A depleted Riverside team had enough in the locker to overcome Sauchie Juniors 1-0 in a tightly contested FVFDA League Cup final.

Flemming M’Ratu’s first half strike proved to be the decider after the winger ghosted in behind the opposition defence and calmly lifted the ball over the onrushing goalkeeper.

Riverside’s squad was threadbare and it was revealed that no less than five players missed the game because of a Magaluf related scheduling issue. 

In the 19th minute Sauchie’s Corin Stone robbed Lewis Woloszyn before driving inside and flashing a shot wide of the near post. 

The Wee County side had the best of the chances from that point on, and Logan McFarlane was unfortunate to see his thunderous effort tipped on to the post eight minutes from the break. 

Stone caused all sorts of problems and showed the nous to create space for himself in the 43rd minute but he could only lift his strike over the bar.

Riverside’s defensive line remained deep for much of the 90 minutes but after the restart a counter-attack released M’Ratu again but he blasted the ball over the bar. 

The Stirling side took encouragement from that attack and were so close to extending their lead as the game approached the hour mark. 

The Sauchie backline were called into action again and managed to deal with a stramash in the goalmouth with the impressive M’Ratu waiting to pounce. 

As the game wore on, however, Sauchie began to play with a sense of urgency and should have scored on 70 minutes. 

A long ball forward saw Stone get in behind but Connor Duff was off his line quickly to avert the danger. 

Minutes from time, Sauchie’s best and final opportunity of the match arrived courtesy of Harry Neal. 

McFarlane picked out the midfielder in the middle, who moved at pace before shooting from outside the area but Duff responded with a fine one-handed stop.