RHU Amateurs boss Gordon Brodie hailed his players for their “tremendous performance” as they overcame adversity to book a place in round four of the Scottish Amateur Cup on Saturday.
Rhu trailed 1-0 at the break away to Ratho Athletic in their final match of 2023 – but Brodie’s troops battled back in the second half to secure a 2-1 win, and will now face Easterhouse Football Academy on home turf in the new year.
What made the win even more notable was that it was achieved with a squad of only 12 fit players due to a massive injury list.
Brodie said afterwards: “Undeterred, we turned in a tremendous performance full of commitment, passion and with a huge team ethos that has been evident with these boys over the last couple of years.
“This was a very accomplished and professional performance from the boys, and with everything stacked against them they showed great resilience in some extremely challenging conditions.”
In torrential conditions at Queensferry High School, Rhu kicked off into a strong wind which made it difficult to play their normal style of football – and the home team took advantage of this and took an early lead with a very well taken header from the number 9 that gave keeper Gubba no chance.
Rhu started to settle into the game and took control of the bulk of possession, creating numerous chances, with only some smart saves from the home keeper preserving Ratho’s advantage into the break.
The message from Brodie at half time was clear - keep playing how we had been, and more chances will come our way.
And Rhu stuck to that task and grabbed a well-deserved leveller after a fine move starting with the goalkeeper, with the ball eventually breaking to Jordan Wyllie at the edge of the box, and he coolly slotted it into the bottom corner.
But the loss of the equaliser spurred Ratho into action, and for the next 10 minutes or so they had their most promising spell of the game – only to find the Rhu defensive line in no mood to concede.
Rhu made a change with 25 minutes to go, with the returning Ross Jeffrey coming on for Cameron – and it was an attacking move that proved decisive, with Jeffrey instantly making an impact as the visitors created chance after chance, with the assault on the Ratho goal coming to resemble the siege of the Alamo.
And as the clock ticked on into the final 10 minutes, the winner finally arrived when a fine ball was played in over a static Ratho defensive line, with Jeffrey amply justifying his nickname of 'Coisty' by pulling the ball down from the sky with an exquisite first touch before dispatching the ball into the bottom corner, sending the visitors into raptures.
Rhu shut up shop for the closing stages and with some great ball management the visitors were able to see the tie out and secure Scottish Cup football after Christmas.
The fourth round tie against Easterhouse is due to be played at Ardenconnel on Saturday, January 6.
Brodie added: “Rhu wore black armbands in tribute to former Rhu man Eric Wilson and the boys did a great man proud with their performance.”
All photos taken by VinePhoto of Edinburgh and reproduced with permission – click here to view the full gallery.
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