Haddington Athletic (U18s) 1-6 Hearts (U18s)

Haddington Athletic (U18s) 1-6 Hearts (U18s)

Scottish Youth Cup Second Round

Friday 21st October 2022

This turned out to be a comfortable progression into the Scottish Youth Cup Third Round for Hearts as James Wilson (2), Gregor Crookston, Szymon Plesiwicz, Gus Stevenson and Ryan Duncan scored the goals which saw off Haddington Athletic in East Lothian.

In a game which was different in just about every conceivable way to Hearts’ last outing in this competition, the young Jambos adopted a calm and confident approach and played some attractive football. The gulf in quality between the teams became blindingly obvious as the night progressed and Haddington’s chief tormentor was Ryan Duncan as he pierced them open time and again with his driving runs and quality passing and created multiple opportunities for his team-mates in doing so.

Nevertheless, there were still one or two scary moments along the way - none more so than when a Haddington player left Coupar Wilkie’s crossbar shaking after a vicious 25-yard thunderbolt midway through the first period.

The Hearts boys probably knew beforehand that they would be seen as a massive scalp for the non-leaguers in this ‘banana skin’ type fixture and with the ‘B Team’ travelling to Galashiels for a Lowland League fixture on Saturday, it meant several otherwise ‘eligible’ players weren’t included in the starting line-up. Therefore, it was very much an opportunity for some of the younger squad members to make their mark, step into the limelight, put in a strong performance infront of a decent crowd, and get themselves noticed.

One of those players was ‘keeper Coupar Wilkie and, on a night when there was so much quality shown by Hearts in attacking areas, he pulled off an important save to prevent Haddington from taking a surprise lead in the seventh minute when a low free-kick into the box was turned goalwards by Todd Burgess and required an instinctive reaction stop from Wilkie at his near-post.

Haddington also had the woodwork shaking thanks to a snap-shot out of pretty much nothing on 22 minutes, whilst the hosts also looked a threat at set-pieces (another free-kick went narrowly over the target with Wilkie at full-stretch).

Between the hosts’ sparks and flashes of promise, however, Hearts had more of the ball, looked cuter in possession and put some great moves together from which they were unlucky not to make a breakthrough before they actually did.

Ryan Duncan quickly stood out as the danger man with his incisive passing and after he fed Szymon Plesiwicz, who in turn found James Wilson for a simple tap-in, it was only a linesman’s flag that denied the Jambos an opener.

Ethan Drysdale also produced a faultless display at left-back; being solid defensively and supplementing attacks really well and when he burst down the left and produced a perfect cross into the box, Duncan’s sweeping side-foot effort was narrowly off-target.

Drysdale soon fizzed another ball right the way through the goalmouth which nobody was able to connect with as the pressure continued and, after the incident where Haddington rattled the upright, Wilson finally forced a save from home ‘keeper Ben Taylor following a swift and sweeping counter-attack where Alex Walker played him in.

After 33 intriguing minutes, Hearts then got a goal to settle a few nerves. Wilson claimed it although Duncan was the creator as he picked up a loose ball in the middle and drove dangerously with it; squaring a piercing pass for Plesiwicz whose initial attempt was parried straight to Wilson who couldn’t miss with a follow-up which he buried emphatically.

Despite the breakthrough, Haddington nearly struck back within 30 seconds - and it was only another smart and instinctive stop by Wilkie which prevented Riley Haston from getting an instant response after the striker managed to create space for himself inside the box, getting slightly away from Drysdale, and unleash a goalbound low drive.

Hearts’ heeded that warning sign because only a few minutes later they went down the opposite end and doubled their lead to properly rubber-stamp their grip on proceedings. The troublesome triumvirate were at it again as Wilson tapped home from a few yards out after Plesiwicz got in-behind and unselfishly squared the ball to him, whilst Duncan was involved earlier in the build-up play.

Duncan could have added a third goal himself by half-time; showing excellent technique by skipping a challenge tight to the byline and forcing a decent near-post save, but soon after the re-start it was 3-0. Matt Gillies reached the corner flag with a run down the right and whipped a teasing ball right the way across to the back-post where Crookston was in the right place at the right time to volley home.

You half-feared the worst for Haddington by this point and signs that the floodgates were about to open intensified even more because Hearts soon made it 4-0. Duncan was involved yet again - and on this occasion he broke through the middle and poked an ‘eye of a needle’ pass through for Plesiwicz to run onto and he made no mistake with his finish.

Despite church bells ringing from the town centre not too far away, it suddenly seemed eerie and quiet out on the pitch; Haddington’s players knowing for certain that their hopes of a giant-killing were over despite the fact there was still around half-an-hour to go, and Gus Stevenson added his name to what was now becoming a rout when he latched onto a through ball and lifted his effort over an advancing ‘keeper and into the back of the net for 5-0.

Five then became six as Duncan got a goal which his own individual performance merited; finding the target straight from an inswinging corner, before it was Haddington’s turn to score - and they did so in spectacular style with Euan Walker bagging the goal of the night thanks to a 25-yard left-foot beauty into the top corner which even Wilkie couldn’t keep out.

That ultimately completed the scoring although Hearts pressed and probed for more in the latter stages.

Gillies had the ball in the net only for it to be ruled out for an offside given against Duncan, James Anderson lashed a shot into the side-netting not long after his introduction, Mackenzie Ross also went close on three occasions, whilst Wilson tried in vain to complete his hat-trick and claim the matchball - including a chance where he rattled the upright in the dying minutes, but it wasn’t to be.

Overall, Hearts will face sterner challenges in this competition as they aim to replicate (and even go one better) than last season, but they deserve credit for how they applied themselves throughout this game to avoid an upset. There was a calmness and composure in the lads’ approach and general mannerisms on the pitch, despite the fact it was a relatively young team, and there was a clear blueprint with how they set about creating chances and winning the game. Once a lead was established, the gulf in class shone through.

They did ride their luck on a few occasions - and Coupar Wilkie deserves a particular mention because without his early saves then a different type of tie might have materialised. He also commanded his box well, was good with his kicking and handling, and all of it certainly didn’t go unnoticed. How he performed inspired confidence from others around him. It was just a shame he wasn’t quite able to keep a clean-sheet due to the bullet strike!

There were lots of good contributions all over the pitch but the two players who really impressed me were Ryan Duncan and Ethan Drysdale.

Duncan caused multiple problems with his ability and it’s testament to his performance that he was directly involved in at least half the goals, played a part in the two disallowed ones, and was worthy of a ‘Man Of The Match’ award. From portraying a good first touch and being quick on the half-turn at least three or four times (thereby instantly allowing him to spring into an attack), being good with his balance when driving forward to popping defence-splitting passes (the one for the fourth goal was immaculate and amongst the best I’ve seen anywhere this season), I think everyone on the sidelines admired what he delivered. I’m not too sure on his little goatee beard (it reminds me of my mate who plays for Kettering) but he’s certainly someone to keep an eye on. He was nifty, nimble and a pleasure to watch in this mood where he dominated the game!

Drysdale also stood out from the first few minutes and was pretty much faultless during his hour or so on the pitch. Defensively, Haddington couldn’t get past him which was down to the left-back being both positionally aware and anticipating/reading situations well. He won the ball back three or four times, primarily through that intelligence, hurdled a tackle initially to burst away when he flashed the ball through the box on the quarter-hour mark, and his own display left a really good impression. He might not have got on the score-sheet but all the aspects of his performance were certainly noticed by myself at least and it was impressive. Bravo! I’ve got a lot of time for it!

Elsewhere, James Wilson worked relentlessly up top, took his two goals well and was unlucky not to get a hat-trick (which you could tell he really wanted), whilst Szymon Plesiwicz will be happy to have got a goal (not a chance the PA announcer was going to try and pronounce his surname though) - and they showed evidence of a thorough understanding of each other’s game in their link-up play during some of the key moments.

The midfield played their part - especially Gus Stevenson (who the PA announcer liked so much that he announced he’d scored twice - thus causing some confusion) and he also had a couple of good driving runs, including one in the first few minutes. Great technique for his dink finish over the ‘keeper too!

Harvey Chisholm’s work didn’t go unnoticed and he grew into things as the minutes passed; Alex Walker was vocal at times when it was needed and organised stuff at the back - and he produced a sliding interception just inside his own half not long before half-time. It stopped what could have been a dangerous Haddington attack and it was a really good contribution. Kai Smutek won the vast majority of his headers when he needed to and looked comfortable, whilst Gregor Crookston took his goal well and will be happy to have got on the score-sheet.

Finally, of those who started, Matt Gillies came into things quite a lot in the second half and raised a smile. He didn’t get a goal (and on the whole he probably deserved one) but he burst into the box and flashed a shot into the side-netting at 2-0 just after half-time, and when he did put the ball in the net at 6-1, it was ruled out for offside - despite the fact Ryan Duncan (further ahead albeit not interfering with play) was the player in an offside position. Nevertheless, he still claimed the assist for Gregor Crookston’s goal and you could tell with how he raised his arms in the air that he was buzzing with the quality cross he produced. Good stuff from him!

Haddington will know they were beaten by a much better team and will appreciate the quality they came up against.

Their best players were Riley Haston (No.10) who used his frame well at times up top, nearly equalised at one point, and tried his best on the night, albeit to no avail.

Euan Walker’s consolation strike was superb and it’s one he’ll remember for years to come (and being a left-back I don’t think he’ll score too many goals anyway, let alone any better ones) but that strike wasn’t actually his best contribution. At 5-0, when it was very quiet and a few heads were dropping due to the flurry of quickfire goals, he was the player clapping his hands, speaking to his team-mates and trying to lift morale and self-belief. Those are the kind of characteristics which managers love and everyone appreciates because those players because they’re worth their weight in gold. So keep it up, well done on scoring a cracking goal past a really decent ‘keeper, and also a big thumbs up to the person who managed to record it.

Haddington Athletic: Ben Taylor, Euan Walker, Alex McNaughton, Rory Comerford, Todd Burgess, Lucas Martin, Steven Burns, Riley Haston, Lewis Kane, Mathias Martinez, Evan Bonner. Subs: Paul Serpenskas, Robbie Peffers, Pierino Crolla, Brodie Robertson, Connor Elliot, Aaron Ewins.

Hearts: Coupar Wilkie, Ethan Drysdale, Matt Gillies, Kai Smutek, Gregor Crookston, Harvey Chisholm, James Wilson, Gus Stevenson, Ryan Duncan, Szymon Plesiwicz, Alex Walker. Subs: Milosz Silwinki, James Anderson, Mark Beveridge, Mackenzie Ross, Owen Muirhead, Bruno Pilch, Tom Allan.