Jubilant Sauchie boss Fraser Duncan hailed his battle-weary troops as they defied the odds to lift the East of Scotland Cup with a 4-1 thrashing of Arniston Rangers at Prestonfield last weekend.

The Beechwood Park gaffer reckons the controversy surrounding the game only acted as extra motivation to his players as they went onto delight their fans with a trophy to end their season in style.

Duncan told Advertiser Sport, “I don’t have any nails left after the final. It is a great feeling to lift the cup after a long hard season. There was some superb celebrations with the guys and they deserve it 100%. The whole squad have worked their backsides off this year and even although there were a few tired legs out there, they still had the desire to go and get the job done.

“These are the type of occasions that the club and the fans crave and so hopefully we can bring more of this now and attract more people to come and watch us. When you see the smiling faces on the fans at the game it makes it all worthwhile and there were a few older supporters who never thought they’d see a trophy. It is a delight to deliver this cup for them.

“The circumstances of the past week have made this victory all the more sweeter for us But the performance was for Brian Morgan because he was more gutted than anybody to miss a day like this but we went back down to Manchester after the game and celebrated with him at his stag do.

“It has hopefully teach people to compromise when they know it is the right thing to do because if you dont these things can come back and bite you back so that is what happens. I am chuffed for all the boys. It is a great feeling as a player to win a trophy. I have been there myself as a player and so now to do it as a manager is even more special. I am now going to take a long holiday to enjoy it.” Duncan was delighted with the performance of man-of-the match Darren Cummings after his two-goal show fired Sauchie into a half time lead on route to the win.

The 31-year-old boss believes the trophy turns their season from a good one to an outstanding one.

He said, “This takes our season from good to amazing and we will enjoy it first and foremost then we will look how to kick on because we don’t want to let up in our progression.

“We have to take this form into next season, push on and make sure we are in a stronger place again. We have to find that consistency at the top level and hopefully this will help us to do that. I cannot speak highly enough of Darren Cummings. It was a great performance, he took his two goals well and he is a special player who can change games like that.” The toughest challenge of the close season for the manager will be to keep a hold of their fourth goalscorer in the game, Collin Samuel, as the vultures circle around chasing the signature of the former World Cup star but he says will do everything in his power to keep the powerful forward at the club.

Duncan added, “The biggest task for me over the summer by far is to convince the club that we must hang onto players like Collin Samuel and that is the task at hand.

“If the club see the progress we can make with guys like him at the club then it is vital that we go and do that. Sammy is a delight to work with, he is a gem of a guy but we know it will be a tough task to keep him.

“He has a lot of interest in him from other clubs, I don’t know what it will take to keep him but we have to try something,”