Aidan Lorente’s late volley clinched the John Clark Motors Cup for Monifieth as they edged out Pitfour in the tightest of cup finals.

Paddy Boyle had given Monifieth a first half lead before Ben Clos levelled proceedings early in the second half before Lorente met Aaron Dewar’s free kick three minutes from time.

Pitfour’s Ross Cameron saw an early effort blocked as his side looked to make up for their 2-0 league defeat to Monifieth seven days earlier.

After a back and forth opening to the game, it was Monifieth that broke the deadlock after 15 minutes through Paddy Boyle. The midfielder turned in the box before drilling a low strike past Archie Kelly-Barton from just inside the box.

Jordan Turnbull was denied by Thomas Welsh as Pitfour went in search of an equaliser, before the referee awarded Monifieth an indirect free kick eight yards from goal, much to the bewilderment of the Pitfour players. Arran Ferry teed up Ruari McQuillan, who saw his effort deflected behind for a corner.

McQuillan went close to doubling Monifieth’s advantage when he pounced on a poor header from Charlie Edward, but saw his header drop wide of the post.

Having done little to threaten the Monifieth goal in the first half, Pitfour were gifted an equaliser four minutes into the second period thanks to a mistake from Welsh. The

Monifieth keeper looked to have dealt with a long ball into the box, but inexplicably dropped the ball allowing Ben Clos a simple finish into an empty net to bring Pitfour level.

Monifieth nearly regained the lead when Elliot McCafferty hit the post from a corner, before Kelly-Barton was forced into a smart save to keep out another of the winger’s dangerous deliveries.

As both sets of players battled to find a second goal, neither goalkeeper was seriously tested. Clos looked to have provided the piece of quality that the second half had sorely missed when he jinked into the Monifieth box, but his strike rattled the post with Welsh beaten.

Ally Alcorn went close with a header that looped narrowly wide before going through one-on-one with Welsh, but the Monifieth keeper produced a fantastic save with his feet to deny Pitfour’s leading marksman.

With three minutes remaining, Monifieth took the lead through Aidan Lorente. Aaron Dewar delivered a pinpoint free kick to the back post, where Lorente was on hand to volley the ball past Kelly-Barton from close range to clinch the cup for Monifieth.