The Edinburgh Reporter’s Weekly Sports Roundup
Congratulations to former Hibs’ Kid Andy Murray for winning the prestigious BBC Sports Personality of the year. The Wimbledon champion was unable to attend the event in Leeds due to training commitments in Miami.
Heineken Cup by John Preece
Edinburgh secured their second Heineken Cup victory of the present campaign by beating Gloucester 16-10 at Kingsholm. Edinburgh seemed to cope better with the continued wild weather experienced by the UK by modifying their game plan to manage the wind and rain. Following a long opening period of possession, the home side regained the ball, but it was on the ten minute mark that Jack Cuthbert knocked over the first of three long range penalties. A second penalty from near the half way line bounced over via the bar, but gave the visitors a 6-0 lead.
With five minutes of the half left, Gloucester won lineout ball and set up a 20 metre rolling maul. Unfortunately, Edinburgh infringed so many times that the final foul near the line gave the referee no choice but to award a penalty try. Freddie Burns kicked the goal and the home side were in the lead 7-6. Just before the half ended Gloucester gave Cuthbert another chance at goal, which the full back – this week, at least – put through to take the half time lead for Edinburgh.
An early second half penalty put Gloucester back in the lead, but almost from the restart, Edinburgh went on the offensive deep in the Gloucester half and a final pass to Ben Atiga put the former All-Black through for a try. Cuthbert scored with the kick again and it was 16-10 to Edinburgh.
A final 10 minute yellow for Ben Morgan gave Cuthbert another kick at goal, but the ball fell off the tee just as he was about to connect. Gloucester fumbled the ball, giving Edinburgh the opportunity to set up and eventually send Willem Nel over the line after a prolonged assault on the line. Sadly, he dropped the ball just before touching down and the game petered out from here to the final whistle. A good win for Edinburgh and it leaves them with a vague chance of Amlin Cup rugby assuming they win their final two matches and other results fall into place.
Club Rugby by John Preece
As reported elsewhere, Edinburgh Accies were blown away at Raeburn Place – literally, as well as figuratively – by London Welsh, going down 33-7 to the English Championship side.
In the Edinburgh regional Cup semi-finals, Watsonians were whitewashed by Currie to the tune of 41-0 at Myreside. Heriots and Boroughmuir played a much more closely contested match at Meggetland, Heriots coming away 21-19 victors. This means that the final will be played between the two Premiership sides on the 11th January somewhere in Edinburgh…….
The clubs return to League action next weekend before another long break until 5th January.
Football
The Edinburgh Reporter sends our best wishes to Manchester United midfielder Darren Fletcher who returned to first team duty after an absence of almost 12 months following treatment on a chronic bowel condition.
The Dalkeith born Scottish international was named as a substitute in United’s league fixture against Aston Villa at Villa Park and replaced Ryan Giggs in the 69th minute.
Both Edinburgh clubs lost on Saturday, with Hearts going down 2-0 at home to John ‘Yogi’ Hughes’ Inverness Caledonian Thistle thanks to a Billy McKay second half double, whilst Hibs lost 1-0 to Celtic at Parkhead thanks to a Teemu Pukki strike midway through the first half.
Hearts remain bottom of the table on minus three points, 14 behind Ross County, whilst Hibs remain in seventh on 17 points, four behind St Johnstone.
Match reports available on the main site.
Lowland League
Dalbeattie Star P East Kilbride
Threave Rovers P Gretna 2008
Scottish Lowland Football League Cup, Section A
Gala Fairydean Rovers 3-1 Preston Athletic
Selkirk A Vale of Leithen (Match abandoned in 73rd minute due to waterlogged pitch, score was 0-2)
Scottish Lowland Football League Cup, Section B
Spartans beat Edinburgh City 3-1 at a windswept and wet Commonwealth Stadium in the League Cup.
Prolific striker Keith McLeod gave the visitors the lead just before the break then with 15 minutes remaining John Grant’s corner kick found Willie Bremner unmarked on the six yard line and his header beat the keeper to double their advantage.
Harrison pulled one back for City before Danny main secured the win with another header from a Grant corner.
Malt and Hops Man of the Match: John Grant
Whitehill Welfare 1-1 University of Stirling
Central Taxis East of Scotland League
Central Taxis Premier Division
Leith Athletic 7-3 Civil Service Strollers
Central Taxis First Division
Easthouses Lily 4-2 Berwick Rangers Reserves
Peebles Rovers 3-3 Duns
East of Scotland Qualifying League, Section A
Eyemouth United 1-3 Kelso United
Tynecastle 0-1 Lothian Thistle Hutchison Vale
East of Scotland Qualifying League, Section B
Ormiston 2-3 Hawick Royal Albert
Stirling University EoS P Edinburgh University
East of Scotland Qualifying League, Section C
Craigroyston 1-2 Burntisland Shipyard
Heriot-Watt University 1-1 Hibernian EoS
After the game Head of Academy Coaching James McDonaugh told Hibernian TV: “The conditions for playing football were the worst I have seen for a long time and for some players probably the worst they’ve ever played in.
“At times the ball spent longer out of play than in and anything above head height went out the pitch. Goalkeepers could almost score from kick-outs; their keeper hit one over our bar!
“Despite all that, I thought we coped with it all quite well and for most of the game were on top.
“We went 1-0 up when Lewis Allan got in behind and scored with a neat finish.
“We gave away a cheap foul and didn’t head the ball from the resulting free kick, the ball landed in the net and to be fair to my players it was the only defensive mistake of the game.
“Perntreou only had one other save. Despite not scoring a second we looked very likely, creating chances from wing play and set plays.
“Credit to Heriot Watt as their players played the game in the right spirit as did my boys; it was easy for the referee this time.
“In the end it’s another point away from home and when I step back and look at the bigger picture we are now top of all 3 leagues.
“So I want to credit my group of players, every one of them for what they have achieved so far.”
East of Scotland Qualifying League, Section D
Spartans EoS 2-0 Coldstream
Boxing
Congratulations to Edinburgh’s light middleweight star John McCallum for becoming the new International Masters Bronze champion last weekend after beating Poland’s Sylwester Walczak on points in London’s York Hall to attain the first belt of his professional career despite suffering a nasty cut just above his left eye in the third round.
Paul Appleby was also on the Lionheart and Braveheart show but lost on points in his six-round light welterweight clash with Philip Bowes.
Elsewhere middleweight John Thain made it 11 wins in a row by defeating Max Maxwell in his six-rounder bout at Liverpool’s Echo Arena
Basketball
Dunfermline Reign SM 55-84 Glasgow Storm
Glasgow University SM 41-75 City of Edinburgh Kings SM
Glasgow Rocks SM 89-64 Troon Tornadoes SM
St Mirren West College Scotland SM 56-72 Clark Eriksson Fury SM
St Mirren West College Scotland SW 60-61 City of Edinburgh Kool Kats SW
Ice Hockey
On Saturday night, the Capitals travelled to Hull to take on the Stingrays but lost heavily to the English side.
Tendler netted for the hosts with 82 seconds on the clock and then added a second at 12.33 then the player/coach Sylvain Cloutier made it 3-0 at 13.16. The Caps then netted their only goal of the game 39 seconds later as Marc Fowley was on target. Hull completed the first period scoring with a 5 on 3 powerplay at 16.50 from Jason Silverthorn.
At 29.36 Guillaume Doucet scored the only goal of the period to make the score 5-1.
Hull increased their lead at 44.22 from the stick of Pavel Gomeniuk before Tendler completed his hat trick with a 5 on 3 powerplay goal to end the scoring at 7-1.
As reported elsewhere, it wasn’t all bad news as the team followed this up with a 3-2 win over Dundee Stars on Sunday.
Red Bull Crashed Ice Qualifier
Forty nine competitors from seven countries took part in the Scottish qualifier of the Red Bull Crashed Ice on Friday at Murrayfield Ice Arena, Edinburgh – the first time the qualifier has been held in Scotland.
Crowds of onlookers watched the action unfold over 5 rounds and 16 heats culminating in a spectacular victory that saw Callum Boyd skate to victory.
20-year-old Refrigeration Engineer, Callum from Ayr, battled it out in an all Scottish final to an exhilarating photo finish with amateur Paisley Pirate hockey player, Graham McCamley from Glasgow.
The top three skaters on the day will be entered into the World Cup Crashed Ice Qualifier in Canada next March.
First: Callum Boyd, Ayr, second: Graham McCamley, Glasgow, third: Haydn Bain, Irvine
Speedway
The Edinburgh Scotwaste Monarchs have completed their team for the 2014 season with the addition of Max Fricke, Derek Sneddon and American Aaron Fox to the previously announced Craig Cook, Sam Masters, Justin Sedgmen and Stevie Worrall.
Aaron Fox told the club website: “The tour was a last minute thing and I wasn’t really prepared for it. At Wolverhampton there were 10 or 12 Elite League riders in that. It wasn’t too bad a meeting for me; it let me figure out what I needed to do and get back home to kick start things. I’m ready to go now.”
“I did motocross growing up, and stopped when I was about 16. Then I played golf for about four years at college. Then I picked up speedway. One of my buddies at High School, he rode.
“My dad raced sidecars back in the late eighties, early nineties. So I was around speedway from an early age.”
“It has been a goal and dream of mine to race in the British League since I first threw a leg over a bike in May of 2010. I’ve finally been given the opportunity to fulfil that goal with the Monarchs. I could not have asked for a better promoter than Mr. Campbell to see the potential in me and have me a part of their club. Mr. Campbell was keen to work with me and seemed eager to get me on board. I can’t thank him enough as this is the exact scenario I’ve looked for since seeking a Premier League spot.
“I’ve got a couple of folks on board to help me with things which has enabled me to feel I’m ready to go for it. Racing here I’ve competed with just one bike, no spare parts, I just do it at the bare minimum. I had a good bike but I ended up crashing in the nationals, crashing into the wall, so I’m building a new bike at the moment.
“I’ve got a lot to do but nothing that can’t be done! I probably will get to the UK in late February, 1st March at the latest. I haven’t come across any of the Edinburgh riders yet other than Craig on Twitter!
“I’ve watched a few videos of Armadale, it looks great and I can’t wait to ride it.
“I broke my clavicle in the middle of last month, I was told it would take four weeks to heal and I wouldn’t need surgery. When I went back on Tuesday I was told it would need surgery. But I should be ready to start riding and training again in three weeks, by the start of the new year.”
Team USA Director Steve Evans was instrumental both in recommending Aaron to Monarchs said “I am very excited for both Aaron and Edinburgh Speedway about this signing for 2014. It is only just over three years since Aaron first stepped on a speedway bike, and in this time he has made very good progress. 2013 was a big leap for him -runner up in National and State Championships, but it was his performance on the European size Ventura track in June that showed he was ready for this. He is utterly dedicated and professional, which seems a good match considering the detail and care given by Edinburgh Speedway in this move. Having had Faria and Fisher in the recent past, it is good news another American comes to a great club and city.”
2014 team: Craig Cook, Derek Sneddon, Max Fricke, Justin Sedgmen, Sam Masters, Aaron Fox, Stevie Worrall.
Rugby and Ice Hockey photographs by John Preece.
http://www.photoboxgallery.com/jlp-photography