Fairnie the hero as Leith reach League Cup final

After a goalless 120 minutes, goalkeeper Neil Fairnie was the hero, saving two of Lothian’s spot-kicks before converting the winning penalty himself to take his side through to the final where they will meet the winners of next Wednesday’s clash between Tynecastle and Spartans EOS.

League leaders Leith now turn their attentions to Sunday’s Alex Jack Cup final where they meet Eyemouth United in Coldstream.

Manager Derek Riddel says his players had to dig deep after the dismissal of defender Neil Lowson for two bookable offences five minutes from the end of normal time.

“We’re absolutely delighted to get through,” he said. “We’re the two best teams in the league and the most consistent. It was always going to be a tight game. I thought we were the better side in the first half and Lothian the second. Going down to ten men made it very difficult so we had to make sure we stayed in the game. We’ve got to penalties and scored four out of our five kicks so we can’t complain.”

Elsewhere, Tynecastle picked up an excellent three points with a 3-2 victory over Heriot-Watt University at Riccarton, Civil Service Strollers were beaten 4-2 at Hawick Royal Albert and Ormiston crashed to a 5-2 defeat away to Stirling University EOS.