Nairn Bonnar’s second half goal sealed Fairmuir’s place in the final of the Scottish Youth FA Cup as they edged out Ferry Athletic at Tannadice.

Both teams came into the match looking to do what no Dundee team had done since Dundee United SC in 2013 and reach the Scottish Cup final. Not even an early morning sleet storm could put a dampener on two of the city’s top sides.

With a place in Airdrie at stake a repeat of the sides 5-4 league meeting in August was unlikely as both teams searched to assert themselves early on. Ferry’s first chance fell to Mitchell Smith who cracked a volley wide from the edge of the box inside the opening minute.

Nairn Bonnar has been a standout for Fairmuir this season and the pacey forward made his intentions clear when he drove from inside his own half into the Ferry box, but he saw a well hit strike matched by a smart diving save from Ferry’s Connor Milton.

Ferry were getting a lot of joy in the wide areas early on, but Owen McColgan failed to trouble Cammy Hendry with an overhead kick.

For all their possession Ferry were failing to test Hendry in the Fairmuir goal. A low ball across the face of the Fairmuir goal looked certain to provide the opener, but nobody in a yellow shirt was on hand to turn the ball in.

At the other end, Alex Stewart’s ball was collected by Ross Hazel, who looked to have broken the deadlock with a dipping volley from inside the box until Milton leaped to tip the ball over the bar.

Ferry continued to see plenty of the ball but Fairmuir continued to pose a threat on the break. A long ball released Jake Grady down the right only for his cross to not quite fall for Bonnar, who eventually teed up Mark McCrory only for the Fairmuir captain to lash the ball wide from 25 yards.

After a cagey opening the game was beginning to open up and Ferry thought they had broken the deadlock when Jake Stewart swept home from McColgan’s pass only to see the linesman’s flag raised for offside.

Fairmuir went close through a dipping strike from Bonnar before failing to capitalise on a poor goal kick from Milton. Hazel and Grady appeared to leave the loose ball for each other before Hazel played in Grady, who failed to hit the target with his effort.

With half time approaching Fairmuir’s Alex Stewart brought the ball out of defence before shooting wide after neat interplay with Jamie Timmons.

Ferry’s final chance of the first half fell for Greg Breen who swept his shot wide from the edge of the box after good play down the Ferry right. In injury time Rory Jagusinski teed up Grady, but he dragged his effort wide.

After a cagey first half the second half burst into life early on as Fairmuir broke the deadlock through Bonnar. Grady saw a strike kept out by Milton only for the ball to fall for Bonnar who made no mistake with a simple finish.

The old adage that you’re most vulnerable when you’ve just scored would have proved true for Fairmuir if not for a superb piece of last ditch defending from Kane Hynes.

Jake Stewart broke down the right and clipped the ball to an unmarked Smith at the back post. The midfielder beat Hendry with a perfectly struck volley only for Hynes to appear on the line and hook the ball to safety.

Ferry continued to pepper the Fairmuir box with crosses but couldn’t trouble Hendry. McColgan fired wide from Smith’s ball before being denied by Hendry after good play from Jackson Dobbie.

Ewan Stewart’s dangerous cutback was scrambled away by the Fairmuir defence as Ferry increased their efforts to grab an equaliser.

Fairmuir nearly put the game to bed with five minutes remaining as Grady charged down the right before squaring the ball for Seff Mohammed, who could only fire the ball wide with his first touch of the game.

There was a late stramash in the Fairmuir box as Ferry tried to force the ball home. The ball eventually broke for Ewan Stewart, but he could only lash the ball high and wide into the stand.

Grady had another late run before shooting over before Louie Anderson saw an effort blocked behind by Evan Adam.

Luke Queen flicked the resulting corner across the face of goal but once more there was nobody in a yellow shirt to turn the ball home as Ferry’s Scottish Cup dreams came to an end.

This was a case of so close yet so far for Ferry. They were more than a match for Fairmuir over the 90 minutes and will feel aggrieved not to have at least taken the game to extra time.

While they will be hurting after this loss, reaching the Scottish Cup semi-final is an incredible achievement and the experiences they have picked up over the past six months will stand them in good stead as they try to win the league title and the East Region Cup.

As for Fairmuir, they are now 90 minutes away from youth football’s biggest prize and becoming the first Dundee side since 2003 to win the Scottish Cup.

At times they had to defend for their lives with several last-ditch blocks and tackles in and around their box. Kane Hynes’s block seconds after the opener epitomised their attitude and proved to be as good as a goal.

They will face Glenvale or Tynecastle on May 19th and having seen of previous winners and some of the favourites en-route to the final, they will be believing that this is their year.