St George’s clinched the Keystone Law Hospital Cup thanks to a 4-3 victory over rivals Corinthians at the Bowl on Saturday afternoon.

The Saints added the trophy to their latest Canada Life Premier League title after holding off a spirited fightback from the Whites at the national stadium.

Geordies raced into an early lead when talented youngster Jay Skelcher-Maxwell seized on a defensive lapse and unselfishly set up Ciaran McNulty to sweep home inside the opening six minutes.

A below-par Corinthians struggled to make any impact on the game in the opening half an hour, but enjoyed a good spell before halftime and nearly grabbed an equaliser before the break.

They continued to search for a leveller after the interval but Geordies delivered a sucker punch when captain Frank Jones extended his remarkable run of scoring in cup finals by doubling their lead.

With the Saints rampant, they soon added a third when Joey Morling’s cross was met by a diving header from Jones which bounced back off the base of the post before the skipper somehow bundled the rebound home despite lying on the ground.

Despite the double setback, Corinthians kept plugging away and finally grabbed a goal when Luke Murray’s in-swinger was nodded home by captain Sean Doyle.

The Whites’ joy was shortlived though as Geordies immediately raced up the other end of the pitch and restored their three-goal cushion when Jones worked a one-two with Jack McVey before firing home to complete his hat-trick and seemingly put the game to bed.

However, the drama was far from over as less than three minutes later Corinthians dragged themselves back into the game again when Brody Patience curled home a brilliant left-footed strike into the top corner of Andy Perry’s net to make it 4-2.

The Ballafletcher side then stunned their opponents by netting a third just three minutes later when Doyle headed home Stephen Whitley’s corner to make it 4-3 and set up a grandstand finale.

Try as they might though, Corinthians were unable to find the back of the net again as Geordies defended stoically and held on to add yet another piece of silverware to the Glencrutchery Road trophy cabinet.

Full report in Tuesday’s Isle of Man Examiner.