Haddington 2 Sauchie 3 

IT was the perfect finish for Sauchie legend Brian Morgan who struck in extra time to win the East of Scotland League Cup in his last ever match for the club. 

He's hanging up his boots but the silver lining came in the way of silverware with his goal edging a thriller of a final at Westfield Park in Dunipace.

The Reds were the better side over the 120 minutes but Haddington stayed in it and forced extra time with a late leveller. 

But that meant the stage was set for Morgan to write his own ending, with his goal taking the trophy back to Sauchie before heading off into the sunset and retirement. 

Boss Fraser Duncan said: “It’s a great end for him. He’s done brilliantly, his service up here has been absolutely exemplary.

“He wants to take a break and if he wants to come back, the first to know will be me. He wants to give his legs and body a break and have some family time."

“This is a difficult league to play in and Morgy is one of the best players in the league by a country mile.

“Today for him to get the winning goal was outstanding. I had that feeling something special was going to happen and I’d hate to have left here without winning that for him.

“If he comes back and says ‘Listen I fancy a cameo for another six months or a year’ then that will happen but as it is at the minute, I hope he rests up and enjoys his time off.”

Despite looking dangerous in the opening phases, it was the East Lothian side who struck first, Lucas McGarry heading home from a corner.

Juniors wasted little time in turning the tide, however, with Jack Docherty scoring a quickfire double to put them in front.

The Clacks outfit remained in control for the duration of the second half and had opportunities to put the game to bed.

Docherty almost made it a hat trick but was denied by a fingertip save from the Haddington shot stopper, who worked incredibly hard to keep his side in it.

Sauchie had an appeal for a handball in the box but their shouts were ignored.

They did have the ball in the net moments later but again they were denied, this time by an offside flag. 

Haddington stayed alive and threw all they had at getting a leveller. 

And they eventually got their reward with the last kick of the game – a cross came in and was poorly defended, allowing Corey Robertson to pounce and fire it into the top corner.

That could have demoralised the Clacks men but instead, when extra time got underway, they poured forward in search of a winner. 

And they found it with Morgan, the departing club legend and captain, grabbing the headlines. 

“It’s been a tough season,” Duncan told Advertiser Sport. “We’ve got a squad of players and we have underachieved.

“By taking this cup home today, we’ve proven that we can go on and win competitions and we need to kick on from here.

“Today was 120 minutes of sheer emotion, ups, downs but that’s football. I can’t fault my players, they’ve worked incredibly hard today.

“Haddington are a very good side, very disciplined and I felt there was one bit of the game where we lost our way a bit when they scored the first goal.

“After that, we pulled ourselves back and did brilliantly.”

Duncan alluded to it being a difficult season and added: “The squad is far too good not to win something this season and I think finishing sixth in the league has really disappointed us this year.

“We said during the first game of this competition that we had to go and win this and the guys were adamant that we were going to win it.

“You can see that in extra time when I got that bit extra out of them and that pushed us forward.

“Haddington did well but in extra time, there was only going to be one winner.

“The boys wanted it and they got it and I’m delighted, chuffed to bits. The support was outstanding, for the community from the Wee County to do that for us, I can’t thank them enough.

“There was a great support today and a great day all round.”