The death of Hibernian great Lawrie Reilly overshadowed everything else this week. His funeral will take place on Friday. We also look at Hibs’ European nightmare as well as Hearts’ latest financial situation and Spartans’ Ramsden Cup match in Dumfries. Congratulations go to Hibs Under-20s and Under 17s who both won silverware.
Elsewhere we cover Hockey, Rugby, Boxing and Speedway.
Football
Hibs
The week started with the sad news that Hibs’ legend Lawrie Reilly had passed away in the Western General Hospital after a short illness.
Lawrie played 355 times for Hibs in a twelve year career scoring an incredible 238 goals. He also represented Scotland 38 times, more than any other Hibs player and scored an impressive 22 goals, a better ratio that Kenny Dalglish and Denis Law. His performances at Wembley where he scored a record five goals in five games will never be forgotten by the Scottish fans.
In 2005 he was inducted into the SFA Hall of Fame at Hampden and in 2010 he was inducted into the Hibs’ Hall of Fame at a dinner at the Corn Exchange.
A celebration of his life will take place at held at 11am on Friday 2 August at St Andrews and St Georges West Church, George Street, Edinburgh where Ted Brack, Grant Stott and Pat Nevin will pay tribute to Lawrie’s life-time of achievements.
At the end of the service, the funeral cortege will travel to Easter Road Stadium where the cortege will travel up the walkway behind the East Stand to inspect the scarves, shirts, flowers and other tributes which have already been received in large numbers from supporters to mark the passing of a club legend.
The cortege will then travel on to Warriston Crematorium for a short service of committal at 1pm.
On Thursday night, over 16,000 turned up for the Europa League second qualifying tie against Malmo where a minute’s applause took place in tribute to the fans’ favourite.
Unfortunately Hibs lost 7-0 after goals from Magnus Eriksson, Emil Forsberg, Markus Halsti, Miiko Albornoz, Tokelo Rantie, Jiloan Hamad, Simon Kroon silenced the large crowd who had answered Pat Fenlon’s call to turn up in numbers and make the stadium bounce.
Afterwards Pat Fenlon said: “First of all I want to apologise to the supporters. It’s difficult for me to make excuses; it’s just not good enough.
“It’s embarrassing more than anything else. We did all right at the start of the game then lost a goal and it fell apart. It was very disappointing. I have to look at myself and not just blame the players. We had a make-shift back four and James (McPake) going off didn’t help but Fraser (Mullen) came on and did all right to be fair. It’s difficult at this stage to be positive. The season starts next week and it’s a massive challenge to get things right.”
Meanwhile the club have not confirmed that Republic of Ireland Under-21 internationalist James Collins has signed a three year deal.
Media reports suggested that Swindon Town had accepted a £200,000 bid from Hibs, and Collins said on social media: “I’m happy to have signed for Hibs. It’s been a good couple of days in Edinburgh. I’m looking forward to the challenge of the SPFL and meeting up with the team soon. Thanks for all the welcome messages as well. Also a thank you to Swindon Town, I enjoyed my time there a lot, with the lads, fans and club, and I wish them all the best this season.”
Collins scored 18 goals in 51 appearances for Swindon last season, including a hat-trick in the 4-3 Capital One Cup victory over Stoke City in August and four goals in the 5-0 defeat of Portsmouth on New Year’s Day in League One.
Foyle Cup
Hibs Under-20s progressed to the final of the prestigious Foyle Cup in Northern Ireland, with a 1-0 win over Derry City. Jason Cummings scored the winner while keeper Dougie Horne produced a last-minute penalty.
The youngsters then beat Limavady United 2-1 after going behind. Jason Cummings equalised then Gareth McCaffrey scored a last minute winner to retain the trophy they won last year.
The Under-17s also rose to the occasion with a 2-0 semi-final win over Finn Harps with goals from Lewis Allan and Gareth McCaffrey. They were due to face Derry City, in the final however the game was cancelled due to the weather and the trophy was shared.
Hearts
On Wednesday, the Foundation of Hearts, HMFC Ltd and Five Stars Football Ltd all submitted improved bids to take control of the club and administrators BDO have discussed the offers with the Lithuanian administrators.
Later in the week it was reported that the Lithuanian courts had begun bankruptcy proceedings against UBIG.
UBIG now has a ten-day period in which to appeal the decision but, should the liquidation go through, it would mean that BDO can finally access the company’s 50 per cent shareholding in the club.
Since taking on Hearts’ affairs last month, BDO have been restricted in what they could do, but with the latest developments in Lithuania, they are now a step closer to agreeing a CVA.
On the field, Hearts beat Crusaders 2-0 in Belfast. Goals by Ryan Stevenson and Jamie Hamill gave them a win in the first of their two pre-season matches.
Stevenson opened the scoring at The Oval three minutes after the break with a close-range header and Hamill rounded off the victory in injury time from the penalty spot.
On Saturday, Hearts lost 1-0 to Liverpool. The opener came on 64 minutes when Kris Petersen slotted past Jamie MacDonald to hand the Reds the lead. The referee then demanded Ryan Stevenson be subbed after the Hearts man reacted badly to a Jordan Rossiter challenge. Worryingly, Callum Tapping was stretchered off with a knee injury late on.
Ramsden Cup
Spartans travelled to Dumfries to take on Queen of the South in the Ramsden’s Cup, but the holder’s proved too strong for the Lowland League side.
Stephen McKenna headed the home side in front and Derek Lyle doubled their advantage from close range. McKenna made it three with a well-placed header from Chris Mitchell’s delivery, then Kevin Holt added a fourth on 68 minutes, with Kevin Motion spurning the visitors’ best opportunity.
Women’s Football
Hibs Ladies returned to action this weekend with a comprehensive 6-1 win over Aberdeen at Meadowbank. Goals from Lizzie Arnott (2), Susan Fairlie, Lucy Graham, Joelle Murray and Rachael Walkingshaw gave the Edinburgh side a 6-0 lead before the Dons grabbed a late consolation goal.
Spartans travelled to Lennoxtown where they lost 3-0 to Celtic.
Hockey by John Preece
After posting a 5-1 defeat to Spain in the U18 EuroHockey Championships in Vienna, Scotland’s U18 Boys kept their hopes of retaining their place with a 1-1 draw against Austria. In order to keep in the Championships, Scotland must not lose to Belgium in their final match. Prior to this, their chances are in the hands of Austria and France. If Austria lose or draw, then Scotland stay in regardless. Glad it was someone else who worked that out….
Scotland’s women were defeated 3-1 by Belgium in the first match of a two match series. 0-0 after 20 minutes, Scotland went ahead with a goal from Nikki Kidd, but two goals before half time and another nine minutes from time, left the Scots trailing at the finish.
(Photo – Kidd in action at Peffermill – J. L. Preece)
http://www.photoboxgallery.com/jlp-photography
In Spain, Scotland’s men went ahead twice in the first half from Kenny Bain, but Spain pulled themselves level both times. Scoring a third just on half time, the Spanish side slotted another three home in the second half to finish off the Scots 7 match winning streak 6-2 at the final hooter.
Rugby by John Preece
It was announced earlier in the week that Edinburgh would play their ‘home’ warm-up match against Newcastle Falcons at Mansfield Park in Hawick on the 30th August. Several former Edinburgh players are currently on the books at Newcastle and it will be a chance for the players to catch up with ex-teammates.
Edinburgh also announced that there would be free parking and travel for spectators travelling to the match from Murrayfield on a first-come first-served basis on the night.
Boxing
Congratulations go to Lochend boxers Stephen Tiffney and Lewis Benson for picking up medals at the 2013 Popenchenko Tournament held in Russia last weekend. Seven boxers represented Team Scotland, 49kg – Aqeel Ahmed, 56kg – Stephen Tiffney, 60kg – Mark McKeown, 64kg – Jason Easton, 69kg – Lewis Benson, 75kg – Kieran Smith and 81kg – Tommy Philbin and a creditable 5 medals were won over the course of the three day tournament.
Lewis Benson won a bronze, Aqeel Ahmed & Stephen Tiffney both won silver and Mark McKeown and Kieran Smith won gold. Tommy Philbin (Lochend) and Jason Easton (Craigmillar) also produced notable performances.
The final medal table was as follows:
RUSSIA 30 Entries, 5 Gold, 5 Silver, 15 Bronze
SCOTLAND 7 Entries, 2 Gold, 2 Silver, 1 Bronze
BELARUS 5 Entries, 2 Gold, 0 Silver, 1 Bronze
WALES 4 Entries, 1 Gold, 1 Silver, 1 Bronze
UKRAINE 4 Entries, 0 Gold, 2 Silver, 0 Bronze
TURKMENISTAN 2 Entries, 0 Gold, 1 Silver, 0 Bronze
CHINA 3 Entries, 0 Gold, 0 Silver, 3 Bronze
Well done to all boxers and coaches Mike Keane & Raymond Gibson along with Team Manager John McGuire and Norman Watt, who was officiating at the event.
Stephen Tiffany fought Akmalzhon Ormanov (Rus) in the final and lost the first round against the southpaw who landed some quality right hooks.
In the second round, Stephen imposed himself on his opponent from the first bell land with combinations to the head and body which forced the Russian back. Ormanov came back into it later in the round but it was he who looked tired at the bell.
The final round was a more evenly contested affair which saw the attacks ebb and flow from one to another. Unfortunately by the final bell it was the Russian who seemed to land the more telling shots which got him the nod from the judges.
Lewis Benson fought Sergii Bykov (Rus) in the semi-final and the first round was evenly fought and could have gone either way.
Round two was another evenly balanced round which saw Lewis start to catch the eye of the judges with the more accurate shots although the flow of the round was interrupted by the continued holding and clinching by the Russian.
Lewis started to gain the upper hand in the third round and Bykov was resorted to spoiling and fouling which saw both boxers in a heap on the canvas three times, however the decision went with the Russian.
Speedway
The Edinburgh Scotwaste Monarchs battled their way to a 51-39 win against Berwick Bandits in difficult conditions at Armadale on Friday.
Claus Vissing and Craig Cook were the star men with two vital 5-1s in heats 13 and 15.
Sunday evening’s scheduled Premier League clash between the Monarchs and Newcastle was postponed due to a waterlogged track. No restaging date has yet been agreed.
John graduated from Telford College in 2010 with an HNC in Practical Journalism and since then he worked for the North Edinburgh News, The Southern Reporter, the Irish News Review and The Edinburgh Reporter. In addition he has been published in the Edinburgh Evening News and the Hibernian FC Programme.
Typically, just as ‘copy was filed’, the news was announced that, in spite of Scotland’s 5-0 defeat to Belgium, France’s defeat of Austria meant that the young Scot’s men managed to retain their place in the U18 EuroHockey Championships by finishing sixth, ahead of France and Austria, who were both relegated.
Spain beat Germany in the final to win the overall title.
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