Rugby by John Preece
Edinburgh travelled to Newport in Wales where they saw off the threat from the Welsh side in a match where the lead changed hands several times. 6-0 down after the first quarter, Jack Cuthbert pulled three back for the visitors before Willem Nel followed up fine back play with his fourth try of the season. Cuthbert put the kick over to take a 10-6 lead, but Jason Tovey scored another penalty for the home side to go into the break 10-9.
Tovey retook the lead for the home side soon after the break, but a 30 metre run in from Matt Scott, which Cuthbert again converted, gave Edinburgh back the lead 17-10. Another penalty from Cuthbert pulled out another three points, which he followed up with another just before the 70-minute mark to bring the score to 23-10. The Dragons then took full advantage of a yellow for Izak van der Westhuizen to score their only try and take the home side to within four points of Edinburgh, but they couldn’t manage to score any further and the match finished 23-19 to Edinburgh.
The win takes Edinburgh to eighth in the table with 34 points – the same as seventh placed Connacht, but with a game in hand. Their next match is against Cardiff Blues on the 11th march at Meggetland where they beat the Ospreys a few weeks ago.
In the final club match of the season, the Premiership play-off, Edinburgh Accies maintained the status quo by beating Stewarts-Melville 23-13 at Lasswade Rugby Club’s Hawthornden ground on Saturday. In spite of challenging strongly at times, Accies never looked to be under any huge pressure and a three to one try count told the story in the end. It was a very good match for the neutral to watch, full of running rugby, but in the end, the superior experience of Accies told over their North Edinburgh neighbours.
Next club event for The Reporter is the Melrose Sevens on 12th March where all six of Edinburgh’s top teams will be fielding sides. This is a fantastic tournament, won last year by Saracens. They beat Clermont Auvergne in the final and Clermont return this year for another go at the title. No Saracens, but Glasgow Warriors fill the gap for their first appearance at The Greenyards. The other two guest teams are the USA Tigers and Trinidad and Tobago – otherwise known as ‘The Calypso Warriors’ – and all four are drawn in Round 2, where they will play the winners from four of the eight matches in Round 1.
This will be followed up a week later with the RBS Finals where Heriots will play Glasgow Hawks in the Cup final and Murrayfield Wanderers will play Melrose in the women’s Sarah Beannie Cup Final.
SPFL Football
Hearts’ relegation from the Scottish Premiership was finally confirmed on Saturday despite a 4-2 victory against Partick Thistle at Firhill.
Gary Locke’s youngsters who needed to win and St Mirren to lose to Motherwell fell behind to Kris Doolan’s strike.
Dale Carrick levelled from close range then Billy King fired the Gorgie side ahead just after the break.
Ryan Stevenson’s double preceded Jordan McMillan’s consolation for the Jags but with the Hearts’ fans celebrating, the news came through that St Mirren had scored two late goals to beat ‘Well.
The gap between Hearts who started the season with a 15-point deduction and Partick Thistle now stands at 17 points with only five matches to play.
A meeting of Hearts’ creditors today will have a major bearing on whether the club can avoid liquidation.
Hibs remain in danger of being dragged into the relegation dogfight remain in 7th place, only four points in front of Thistle having played a game less.
Terry Butcher’s men face Aberdeen at Easter Road tonight.
Scottish Sun Lowland League
Gala Fairydean Rovers 0-3 Spartans
Three goals in three first half minutes just before the half time break earned Spartans another valuable three points in the quest for the Lowland League title.
Prolific striker Keith McLeod gave the Ainslie Park outfit the lead in the 42nd minute then Kevin Motion added a second a minute later. Motion made it 3-0 just before the half time whistle.
Both teams had chances to score in the second period, but the Borders side were unable to get back into the game.
The result pleased goal scorer McLeod who told the club website: It’s a lot easier to make a difference on the pitch than sitting in the stand.” McLeod, scoring his 30th goal of the season, added, “I’m happy to be back playing and hopefully that can continue and no more daft red cards!
”We’ve got another tough league game next week at Whitehill and the boys are desperate to reverse the recent Cup Final result and maybe if we keep 11 on the pitch, we’ll have a good chance.”
Man of the Match: Kevin Motion
Elsewhere
Whitehill Welfare 3-1 Preston Athletic
Central Taxis East of Scotland League, Premier Division
Edinburgh University 1-2 Lothian Thistle Hutchison Vale
Central Taxis East of Scotland League Cup, Preliminary Round
Tynecastle 1-2 Leith Athletic
Stirling University EOS P-P Kelso United
Craigroyston 3-2 Coldstream
Berwick Rangers EOS P-P Hawick Royal Albert
King Cup, Second Round
Easthouses Lily P-P Peebles Rovers
Selkirk P-P University of Stirling
Women’s Football
FIFA Women’s World Cup Qualifiers
Scotland 2-0 Poland
Fir Park, Motherwell
Scotland maintained their 100% record in qualifying for the 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup in Canada with a 2-0 victory over Poland at Fir Park.
Second-half goals from Lisa Evans and Leanne Crichton secured the three points for Anna Signeul’s side in a game in which Scotland’s persistence, as well as skill and composure, paid dividends.
The result capped off an excellent day for the Scotland women’s national teams, with the under-19s winning their opening UEFA European Championship Elite Round match 5-1 against Iceland in Croatia thanks to goals from Lucy Graham (2), Zoe Ness, Abbi Grant and captain Caroline Weir.
Speedway
Friday 4 April at Armadale;
Scotwaste Monarchs 61-31 Berwick Bandits
DDS Monarch of the Match though was Max Fricke.
Saturday 5th April at Shielfield Park Berwick
Berwick Bandits 43-46 Scotwaste Monarchs
Basketball
Scottish Cup Semi-Finals Senior Men
City of Edinburgh Kings SM 68-73 St Mirren West College Scotland SM
Clark Eriksson Fury SM 64-72 Glasgow University SM
Scottish Cup Final Senior Men
Glasgow University SM 90-79 St Mirren West College Scotland SM
Scottish Cup Semi-Finals Senior Women
Lady Rocks SW 69-55 St Mirren West College Scotland SW
City of Edinburgh Kool Kats SW 82-47 Polonia Phoenix SW
Scottish Cup Final Senior Women
City of Edinburgh Kool Kats SW 64-67 Lady Rocks SW
Volleyball
Men’s Division 1 Final 4
Edinburgh Jets 3-1 City of Glasgow Ragazzi
City of Edinburgh 2-3 Glasgow Mets
Women’s Division 1 Final 4
Edinburgh Jets 3-0 QTS Troon Team Ayrshire
City of Edinburgh 3-2 Su Ragazzi
Men’s Division 2 Final 4
Su Ragazzi II 3-0 Lenzie
City of Edinburgh II 2-3 Glasgow Mets II
Women’s Division 2 Final 4
QTS Kyle TA 3-1 Dundee
NUVOC 3-2 Glasgow International
Photo by John Preece
http://www.photoboxgallery.com/jlp-photography
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.
