, with a slight floodlight problem, South’s away strip having very difficult to read numbers and my ex referee eyesight all combining to make things a bit more difficult than normal, but here are the highlights of another cracking match. South were looking for a spot kick in the first minute as Jason Young went down in the box but referee Danny MacKinnon wasn’t interested. Dale O’Hara flashed a thumping angled left foot drive across the face of the Lily goals from around fifteen yards but after 26 minutes, the same player brought down Young inside the South penalty area and referee MacKinnon pointed to the spot before cautioning the South no3 for the tackle. Ryan McQueenie stepped up to take the spot kick but South keeper Aaron Hamilton dived to his left to make the save, only for referee MacKinnon to immediately blow for a retake with the keeper off his line. After South’s Ian Ballantyne had been cautioned for complaining about the retake decision, McQueenie stepped up again but Hamilton this time produced an even better save as he threw himself to his right to parry the ball away for a second time. However on 36 minutes, the home side did take the lead as Jason Young was in the right spot to score with nice low right foot drive after reacting first to a rebound and Lily on balance probably just about deserved to be ahead and they had the ball in the net again two minutes later but the whistle had sounded for offside. A minute from half time, new Lily signing Gary Shearer got himself needlessly cautioned for delaying the game by kicking the ball away but at the break it was the home side who had their noses in front and the visitors were indebted to keeper Hamilton for ensuring the deficit remained a slender one.
As with the first half, South started on the front foot and on 47 minutes, they were level when Guy Kerr conceded the foul and picked up a yellow card which allowed William Scott to bend a lovely left foot 25 yard free kick round the Lily wall and in at the base of the near post with keeper Liam Amos rooted to the spot. However two minutes later, McQueenie lifted a cross into the South box and as the bodies came together, referee MacKinnon again pointed to the spot and Lily had a second penalty kick. This time Guy Kerr stepped up to take the Lily spot kick but his powerful left foot effort was once again brilliantly beaten away by keeper Hamilton as he threw himself full length to his right and another glorious chance for the home side had come and gone. To rub salt into the wounds, South then took the lead five minutes later from a spot kick of their own as Sean Jamieson managed to beat Amos, but only just as the Lily keeper almost made the block, and this game had been turned on its head. After 68 minutes, Lily constructed a lovely passing move through midfield and when the cross dropped at the back post, Lewis Sives had arrived late and escaped his marker but he turned the ball over on the volley from no more than seven yards. This miss was to prove crucial because just two minutes later, Jordan Cropley played a superb 40 yard crossfield pass which saw Stuart Martin control with a lovely first touch before then sliding the ball past the onrushing Amos from around fourteen yards and the visitors had a two goal cushion. Fifteen minutes from time, Lily’s Bradley Anderson went into the book for a foul but this game was far from finished and on 82 minutes, the home side threw themselves a lifeline as Sives showed lovely close control in the box, killing the pass and then stroking home left footed into the far corner past Hamilton from around ten yards. Nobody was settling for a tame ending and South had the ball in the net again with five minutes remaining but the offside decision had already been given. A minute into stoppage time, Lily’s Paul McDermott became referee MacKinnon’s sixth caution of the game for complaining about a fairly obvious foul and this was simply borne out of frustration as the game headed to its conclusion. A vital win for South who avenge the early season defeat by tonight’s opponents and who are now mid table but perhaps more importantly are six points ahead of a Lily side who will obviously look to the two failures from the spot which could have seen a very different outcome in an enjoyable and entertaining contest.