A youth football match last night descended into chaos when the presentation of a cup ended with players and parents turning the presentation into a near brawl.
Craigroyston Boys Football Club under 19s were playing in the South East Region Youth FA Cup final against Inverkeithing side Hillfield Swifts at Saughton Enclosure . At the end of the ninety minutes the teams were level at 2-2 and required extra time to settle the ill -tempered match.
Craigroyston got of to a terrific start after only fifteen minutes when Hillfield failed to clear a corner. The ball landed at the feet of Alan Swaney. He turned defender well and fired the ball low in the corner of the net.
Jack Matson levelled for the Fife club from the penalty spot just before the halftime interval. Grant Stuart then put Craigroyston back in front on the hour mark when he broke the offside trap and ran through to slot the ball past the advancing keeper.
Craigroyston’s trouble started a few minutes after taking the lead when Jack Allison was sen off for his second caution. Hillfield did level it in the 96th minute of the game, a ball was played in and Jack Hynd managed to prod the ball over the line to take game to extra time. In extra time Hynd got his second goal of the night, and the season when he headed home from close range.
That was the end of the scoring but not the end of the action, Craigroyston had another man sent off when Laurie Peat appeared to lash out at an opponent and was shown a straight red card. Before the end extra time Craigroyston where reduced to eight men when Darren Harvey had a coming together to with Hillfield’s Wesley Lockwood and both were dismissed.
As the league officials prepared to get the presentation underway, all hell broke loose. One of the Craigroyston players had to be restrained by his own teammates and coaches as he appeared to be trying to confront the Hillfield management team. Within minutes the situation had descended into chaos with other parents shouting at the Hillfield management team and one female spectator who entered the pitch area to confront the manager before leaving.
The situation escalated further as Craigroyston players started arguing among themselves before one adult who had been watching, and was supporting Craigroyston, appeared to try and punch one of them. More adults became involved and settled things down.
The league officials were then able to present medals to both sides and the trophy to Hillfield Swifts who were worthy winners on the night.
there are 2 sides to a story( referees display)
and what happened after the match wasn’t right either
I disagree with your report…you didnt mention the fact that the referee played 8 mins over normal time, when his linesman told us there would be only 4 mins added….You also didnt mention the shocking tackles on 3 Craigroyston players that got injured and Hillfield werent booked for any of these….As for the near brawl… You never mentioned that one of the Hillfield coaches tormented the said player who lashed out, and threatned him, this is not acceptable at any level and Craigroyston as a team cannot be held responsible for other peoples actions…..All we ask for is a fair report on a good game of football, but no we are labelled as thugs, it is not acceptable, especially when you have to remember this is Youth Football…….
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