Hastie delighted with Newtown’s Beveridge Cup win

Beveridge Cup final

Newtown player manager Gary Hastie is over the moon after his team picked up their first piece of silverware of his first season in charge.

“There have been plenty ups and downs and I have certainly a new respect for all my previous managers after this year,” said Hastie after his side ran in a 3-0 victory in the Beveridge Cup final at Greenlaw last night.

“I am really pleased with the performance against a good, young Gala side.

“They were missing a few experienced players in James Scott, Welsh Curran and Colin Riddle, but we still deserved the win,” he added.

Despite playing plenty of their trademark passing football, Rovers lack any attacking threat bar youngster Tommy Patterson who fire just over with a 25-yard free kick on 24 minutes.

Newtown slowly got themselves into the game, and after Russell Hunter’s toe poke shot flew just over, the Villagers opened the scoring six minutes before half time as a Matt Scott in-swinging corner was met perfectly by the head of Neil Macvicar from six yards out to find the net.

Shaun Hardie was forced off with an ankle injury at half time, and were it not for a top save by Glen Murray, Gala could have been two-down within a minute of the break as Hastie’s effort was blocked.

Teenager Patterson forced Newtown keeper Jason Henry into his first save of the match on 50 minutes when he palmed away a fierce shot.

But it was Hastie who was to play a pivotal role in deciding where the cup was heading.

The former Gala Rovers striker showed why he was among the best finishers in the Borders with a well-timed header from a Russell Hunter cross on 65 minutes, and three minutes later he controlled and finished a Matt Scott pass with aplomb to find the bottom corner of the net.

Gala woke up in the closing stages with Craig Macdonald and Brad Lochrie forcing Henry into a couple of decent saves, but they could not even manage a consolation.

Newtown: J. Henry, P. Scott, G. Hastie (J. Broom 75), S. Makepeace, C. Strathdee, N. Todd, N. Macvicar, S. Swanston, S. Leitch (J. Hunter 89), R. Hunter (D. Richardson 85), M. Scott.

Gala Fairydean Rovers: G. Murray, J. Harkness (C. Mackenzie 66), K. Matheson, S. Mackenzie, R. Grant, M. Blackwood (D. Bond 68), B. Lochrie, P. Hossack, C. Macdonald, S. Hardie (S. Quinn 45), T. Patterson.