Edinburgh City picked up their second league win of the season at Meadowbank in emphatic fashion with a 4-1 victory over Stranraer. Caitlyn Gordon reports.
Innes Lawson broke the deadlock in the opening ten minutes with Dylan Williams adding his name to the scoresheet in the first half. Despite the visitors pulling one back through Joseph McGrath, Divine Iserhienrhien and Jason Jarvis both added their names to the scoresheet in the second half to secure three pivotal points for City.
Two changes were made to Michael McIndoe’s team that drew to Forfar Athletic last Saturday Captain Jason Jarvis returned to the starting lineup after a lengthy injury layoff and replaced Greig Allen, with Jamie Walker also replacing Cole Williams.
Tiwi Daramola also made a welcome return to the squad. The forward had been out since the first game of the Premier Sports Cup with a cruciate ligament injury.
The Citizens started the game energised, pushing forward and attempting to create chances. City created the first proper opportunity of the game, which resulted in the first goal. Malik Zaid fed the ball to Innes Lawson and the winger fired home a dipping volley to score his ninth goal of the season.
Stanraer increased the pressure as they hunted for a goal, Deryn Lang ran up the middle of the park and attempted a shot on goal. However, the Citizens anticipated the chance, successfully clearing the threat from the net.
Lawson attempted to double City’s lead as the match neared the thirty minute mark. The number 11 looked to double his tally but the ball bounced wide of the post.
A gilt-edged opportunity arose for City in the thirty second minute. Zaid ran down the right flank and fired towards goal, but the chance deflected off Matty Gilles. Subsequently, City were awarded a corner kick, where Jarvis passed to an eager Zaid who carried the ball into the box. Ultimately, Stranraer eliminated the threat.
The visitors were presented with an opportunity as Aaron Quigg took a shot from point-blank range, but a great save from Mark Weir maintained City’s advantage.
On the cusp of half-time, and after many missed opportunities throughout the first forty five minutes, the Citizens doubled their lead. A floated cross from Jarvis met the head of Dylan Williams who neatly cushioned the ball into the bottom right corner.
As the first half headed into stoppage time, Stranraer retaliated by getting onto the scoreboard. Joseph McGrath lashed the ball into the net after a successful free-kick to haul the Blues back into the game.
Stranraer ramped up the pressure in the second half, with several chances having to be foiled by Weir. Chris McQueen was resolute in the defence as he continually intercepted Stranraer’s opportunities.
Stranraer had an agonisingly close call in the sixty fifth minute as Lang flicked on a header from the centre of the box, but the ball landed on the roof of the net.
The Citizens responded in perfect fashion. Substitute Divine Iserhienrhien raced through on goal and calmly slotted the back into the net to score his first professional goal.
In the closing minutes of the match, City won a penalty kick. Jarvis hit the back of the net to increase the advantage to four goals. To round off a miserable afternoon for Stranraer, Finn Ecrepont earned himself a straight red card after an atrocious tackle on Lawson which forced the midfielder off the pitch.
At full time, Michael McIndoe praised the squad for the victory:
“Tremendous performance, really controlled first half, moved the ball really well, slick combinations, took the lead. Found ourselves actually quite disappointed to give them that goal because I felt we dominated that first half. More like ourselves, getting back to being that big threat we are as Edinburgh City. Really pleased with the first half, told the players to go out and score more goals, and we did that, really pleased.”
McIndoe hailed both Williams and Iserhienrhien who grabbed their first goals for the club, while also mentioning how important it was to get key players back from injury:
“It was great for Dylan Williams and Divine got his first one, which is important for these guys and their confidence levels. I think the other praise to mention today is getting Tiwi and Jason Jarvis back on the pitch.
“Loads of positives today, I think we mentioned a few weeks ago that we could see signs that the threat and intensity was coming back.”
