Edinburgh South CFC came back from a goal down at half time to score three of their own in the second half to beat St Bernards BC Midlothian. This non-stop match displayed great performances from both sides and had several highly impressive strikes by the goal scorers. However, it was Edinburgh South who triumphed and left New Dundas Park with the George Salmon Cup.

The scoring got underway early on as St Bernards took the lead in the 3rd minute. Louie Crawford played the ball from outside the penalty area into Ryan Sim on the left-hand side of the box who shot near post to beat the Edinburgh South keeper, Evan Hawkins and put his team ahead.

Edinburgh South were quick to bounce back from the early goal as they equalised in the 10th minute. Haseeb Saleem squared the ball from the right side of the penalty box to Arham Saleem at the opposite end who had an easy tap into an empty net.

The red side doubled their scoring moments later in the 12th minute. Daniel Thomson linked up well with Haseeb Saleem who set up their first goal to gain their second as he thundered in a strike high into the centre of the goal from the right flank.

Edinburgh South had a chance to add a third goal to their tally as their star player, Haseeb Saleem was brought down in the box and the referee awarded the penalty.
Michael Ward stepped up in the 23rd minute to sink away the strike into the goal but the effort was not on target as the ball flew over the crossbar.

As a result, St Benards took the opportunity to level the score thanks to great team created counter attack in the 30th minute. Robbie McCormack sent in a great ball from the left-hand side to Jake Smith outside the penalty area who subsequently sent in Sim a ball in the box who shot home to bring the scoring to two apiece.

On the stroke of half time St Benards went ahead thanks to easily the goal of the game if not for their season. McCormack dribbled the ball in the 35th minute until he was central of the goal about 15 yards out to then fire in a bullet of a strike that arrived perfectly into the top right hand corner of the goal leaving the keeper no chance of saving the magnificent effort. 

Despite being a goal down, Edinburgh South came out fighting in the second half and their efforts were awarded with a goal in the 52nd minute. Haseeb Saleem added another assist to his game as he set up Murray Hamilton from the left side to the centre.

Similar to McCormack’s effort, Hamilton fired a shot from range which was going towards the top centre of the net. St Bernards keeper, Ryan Wilkinson believed the ball was going over the crossbar but unfortunately for the keeper it arrives in the back of the net.

With their confidence back and playing with good momentum, Edinburgh South continue to fight for the winning goal which does eventually come in the 63rd minute. The goal scorer from the previous effort, Hamilton begins the build-up play of the next strike by playing the ball to Haseeb Saleem who subsequently plays in Michael Ward on the right side of the penalty box.

Ward then takes the keeper out the game by squaring the ball across goal to Harvey Neilson who taps in the effort. The hero scorer is embraced by all his team mates, including their goalkeeper as he had secured them the winning strike in this enthralling cup final.

 And in the 70th minute, Haseeb Saleem put the final nail in the coffin for St Bernards as they got their fifth of the game. Saleem shot towards the near post on the left-hand side, beating the keeper and rightfully earning himself the star player award for his side and cementing their position as champions of the George Salmon Cup.