Amateur wrap: Sandys and Tollcross draw, Kacprowicz's treble

Sandys had to dig deep to restore parity with a strong Tollcross Thistle side at Saughton. Pic: TSPL

After a scrappy opening 15 minutes of this Premier Division encounter, the first real chance of the game unfolded for Sandys. Bob McKenzie reacted to a loose ball 25 yards out with a thumping volley that sailed just over keeper John Nisbet’s crossbar.

The rest of the half fizzled out, as although both sides had plenty of the ball, they lacked the cutting edge to carve open a clear opportunity in the final third.

When the second half got going it was Sandys looking the sharper of the two teams. McKenzie tested Nisbet five minutes after the restart with a low shot from close range, but the Tollcross keeper was equal to it.

Tollcross had been quiet but against the run of play they went ahead. Scott Millar won the ball deep in the Sandys half and he drilled a low cross for Chris Reid to bury from five yards.

Tollcross then came a whisker away from making it 2-0. Millar was the instigator again and from close range, Ciaran Duffy rattled the crossbar.

It got more difficult for Sandys into the last ten minutes as Liam Peden was shown a straight red for a rash challenge, but despite that they salvaged a point at the death as Ramsay crossed for Tam Crease to rattle in an equaliser.

• North Merchiston Vale made it three wins from three in Lothian West as they defeated Craigroyston CYFC 2-1 at Craigie Park.

The visitors took the lead when Neil Rankin created an early opening for Merchie and they made the most of it to break the deadlock. The midfielder won the ball on the right side of midfield before firing in a low cross for Ryan Stewart to sidefoot home.

After some persistent pressure, Craigroyston pulled level as Brandon Mullen was quickest to react to a corner Merchie failed to clear.

The game continued to be a back and forth affair with both sides throwing caution to the wind in the search of maximum points. A third goal was inevitable in the contest and it was Merchie who grabbed it with ten minutes left through Stephen Notman’s header.

• Karol Kacprowicz bagged a hat-trick as Vittoria Group FC made it back-to-back wins in Sunday Morning Division 2 with a 4-1 win over South Edinburgh AFC.

It wasn’t long before Vittoria were on their way to another three points. Kacprowicz took aim from 20 yards and he sent the ball sailing into the Edinburgh goal.

That settled the hosts and they began to dictate the game with lots of possession. After patiently probing away, they soon had another before halftime. Kacprowicz was once again in the thick of the action as he raced through to fire in one on one, for 2-0.

There was little Edinburgh could carve out in response to going two goals down and so after the break, Vittoria didn’t let up. Kacprowicz went on a dazzling solo run before steering the ball in from close range for his treble.

Although Edinburgh managed to pull a goal back through John Storey’s sublime volley from distance, Vittoria rounded off the scoring as Mario Simeonov  converted from close range.