YFS
It was Lornshill Academy who became Forth Valley U14s league champions at a sunny Ochilview stadium in Stenhousemuir and they did so in some style. Opposition Grangemouth High School ran them close towards the end of the first half but Lornshill proved much too strong and won the game 6-4.
The first corner of the game brought with it the first goal, a Tom Hatelyesque corner floated into the box by Lornshill’s number 3 saw him score straight from the corner kick, a deep ball curler over the keeper and nestled inside the back post. A wonderful goal.
Lornshill doubled their advantage fifteen minutes into the match with some lovely build up play which led to number 6 rounding the keeper and laying it off to number 17 who smashed it past the helpless keeper from close range.
In the early stages of the game it was nearly all Lornshill with the Grangemouth defence struggling to cope with the counter-attack but Grangemouth eventually found their feet and started to create some chances of their own.
The game had a healthy audience with classes from both schools backing out the main stand in support of their school and the players seemed to thrive off the atmosphere their fellow class mates created.
Grangemouth finally converted one of their earlier chances when Kyle Neish broke through the defence thanks to a lovely through ball to take it past the keeper and put Grangemouth on the target on the 24th minute of the match.
Grangemouth almost got the equaliser straight from kick off when a free kick from Ciaran Heeps was just headed over the bar from Connor Ramsey.
Lornshill almost made Grangemouth pay for their missed opportunity when they ran up the park, catching the defence off guard before shipping it to the wings. Number 17 crossed the ball into 12 who just put it past the left-hand side of the post.
But it was to be Grangemouth to find the next. Heeps picked up a loose pass from outside the box and unleashed a screamer to take it over the head of the helpless keeper and draw the match.
As half time approached it seemed as if the teams would head into the break on level pegging but another wonder strike from Lornshill’s number 12 made sure that wouldn’t be the case. Picking up another slack pass from the right wing, he brought it onto his left and let rip from some distance to restore their lead.