Whitedale defeat Delting 3-2 to lift football’s Manson Cup

Manson Cup Final

Delting 2, Whitedale 3

A long period with an empty trophy cabinet finally ended on Saturday, with Whitedale claiming the Manson Cup, their first piece of silverware in over 15 years.

The West Side team deserved their 3-2 victory over Delting, with the champions somewhat subdued and only really threatening towards the end of both halves.

Whitedale took the lead in the 20th minute and a fine goal it was, bagged by Ryan Joswik against his old team. With a cushioned header Jamie Wilson knocked the ball perfectly into the path of striking colleague  Joswik and his glorious first-time shot was nestling in the back of the net before keeper Craig Dinwoodie had even thought about moving.

Delting’s Leighton Flaws was put clean through with just two minutes of the half remaining, but a fantastic tackle by Piotr Drosdowski stopped his progress, only for the full back to give the ball away on the edge of the box. Ross McDougal saw his chance and rifled his shot past keeper Martin Young, an equalising goal which was almost as good as Joswik’s opener.

With 51 minutes gone Whitedale were back in front. Wilson found himself through on goal and was able to hold off the challenge of a defender before lofting the ball over the advancing Dinwoodie.

The goal appeared to give Whitedale increased confidence and they continued to press foward, which paid off with the award of a penalty in the 55th minute. Shetland midfielder Duncan Anderson was upended in the box by Dinwoodie and referee Robert Geddes had little hesitation in pointing to the spot. Allan Johnston was given the kick and he produced a cool finish.

With just over a minute of normal time remaining, Delting grabbed a lifeline following another corner on right. Merv Jamieson was the first to connect in an aerial battle and his header looped over a despairing Young to end up over the line.

The goal paved the way for an action-packed final few minutes, with Delting coming close on two or three occasions. But despite Geddes adding on what seemed a generous amount of stoppage time the underdogs managed to hold out and it was a proud Duncan Anderson who received the trophy.

Full report and pictures in this week’s Shetland Times.