Peebles prevail in the Persevere Cup

Peebles FC U13s progressed to the next round of the Persevere Cup following a 6-1 victory over Lochend FA Colts at Seafield Recreation Ground on Sunday.

First-half goals from Dawson Atkins and George Pickburn put the away side in control before Atkins and Bohdan Sheiko made it 4-0 shortly after the restart.

Lochend pulled one back moments later via Tyler Coleman but Tyler Murphy scored either side of a missed penalty to ensure a comfortable third win in a row for the team from the Borders.

Peebles now face a trip to Lauderdale FC in the quarter-finals of the U13s Persevere Cup in a few weeks.

Coach Andy said his Peebles players were “a little bit anxious” to begin with as they only had one substitute, and this was perhaps also the case for Lochend who only named two players on their bench. Both sides got into good positions on the edge of each box on numerous occasions but lacked the selfishness to get a shot away rather than walking the ball into the net.

Peebles took the lead with 20 minutes on the clock when Atkins picked up the ball midway inside Lochend’s half and used his explosive pace to skip beyond the defender before firing a low effort beyond keeper Loan Jacquet.

Pickburn then doubled his side’s lead when he got on the end of a low cross from the right-hand side and calmly slotted home from close range.

The pattern of play had been even thus far, but Peebles began to dominate the chances as the first half ended – Finlay Epton drove forward from central midfield multiple times and was proving a nuisance for the Lochend defence.

Jacquet pulled off two excellent diving saves to thwart Peebles and keep the score at 2-0 going into the interval.

Within seven minutes of the restart, though, it looked to be game over. A quickfire double from Atkins and Sheiko, who both did well to react fastest and knock home rebounds following saves by Jacquet, made it 4-0 to the away side.

However, to their credit, Lochend did not let their heads drop and pulled one back through Coleman who fired low beyond Dylan Lanigan amidst a stramash of bodies just inside the box.

That goal looked like it could be the catalyst for a potential Lochend comeback when Coleman was at the heart of the attacking action once again, unleashing a thunderous effort from around 35 yards out which was well saved by the diving Lanigan.

Peebles had other ideas, though, making it 5-1 with just 10 minutes remaining when Murphy took advantage of a defensive mix-up following a cross from the left to score from six yards.

Jacquet capped off his excellent individual performance five minutes from time when he dived low to his left to save Atkins’ penalty and prevent him his hat-trick following a foul in the box.

The action continued until the very last kick of the ball when Murphy broke into the box and dinked the goalkeeper to round off an emphatic 6-1 Persevere Cup victory for Peebles.

Lochend FA Colts Player of the Match: Loan Jacquet

The goalkeeper made several excellent diving saves throughout the game and even managed to save a penalty – Peebles’ victory would’ve been significantly more comfortable but for his heroics.

Peebles FC Player of the Match: Dawson Atkins

Although this accolade could’ve gone to any one of several players, the striker bagged a cup double, including a well-taken solo effort for his first, and was continuously at the heart of Peebles’ attacking action.

Lochend FA Colts Magic Moment:

The home side’s goal proved that they’re a team that doesn’t let their heads drop despite being 4-0 down at the time and can be confident of getting positive results with that level of fight shown this season.

Peebles FC Magic Moment

Although two separate incidents, Peebles’ third and fourth goals happened in such quick succession I’ll still class them as a key moment which set them on their way to an emphatic Persevere Cup victory.