Oriam’s Outdoor Synthetic hosted the U21 William Johnston Cup final between Bonnyrigg Rose and Murieston. Despite the closeness of the scoreline, Murieston always looked in control of the game as Bonnyrigg didn’t hit their stride. Murieston, on the other hand, will be delighted with their performance as they dominated long periods of the match, and as a result, lifted the silverware.

Despite both sides quality, there was very little in the way of chances in the first 20 minutes, however, with the first real chance of the game, Murieston took the lead.

Angus McGregor broke into the box, and his low effort was initially saved by Tommy McArthur, but the rebound fell to Jack Napier who poked the ball in from close range.

Bonnyrigg Rose hit back after this opener and were close to equalising five minutes later. Harry McGill delivered a free-kick to Chris Drummond. His header was bound for the top corner, but Ewan Stewart pulled off an excellent acrobatic save to keep his side in front.

Stewart was powerless, however, just after the half-hour mark as Bonnyrigg Rose scored a controversial equaliser. A long ball from Harry McGill was only cleared to Jonathon Crutcher on the edge of the box. Crutcher fired a low effort which sneaked into the bottom corner, however; Chris Drummond looked to be offside and in the keeper’s eye line, therefore interfering with play. Nonetheless, the goal was allowed to stand, and Bonnyrigg drew level.

Despite feeling aggrieved about the Bonnyrigg equaliser, Murieston retook the lead almost immediately. Cameron Stokes skipped past the full back and drove into the box before composing himself to tuck the ball into the bottom corner and make it 2-1 to Murieston.

Then, on the stroke of half-time, Muireston went further in front. Jack Napier was played through on goal and expertly lifted the ball over the keeper to claim his second goal and put Murieston 3-1 ahead.

In the second half, Murieston began to take control of the game, creating countless great opportunities.

Firstly, Dominic Foulkes cut inside and hit a low effort towards goal which Tommy McArthur tipped around the post. Then, Jack Ramsay came close as his rasping half-volley was parried away by McArthur.

Although Murieston looked to be in control of the game, Bonnyrigg scored against the run of play. On 71 minutes, Aiden Ramsay delivered a corner for Jonathon Crutcher whose deflected header found the top of the net as the score became 3-2.

Murieston, just as they did in the first half, responded immediately by reclaiming their two-goal advantage. A low corner from Corey Bryans found substitute Kerr Fraser. He caught his volley brilliantly as the ball flew into the top corner giving the McArthur no chance. This was an excellent goal from Fraser to put Murieston out of sight with 12 minutes to play.

Murieston saw out the remainder of the game to lift yet another trophy and cap off an incredible season for them. The William Johnston Cup was Murieston’s sixth of the season on a night which also saw them presented with the league trophy. The players and staff should be very proud of their unprecedented season, which will probably not be repeated for years to come.