Under the sunny skies at New Western Park, Two top teams go head to head to see who comes out on top and win the first trophy of the season.

Chandlers started sharply and took the lead with a well-worked move. A perfectly weighted ball over the top sent the striker through on goal, who calmly chipped the advancing keeper before tapping home to make it 1-0.

Hillwood were grateful to goalkeeper Whitelaw for keeping them in the contest during the opening stages. He made an excellent save following some slick Chandlers build-up play before producing another strong stop when a Chandlers forward broke clear through on goal.

The pressure continued to mount and Whitelaw was again called into action, denying a free header from a corner with another impressive save.

Minutes later Hillwood failed to clear the resulting corner properly and Chandlers capitalised to double their advantage at 2-0.

Hillwood responded well and pulled a goal back through McGill. A dangerous cross into the box caused problems for the Chandlers defence, and after the ball was not cleared, McGill reacted quickest to tap home and reduce the deficit to 2-1.

McGill nearly grabbed another shortly after, meeting a deep cross with a header, but his effort went straight at the keeper.

The game’s key moment arrived before half-time when Declan Slater brought down a Chandlers striker who was through on goal. The referee pointed to the spot and produced a red card.

Chandlers made no mistake from the penalty, smashing an unstoppable effort into the top corner to restore their two-goal cushion at 3-1 going into the break.

HT – Hillwood AFC 1 Chandlers FC 3

Hillwood threatened briefly early in the second half when a header rattled off their own crossbar, but Chandlers soon regained full control. From a corner, an unmarked header flew into the far corner with the keeper left helpless as Chandlers extended their lead to 4-1.

The fifth goal arrived after another direct attack, with a long ball played in behind the defence. The Chandlers striker rounded the keeper and finished confidently to make it 5-1.

Chandlers could have added even more late on after a superb flowing move and cutback to the back post somehow resulted in an open-goal miss.

At full-time, Chandlers were deserved winners after a dominant attacking performance, while Hillwood could at least thank Whitelaw for preventing an even heavier scoreline

FT – Hillwood AFC 1 Chandlers FC 5

Chandlers produced a clinical display to lift the Challenge Cup with a convincing victory over Hillwood AFC.

Despite some heroic goalkeeping from Hillwood’s Arran Whitelaw, Chandlers’ attacking quality proved too much over the 90 minutes.