Edinburgh University will make their debut in the British Universities and Colleges Sport Trophy final on Wednesday after a herculean effort from the players to beat Beast from the East2.
They spent more than eight hours over two days shovelling more than three inches of snow off their pitch at Peffermill to allow their semi-final tie with King’s College, London, to go ahead on Monday.
And they finished off the job with a 4-0 victory (it was 2-0 at half-time) thanks to a double from Jack Jamieson, both from open play, and singles from Ben Pearson, also open play, and Antonis Efthymiou who flicked home a penalty corner.
The London-based students, who came north on Sunday, scored two late goals but Graham Moodie, Edinburgh’s coach, said: “It was a huge task to clear the snow.
“We were assisted by ground staff at Peffermill, but the boys put in a wonderful effort and were rewarded.”
The final is against Cardiff at Nottingham on Wednesday and Moodie, a former Olympian, can’t be there as he jets to the Gold Coast with Scotland for the Commonwealth Games.
Edinburgh-based Moodie is an assistant coach to the national team.
Martin Beckford and Eugene Connolly, a former team manager for the Scottish international squad, will take charge.
Moodie said: “This is a considerable achievement for the boys and Edinburgh have never been in the final.
“I’m disappointed not to be there but there is no way I can get back from Nottingham to catch the flight to Australia.
“The boys are, however, in great spirits and will do everything they can to bring the cup back to Scotland.”
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