Azzurri Kelburne and Milne Craig Western stormed to victory in the respective men’s and women’s finals of the Shepherd & Wedderburn Scottish Cup on Saturday at Edinburgh’s Peffermill.

With passion ingrained in their play, it was, almost inevitably, Kelburne who came out on top against a determined Grange side for the third time in consecutive weeks, this time by a score of 3-1.

The result also brought an unprecedented third league-and-cup double back to the Paisley club, but great credit should go to Grange for producing one of the most thrilling matches to be witnessed at the National Hockey Stadium.

It was Grange who took the lead, inside two minutes, as Fergus Dunn’s long pass found Cammy Fraser on the left of the circle, to slip the ball inside for Yan Adams to score.

With numerous chances at both ends, it took until the 20th minute for Kelburne to respond, with Jonny Christie neatly netting the cross from Kenny Bain for the equaliser. 

Dunn then had a great chance to put Grange ahead again when he intercepted a defensive pass, rounded the Kelburne keeper, but missed the open goal, in a phase of play akin to what was happening to Portsmouth FC’s Kanu at Wembley stadium on the same afternoon, in the English FA Cup final.

The passions spilled over when Ross Stott was red-carded for a potentially violent reaction to being harried, and even the Kelburne management became involved off the field before the half-time whistle brought a cooling respite.

The best goal of the game gave Kelburne the lead, when Chris Nelson combined with Bain down the left before the cross gave Jonny Christie the perfect opening to make it 2-1, before Bain lashed home in the aftermath of a penalty corner with only two minutes remaining.

Earlier, a hat-trick by Holly Cram inspired Milne Craig Western to a 4-1 victory over Giffnock in the women’s final.

A disappointingly fragmented first half was illuminated only by Cram’s finishing of a move up the left in the tenth minute to open the scoring.

Giffnock’s Olympian player-coach Rhona Simpson ghosted her way around the pitch effectively, and Lindsey Allan gave a good account of herself, but very few chances were created before half-time.

After the interval, however, the quality and pace of the game stepped up sharply, with Cram lashing the ball home following a move up the right straight from the re-start.  Two minutes later, Giffnock got in on the act when a free hit on the edge of the circle rebounded to Simpson, who deftly touched the ball into the business area and let fly into the Western goal with a savage straight drive.

The match was now alive, and there was plenty of exciting action for the crowd to savour. But it was Western’s effervescent striker Cram who again rose to the occasion, finely deflecting in a penalty corner shot by Kath Gray to make it 3-1 in the 50th minute.

The result was finally sealed when Judge eventually scored with 12 minutes remaining and, although Giffnock never gave up, the game was lost and Western, runners-up to Bonagrass Grove in the league, claimed their European place for next season.

In the plate competitions earlier, GHK Ladies defeated Hillhead 3-1 and, after a 1-1 draw at full time, Mango Optical Uddingston won the penalty shoot-out with Granite City Wanderers 4-2.