Amateur football round-up: Edinburgh Harps bounce back; Corstorphine Timbers can't be felled

Harps were sucker punched last Wednesday night as Cavalry Park netted a last minute winner to snatch all three points, but they picked themselves up on Saturday.

Returning to their home pitch at Royal High, the Harps looked more comfortable from the start retaining the ball well and limiting Windsor to efforts from range.

The early possession converted to two first half goals, the first arriving when captain Kurt Priestley won the ball back 30 yards out before sending an audacious lob into the top corner.

Stephen Faller went close after he found space in the box only to see his effort come back off the post. The hosts continued to push in search of a second and after some pinball in the box the ball landed at the feet of right back Ewan McLean for him to flick the ball over the head of the Windsor goalkeeper.

Windsor responded well and looked dangerous on several occasions in the second half as they probed for a way back into the match only to be thwarted by a series of top drawer saves from Harps keeper Connor Muir.

A crucial third goal to seal the win did arrive for Harps. A marauding run from centre half Alex Snoddy and a neat interchange with Faller saw him one-on-one with the keeper who was lobbed once again.

Ratho continue to set the pace at the top of the Championship as they widened the gap to eight points with a 5-2 defeat of Cavalry Park,

while their was also wins for Corstorphine Dynamo and Bank of Scotland Strollers.

In Saturday’s Premier Division, Edinburgh Star secured their fourth league win of the campaign with an 8-1 hammering of Tranent. Scott Coleman, Danny Glancy and Marcus Philip-Taylor each hit a double, while Jason McGuiness and Jaxon Wishart were also on the scoresheet.

In Sunday’s Sunday Morning Premier Division, Corstorphine Timbers maintained their 100 per-cent start with an impressive 5-1 victory over Victoria Locos at Queensferry High School to make it three wins out of three.

After some great possession football at the back, Timbers took an early lead as Alan Downie broke down the left and drove into the box finishing neatly for his first goal of the season.

It was 2-0 shortly after as Downie turned provider, when he fed Mark Osborne who slotted low beyond the keeper.

Locos pulled one back through a quick throw-in and superb finish high into the net from a tight angle.

After a bit of pinball in the box, and three great saves from Locos keeper, Downie finally got the ball over the line for his second of the game to make 3-1. Ryan Finn would make it 4-1 before half time, heading home David McKenzie’s corner.

Timbers played some excellent football and had a host of chances in the second but could only add one more goal to their tally through Osborne who broke free one-on-one and beat the keeper from the edge of the box.

Elsewhere, reigning champions Edinburgh Caledonia kept their place at the top of the league with a 4-1 defeat of Broxburn, while Niddrie Star secured a narrow 4-3 win away to Macmillan Samba.

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