Two early first half goals from Divine Iserhienrhien sealed another season in the SPFL for the Citizens. Caitlyn Gordon reports:
Two changes were made to Michael McIndoe’s squad, with James Lyon replacing Quinn Mitchell in defence and Tiwi Daramola returning from injury and replacing Dylan Williams up front. After last Saturday’s first leg, the teams head into the game with the score at 1-1 on aggregate.
City started strongly as Tiwi Daramola and Divine Iserhienrhien combined, with the latter nutmegging Cameron Mackay to give the Citizens an early advantage.
In his final appearance for Edinburgh City, Malik Zaid aimed to make it memorable. He ran down the right flank before cutting back to Iserhienrhien, who flicked the ball into the net for his second goal of the game.
The Citizens were on the hunt for another when Innes Lawson easily bypassed the Brora defence to take a close-range strike at goal, but MacKay saved the effort.
A free-kick for the visitors initially resulted in a goal, but upon review, it was disallowed for offside.
Iserhienrhien almost completed his hat-trick on the stroke of halftime, with an incredible strike from the edge of the box, but Mackay saved well.
After the interval, a gilt-edged chance for the Citizens almost sealed a third. Zaid’s strong strike from the edge of the box tested Mackay, before the chance was cleared.
Brora fashioned a promising chance, with the initial threat first coming from a Tony Dingwall cross, which rattled the woodwork. Shane Sutherland then attempted to follow up the loose ball, but Weir was able to make the save.
The full time whistle arrived shortly afterwards, and Edinburgh City had come out on top with an excellent performance to secure an eleventh consecutive season in the SPFL.
After making pivotal stops to ensure a clean sheet and remaining in the SFPL, Mark Weir was interviewed following the match.
“I thought the first half we were brilliant, we were keeping the ball well”
“Obviously, we knew what we were going to be up against after last week; we knew it would be a tough game”.
The game was a tale of two halves, with City dominating in the opening 45 and sealing two goals. However, in the second half, the Citizens played a game of chess in defence as Brora sought to pull one back.
“The second half was a completely different performance,” Weir explained.
“They threw the kitchen sink at us, as I’d expect, because a lot was riding on it for them. That showed a different side to the team, that I’m sure the other lads would say we’ve lacked in some aspects this season.
“When it mattered, everybody dug together, everybody pulled through, and to get that clean sheet personally was brilliant.
Weir earned his sixth clean sheet of the season, something which the local lad was proud of: “It’s always that cliche that it’s a team sport, at the end of the day, I’ve not had that many clean sheets this year as I probably should’ve had.
“Even to get one on the most important game of the season, one of the most important in the club’s history, it’s brilliant.”
“Having been a lad from Edinburgh, actually playing at City when I was a young boy in the youth team and being able to come back, give back to the club and be part of what we managed to achieve this afternoon has been brilliant.”
