TWO players won the Wheway Cup for St Paul’s at Springfield on Saturday – the first a goal scorer, the second a goal stopper.

In the 35th minute Craig Leitch (24) for St Paul’s turned on a sixpence on the edge of a crowded penalty area and, on the run and on the volley, hit a tremendous shot to the left of Trinity keeper James Keating and into the back of the net to notch his 36th goal of the season. It was a great goal, good enough to win any cup-tie.

However, with 55 minutes still to go St Paul’s made life difficult for themselves by sitting too long too often on the ball, allowing Trinity to hit back at them. For the last ten minutes of the first half and the first 20 minutes of the second and then, for ten anxious minutes at the end, Trinity were the better side.

However, despite a few scary moments for reserve goalkeeper David Alexander, St Paul’s clung on to win, even though the Saints’ keeper was by far the busier of the two in spells – three times in five minutes at the start of the second half he had to be at his best.

As well as pulling down two decent shots, he tipped another over the bar from Jimmy Reilly before diving at the feet of Barry Beatson, who looked odds-on to score.

In a frenetic last few minutes of free kicks, tired legs and a late surge by Trinity, Alexander was again dominant but, as Trinity manager Joe Morley said afterwards: ‘We never created enough clear-cut chances, although full marks to my team – we were full of endeavour.

‘After half-time I asked them to have a go, which they did, and I can’t fault them for that. St Paul’s had one chance and took it – that was the difference between the two sides.’

St Paul’s manager Craig Culkin might not have been happy with the overall quality of the game, watched by a crowd of around 150, but as this was his first Wheway Cup final win, he was delighted by the result. ‘Having lost before to Scottish at Springfield, I wondered if we’d ever win a cup competition here,’ he said. ‘But of course I’m absolutely delighted for my players, who have already had a long, hard season.

‘I was pleased for our keeper, who’s probably not played more than three games this season, but the players in front of him all did their jobs to protect him. I hope this will be one trophy of many in years to come.’