The Edinburgh Reporter July 2024

23

Scotland Seniors finish strongly

By ARCHIE JAMES

SCOTLAND SENIORS FOOTBALL

TEAM emerged with great credit

at the Over-50s Home Nations

Internationals in Cardiff,

recovering from a sluggish start to

finish the tournament strongly.

Caught cold after making the

long journey south, the Scots - with

a strong contingent from

Edinburgh and the Lothians in the

21-man squad - found themselves

2-0 down before half-time in their

opening game against hosts Wales.

Alan McTurk and Paul

Donnelly’s side clicked into gear in

the second half and pulled a goal

back after a Colin Leslie header,

and also hit the bar and post as

they pushed for an equaliser, but

the Welsh counter-attacked and

closed out a 3-1 win. On the other

pitch at Cardiff City House of

Sport, holders and favourites

England started their campaign

with a 2-0 victory against

Northern Ireland.

Just 19 hours after the opening

matches, Scotland renewed their

rivalry with England, on a hot

sunny afternoon. Striker Sean Barr

pounced to give Scotland the lead

after 15 minutes, due reward for a

dominant first half display. After a

string of outstanding saves from

keeper Derek Barnes, the Scots

seemed poised to hold out for a

Hearts friendly with

Spurs celebrates 150th

First days at Lothian fishery “encouraging”

By NIGEL DUNCAN

HEARTS FANS are snapping up

tickets for the glamour friendly with

English cracks Tottenham Hotspur

on Wednesday, 17 July, kick off at

7pm. The match is presented by

LNER, and forms part of the club’s

150th anniversary celebrations.

The clubs first met in 1901 and

the clash resulted in a 0-0 draw at

White Hart Lane in London in a

World Championship match

between the Scottish and English

cup winners.

And, of course, Dave Mackay

played for both clubs. Mackay was

part of the Hearts side which won all

of Scotland’s domestic honours

across four years and Spurs bought

the Scot for £32,000 in 1959. In

London, he won the league

championship, three FA Cups, one

European Cup Winners’ Cup medal

and two FA Charity Shield matches.

Mackay also helped set-up Hearts’

Centenary Match in 1974.

A Hearts spokesman said: “We

look forward to welcoming Ange

Postecoglou and his team to

Tynecastle in July.”

Prices are £30 (adults) and £18

(students and over 65) with

under-13s being admitted for £13

but fans should note that the

Roseburn Stand has been allocated

to Spurs and there will be no

reserved season ticket seats for

the match.

Hearts have also confirmed a

Celebration Procession on July 13

before the pre-season friendly with

London side Leyton Orient,.

Supporters of both teams are

invited to take part in the Maroon

Mile from the Monument at

Haymarket to Tynecastle Park to be

led by 150 pipers and drummers

under the stewardship of Drum

Major, Mike Lindsay.

Leyton Orient’s bugle band will

also play en-route and fans are asked

to congregate in Morrison Street and

fall in behind the pipes and drums.

Other pre-season games

scheduled include a trip to EFL

League Two side Fleetwood Town

near Blackpool on July 27 (3pm).

Tickets are available.

Steven Naismith, Hearts’ head

coach, and the squad travelled to the

Canary Islands for a week of training

and he said: “Warm-weather training

has become an essential part of

pre-season and the players will be

working every day, double sessions

and gym.

“It was also a great opportunity for

the boys to spend time together and

further develop team spirit. That

played a huge role in our success

last season.”

By NIGEL DUNCAN

NEWLANDS TWEEDDALE Trout
Fishery near Gifford has enjoyed a
really encouraging start since it
re-opened in mid-May.
Several hundred anglers have
visited and reports have been
excellent with bags over 50
recorded with many of over 20.

Fishermen have come from as far

afield as Morpeth in

Northumberland and also from all

over the Lothians and Borders, with

many from Edinburgh and nearby

Midlothian.

And delighted manager, Derek

Plenderleith, said he has had

compliments about the condition of

the fish and the surroundings.

Currently, two fly only ponds are

open and the bait pond remains

closed but Plenderleith said: “A

number of anglers who fished the

water prior to the seven-month

closure have come back to have a

cast, or to see what we have done

after reading or hearing about us in

the papers and on local radio.

“We are delighted with the

response and, currently, we are

open seven days from 9am to 9pm.”

Plenderleith added: “Anglers are

pleased with the quality of the fish

and the state of the fishery in

general, but we are continuing to

develop the facility.”

One advance is that flies are now

on sale in the registration area but,

as yet, there is no tackle available to

buy on-site.

The manager said: “Please do not

message for bookings as these can

be missed. Our numbers are 01620

810526 or 07748 485647 and I’m

more than happy to provide all the

information you need to fish here.”

Patterns now working include

buzzers, cats whisker and spiders, as

well as humongous and diawl bach.

Scotland Seniors

fine victory. But, with eight

minutes stoppage time added,

England levelled when a vicious

in-swinging corner from Darren

Pearce found the net via the

far post.

As the late drama was

unfolding in the Scotland v

England clash, Wales were

beating Northern Ireland 3-2 to

stay top of the standings ahead

of the last round of fixtures the

following day.

Scotland reshuffled the team

for the final game, and fell

behind early, but rallied before

half-time to lead Northern

Ireland 2-1. The equaliser came

from a Mark Cameron penalty,

before a wonderful solo effort

from Davie Taylor gave them the

advantage. Craig Manson’s

sweet volley in the second half

sealed victory, while England

overpowered Wales 3-0 to retain

the trophy.

Scotland can be proud of their

efforts, especially given the

demands of playing three highly

competitive matches in less than

48 hours.

The squad was: Derek Barnes,

Bryan Thomson; Mark Cameron,

Colin Leslie, Stewart Siegel, Brian

Anderson, Roland Fabiani, Stuart

Cameron, James Ferry, Gary

Sutherland, David Grant, Scott

Walker; Davie Taylor, Stephen

McIlhone, Mark Dawson, Craig

Manson, Scott Burnside

(captain); Sean Barr, Stephen

Quigg, Jim Duffy, Ken Horn.

Newlands Tweeddale Fishery

Tight lines at Newlands Derek Plenderleith