Leith Athletic U20’s

A good 3-1 Victory over Dalkeith last night

Danny’s early goal was followed almost immediately by an equalizer for Dalkeith

1st half was a bit stop start with neither side creating much

2nd half was pretty much 1 way traffic with the game being played predominantly in the Dalkeith half

It felt like just a matter of time before the goal would come & it was defo worth the wait. Lewis Munro scoring a fantastic free kick past the helpless Dalkeith GK

The 3rd followed soon after with Blair firing across the keeper into the far corner a great left foot finish

Great response from the boys after last week’s disappointing result

Credit to all the subs who came on and had a great impact working hard for the team helping us to an important 3pts

MOTM this week goes to Lewis Munro - Lewis worked tirelessly in MF always willing to take the ball & create going forward as well as breaking up play going the other way - capped off a fine performance with a great goal 👏

3-1 win against a really stubborn Arniston side

An early goal from Mo put us 1 up as we dominated possession also hitting the woodwork twice but just couldn’t add to the early goal in the first half

2nd half we started sloppy and conceded as arni got a well deserved equaliser

We re took the lead after a neat finish from Lennon before being reduced to 10 men for the last 20/25 mins due to injury and having used all our subs

We managed the game really well with the Mf trio of Danny, Lennon & Blair controlling the Mf showing a lot of maturity for 3 of the younger squad members

We took the game out of site after a well taken header from Ross from a delightful ball in from Danny effectively sealing the 3 points

Credit to Arniston who made the game really hard for us tonight through their hard work and excellent attitudes

Our boys showed some real maturity in the later stages seeing the game out and earning all 3 points

Not the prettiest of performances but a much needed win after a tough few weeks.

MOTM this week goes to Lennon Muir a very strong overall performance capped off with a big goal 👏

With the weather changing & the darker nights coming in we are actively looking for a sponsor for winter subs jacket

If any sponsors are willing and able to support us with this please get in touch 🌧️ ⚫️⚪️

Challenge Cup R1

East Kilbride Thistle 1-2 Leith

Last night we travelled west to face EKT in the first round of the Challenge Cup in wet and windy conditions - fair play to both teams and the referee for making sure the game went ahead and putting on a very entertaining cup match

After a really good 1st half last week we decided to go with the same starting 11 until unfortunately influential Mf Danny had to call off due to travel concerns meaning Callum Howie returned in his place after missing last week with injury

The game started frantically with neither team really getting the ball down mainly due to conditions and trying to feel each other out

As the first half progressed we started to dominate Possession and looked the more likely to open the scoring however EKT were looking dangerous on the break with their 9&10 causing us problems in the pockets of space

The opening goal came from some good wide play down the left from Ross who found Kerr in the box 1v1 with the GK who calmly tucked the ball low to the GKs left - a very composed finish

The rest of the first half seen very little clear cut chances for either side however we continued to be the dominant team with lots of possesion and looked very assured defensively

HT - seen Max replace Ross & Lennon replace Mo

The 2nd half started really well for us creating some dangerous openings with some decent set piece deliveries and strong wing play but somehow we failed to take advantage of the chances and failed to add to our lead

This gave the home side some real confidence as they started to look more and more threatening it felt like an equalizer wasn’t to far away and before we knew it with about 15 minutes to go EKT leveled at 1-1 - another week were we’ve allowed teams back into a game when we could have and should have extended our lead and put ourselves into a commanding position a lesson we will quickly need to learn from

The boys never allowed the equalizer to deflate them and a quick change of shape and the positive impact of the now 4 subs
Lennon, Max , Blair and Lewis seen us push for a winner with some real heart and desire being shown all over the park - we were now seeing a proper cup tie

Thankfully for us a slack back pass from a Thistle player allowed Blair to nip in and round the keeper finishing into an empty net a great finish to put as back in front

We were now fighting for each all over the park the GK and Defence standing firm the MF battling for every ball and the frontline working tirelessly a real team effort

The last real chance of the game fell to Blair who raced through 1v1 with their Gk but found himself caught in two minds and his chipped effort went wide of the post

Thankfully it wasn’t too long before the ref blew for FT and the boys progressed into R2

A real Team effort this week everyone of the 16 boys who travelled playing their part and the subs having a major impact on the game great for us as coaches to see 👏

MOTM this week for the 2nd game on the bounce as chosen by the coaches was Kerr

A tireless performance from Kerr with an unbelievable amount of hard work and a goal made him this weeks choice

Honorable Mention has to go to Max Plutka who only played the 2nd half but was absolutely everywhere showing an unbelievable attitude and desire to help the boys Into the next round 👏

League game

Leith 1-1 Musselburgh Ath

A great game for the neutrals last night as 2 teams who have had strong starts to the season played out an entertaining 1-1 draw

The game got off to a fast start as we dominated the ball looking particular dangerous in the wide areas with great combinations down the left with Ross & Ayo and down the right with Paul & Kerr

The opening goal came after 9 minutes when some great combination play down the right led to Kerr crossing the ball over with Mo showing neat footwork to lay off Danny who calmly slotted the ball into the top right hand corner to give us a fully deserved lead

We were close to extending our lead 5 mins later through Ross who was very unlucky to see his effort from a free kick skim the post.

We continued to dominate the majority of the play for the remainder of the first half with our best chance falling to Ayo a few minutes before the break after some great wing play from Kerr cutting inside and playing a through ball into Ayos path who somehow managed to hit it straight at the Mussy GK - a real guilt edge Chance that would have seen us going into the 2nd half in total control - unfortunately it wasn’t to be.

The 2nd half was in truth miles off what I would expect from us - probably down to Musselburgh drastically improving as we knew they would

Their MF 3 having real joy on the ball and bossing the MF battle

The game turned scrappy from our perspective as we made some poor decisions in key areas allowing Musselburgh to start turning the screw

There subs were having a really positive impact on the game and ours unfortunately struggling to have the impact we were looking for

The goal for Mussy was inevitable tbh and came after some poor defensive play allowed their Left winger to cut the ball back to their number 9 who slotted past the helpless Jason in goals - a deserved equaliser.

The rest of the game was frantic with both teams pushing for a winner with Musselburgh
having a succession of corners and Leith still looking dangerous on the break with their pace in the forward areas

The only other moment of real note was a controversial decision from the referee who failed to give us what looked like a stonewall penalty after Ayo got in behind his full back and was clipped in the area

I think even Mussy expected the decision to be given but it wasn’t to be.

Overall a very entertaining game a classic game of two halves with both sides probably frustrated at coming away with only 1 point

I guess onto time will tell if it’s a point gained or 2 dropped.

MOTM this week goes to Kerr - a first start for Kerr this season and he had a great impact particularly in a dominant 1st 45

Well done Kerr 👏

🤝

Well done Charlie 👏

Delighted to announce Alisdair Gourley from our Under 18’s has joined on a dual Contract for the remainder of the season

Al has trained extremely well since coming on board & we look forward to seeing him in action as the season progresses

Well done Al ⚫️⚪️

Al will be sponsored Home & Away by MGM Timber for the season massive thanks to Peter and his team for their support for Al 🤝

League game

Leith 1-2 Whitehill Welfare

We knew last nights game was going to be tight after both teams had really strong starts to the season and a tight affair it proved to be

I felt we started the game really well bossing possesion for the first 10 minutes creating some dangerous attacks without really threatening the whitehill Gk

We then unfortunately lost influential Mf Lennon after a challenge with their Gk and from there lost control of the game allowing whitehill to come Into the game more and more as the first half progressed

We conceded a really sloppy goal after an individual error allowed Whitehills Brodie Hood to cooly chip the goalkeeper from inside the box giving whitehill the lead

The Game continued to be an even affair with very little separating the teams and both Gks staying fairly untroubled

Then on the stroke of HT a breakaway from us allowed Ross to slip in Ayo who raced beyond the Defence to slot low into the bottom corner taking us in all square at the break

The 2nd half began very similarly to the first with the game being a competitive battle all over the park with neither side really creating many real clear cut chances

The winner was to come from the impressive Matthew Sankey of Whitehill who made a marauding run from his own half playing some neat passes before receiving the ball wide and firing over a cross come shot which evaded Kieran in goals and landed high in the far corner of the net

A criminal goal to lose for us - a real lack of desire to stop the attack and then allowing the cross to end up in the bag of the net a sore one to take

We pushed hard for an equaliser with the time remaining without really creating too many real openings until in the 91st minute a wreckless challenge in the box on Ayo gave us a Penalty and a chance to level the game

Mo stepped up with the confidence to score and bring the game level but his penalty unfortunately went wide of the left hand post handing whitehill all 3 points.

Overall a pretty even game with not a lot between the sides but congratulations on the 3pts to whitehill

That’s 2 defeats in as many weeks now for us after a really strong start to the season so we will be looking for a reaction from the boys this week in training hoping to get back on track away to Tynecastle next week.

Motm this week goes to Ross Baxter

Ross was asked to play further back this week and done a great job in his 1v1 defending aswell as getting forward at every opportunity trying to create openings going forward

Well done Ross 👏

League Cup Round 1
Musselburgh 2-0 Leith

We sadly exit the cup at the first hurdle after a well below par performance last night against a really well established Mussy side

The Game itself lacked any real chances for either side before a ball into the box wasn’t dealt with and musselburghs left winger capitalized at the back post to knock the ball low into the net - a poor goal for us to lose.

The rest of the first half lacked any real quality with both sets of forward players being wasteful in the final 3rd with poor decision making

2nd half seen both sides fail to create any real clear cut chances with the game being a combative Mf battle less than pleasing on the eye to say the least

The second and killer goal came from a neat through ball from musselburgh releasing their number 9 who finished high into the net after a slight deflection and effectively ended the tie as a contest

We pushed for a goal late on but never looked likely to get one after creating very little chances and sadly the game just petered out

A well below par performance on the night - one we will just need to put to bed and move on from

MOTM
Kieran Wood

Kieran dealt with everything well when called upon and showed real composure on the ball playing out from the back
Well done Kieran 👏

The following players are still looking for sponsorship for the season

Jason Meikle
Kieran Wood
Lewis Gilroy
Lennon Muir ( away only)
Mo Sidibe ( away only )
Ayoola Ifesanya-Olusuji (Away only )

£50 home £50 away
£85 for both

Sponsorship consists of

name / business featured on club website
name / business featured on player graphic used for match updates and MoTM awards goals etc on our social media platforms
An initial thank you post on social media platforms

Any Interest drop the page a DM or contact Josh via [email protected] or 07825516514