St Andrews Utd 4-3 Edinburgh Utd

Jake Grady forced Andy Smith into making a good stop before the young striker was denied the first goal of the contest by a controversial offside call.

Edinburgh United took the lead in the 21st minute following another debatable refereeing decision as Nik Rendall was adjudged to have fouled Calum Helm in the box.

Many fans inside the ground felt like Helm had stood on the ball yet Edinburgh skipper Sean Guiney did not complain as he blasted the penalty low to Moran’s right.

The action swung from end-to-end throughout the rest of the first half before Grady bagged an equaliser in the 33rd minute to cap a fine move down the right wing.

Saints took the lead two minutes later when another superb cross by Ross Farquharson from the right wing was turned into the visitors’ goal by defender Robert Dowie.

The Edinburgh United players looked in disbelief at that point but they created the final chance of the first period when Stephen Scott headed a Stevie Scott cross over the bar.

The visitors looked determined to score at the start of the second half yet the next goal went the way of St Andrews United as Grady collected a pass from Reece Redpath before driving forward and lashing an unstoppable shot past Smith.

Grady completed his hat trick just after the hour mark when he made perfect contact with a cross from Lewis Sawers at the front post to make the score 4-1.

However, Edinburgh United did not give up as the fog descended to spoil a glorious winter’s day and Stephen Scott pulled a goal back in the 70th minute by converting a deep cross by Josh Lamond at the back post. The visitors made a raft of substitutions and Ciaran Vaughan made life difficult for St Andrews United by scoring but Saints held on.