The boys boarded the bus very excited for a rematch following the 1-0 defeat at home to Merchiston earlier in the term. Unfortunately, the journey was prolonged due to the accident on the bypass which meant not much time to warm up and therefore it did take us a few minutes to get into the game. It was 9-a-side and Leo set up his team accordingly but in the early stages it was all Merchiston. We were very much playing them on the break and Leo brought a great save out of their keeper, who tipped the ball over the bar. Ewan also had a good chance saved but after some good intricate play in midfield, James touched the ball out to Leo who blasted it past the Merchiston keeper. We had a few more chances to make it 2-0 but couldn't quite get the ball under control and the keeper made some more good stops. Cody in our goal didn't have much to do in the first half thanks to our excellent defence with Artie and Zain impressing in particular. However, when one glorious chance fell to the Merchiston striker, Cody made an unbelievable double save to keep us in front at the break.

The coach, who gets his football knowledge from hours and hours of watching Sky Sports and BT Sport, gave a team talk at half time which consisted of, 'just hoof when in trouble' and 'get stuck in to win the 50/50s'.

In the second half, Merchiston grew into the game more and our defence was kept busy. Cody produced some confident punches away from the multiple corners that Merchiston won and made another terrific save, diving down low to his left to tip the ball round the post. Again though, we turned defence into attack and after Artie won the ball with a well-timed tackle and spotted the run of Ewan, he played it down the line to the energetic midfielder who played a short pass to Leo. The skipper made a powerful diagonal run with the ball and just as he looked to unleash another fierce shot, he calmly played a disguised reverse pass across the goal to Ewan, who had continued his run ahead, to tap it in. We would have had a third when Ewan was bundled over in the box, however, Chay's penalty, which was a good strike, went straight at the keeper who made a comfortable save.

Despite some late attempts at goal from the home side, we kept the clean sheet and held on for the win. Victories against our friends at Merchiston don't come around often so this is one that the boys should savour and be proud of the way they played as a team. 

Well done, boys!