A professional performance from a well-drilled Leith Athletic side secured them South East Region Cup as they kept their treble dreams alive. 

Both sides enjoyed impressive runs in this competition with Longniddry Villa scoring 26 over the previous five rounds and Leith Athletic keeping four clean sheets on their way to final. 

The game suffered a scrappy start as both teams struggled to keep the ball. However, in the eighth minute, Villa’s Matthew McMillian looked to put his side ahead with his snapshot from the edge of the box, but his effort drifted just inches over the bar.

As the first half went on, Leith began to impose themselves and knocked the ball around well in the middle of the park however their momentum suffered a blow when their captain Ethan Wynne was forced off injured following a challenge by Lewis Inglis which saw him receive Villa’s second booking of the match.

Both sides continued to struggle to create opportunities, however, in the 20th minute, Leith broke the deadlock when a Leith goal kick was picked up by Ben Murray deep inside the Villa half who turned and drove at the defence before taking a powerful strike which sailed into the bottom right corner of Sam Capes goal.

Villa desperately searched for an equaliser before half-time, however, they were reduced to tame long-range efforts as a result of good defensive play by Leith with Ryan Campbell doing particularly well to break up play in midfield.

With seconds to go in the first half, Villa came close to a leveller when Jack MacDonald used his chest to control a long ball forward before taking his shot on the half volley. Macdonald’s effort looked to be goal bound, but to the agony of the Longniddry side, it clipped the inside of the post and was grabbed by Jason Meikle in the Leith net ensuring the score remained 1-0 going into the break.

Following the interval, Leith came out the brighter or the two sides and were unlucky to not have double their advantage when Ben McGinnis gained possession at the edge of the Villa box before playing it back to Wynne whose first-time effort was just over the bar.

However, in the 47th minute, Leith did double their advantage as McGinnis’ long-range volley struck the post before rebounding into the path of Rory Hunter who calmly slotted the ball past Capes to make it 2-0.

Leith continued to pile the pressure on the Villa defence and in the 49th minute following some excellent team play in the 18-yard box, Hunter grabbed his second of the match with an instinctive touch leaving the keeper helpless.

Villa were struggling to find a route back into the game and when Inglis’ 20-yard strike flew inches past the post, it looked like it just wasn’t their day.

However, in the 67th minute, Villa were handed a lifeline following an incredible solo run by Macdonald who beat three defenders before slotting it past Meikle.

Villa upped the intensity and two minutes later they grabbed another following a dropped cross that was then bundled into the net by a body of players.

As the clock continued to wind down, Villa threw more players forward in search of an equaliser, however, following some great defensive play, Leith found themselves in a two-on-one situation as John Ward played a great pass through to McGinnis who calmly stroked the ball into the net in the 73rd minute to make the score 4-2 

However, Villa refused to give up and some neat play on the right wing resulted in a lovely cross from Villa was met by the head of Euan Donaldson to bring Villa within one.

But with time running out Villa were forced to push men forward, this resulted in a fast break by Strathy MacKay who was pulled back by Anthony Kearney in the Villa box giving Leith the chance to all but secure victory. However, Hunter’s penalty was blasted over wildly.

As the minutes remaining turned to seconds, the Villa defence was virtually inexistent and following a long ball forward, Thomas Ramage was sent through on goal and produced a chip over the head of Capes to secure the cup for the Leith side in an entertaining fashion.