Lowland League wrap: Wins for Edinburgh Uni and Whitehill

Ryan McKenzie opened the scoring for Whitehill

Edinburgh University 5, Edusport Academy 3

Edinburgh took the lead on seven minutes when a Sutherland corner from the right was swept home powerfully by Jack Guthrie at the far post. On 18 minutes, a long throw-in by Nathan Evans reached Mark Gair and his curling drive eluded goalkeeper Belkacem. Edinburgh scored a fine third goal on 44 minutes when Guthrie’s excellent cross was glanced home by Evans. After the break, Edusport adopted a direct approach and played with much greater intensity. On 49 minutes, they were rewarded when Connor Higgins outpaced Sutherland and beat Tait with a fierce drive from 30 yards. Five minutes later, Verkaik was deceived by the run of Higgins and the striker scored his second. Edusport levelled the scores on 74 minutes when McCann’s well-placed cross found Raffi Krissian at the far post to tap home. Edinburgh regained the lead on 77 minutes when a corner was worked to Rafa Calbacho and he drove the ball home from 15 yards. Edinburgh substitute Watters made an immediate impact when his deft through ball released Guthrie and the striker eased the ball home to seal a hard-fought win.

Edinburgh University: Tait, Murray, Gair, Verkaik, Sutherland, Daniels-Yeoman, McNicholas (Watters 77), Swan, Guthrie, Evans, Calbacho. Subs: Condie, Davison, Boyle, Maskrey, Hendry, Kuivalainen.

Edusport Academy: Belkacem, Hewitt (Besnard), Oulaitoh, McCann, Steyer, Krissian, Zeghdane, Sinclair (Jordane 81), Babel, Higgins, Garnier. Subs: Breton, Meny, Sacayaradji, Savigny, De Liederkerker.

Hawick Royal Albert 1, Whitehill Welfare 4

Ryan McKenzie opened the scoring for Whitehill after eight minutes, slotting in at far post after Dylan Weldon had flicked on a Craig Reid free-kick. David McCaughie levelled for the home side just before the half-hour mark, pouncing on Connar Easton’s clearance to lob in from 45 yards. Weldon restored Whitehill’s advantage on the stroke of half-time after James McPartlin sent him clear. Gary Nicholson made it 3-1, dispossessing Steven Campbell and finding the net before Jack Wright completed the scoring with a brilliant solo run and shot from a tight angle.

Hawick Royal Albert: Saunders, Simpson, McParlin, Campbell, Nanitellaimo, Trialist, McCaughie, O’Brien, Johnson, Murphy, Rose. Subs: Clark, Knox, Reynold, Summers, Jeffrey.

Whitehill Welfare: Easton, Reid, McGrath, R McKenzie, Watson, Lucas, Wright, McPartlin, Mitchell, Smith, Weldon. Subs: Nicholson, McGregor, Dodds, Dowie, L.Barrett, Knox, Jardine.

Cumbernauld Colts 1, Civil Service Strollers 1

Strollers fought back from the loss of an early goal to claim a point. The hosts applied some early pressure to the Civil goal and, in the second minute, it paid off when Sean Brown got on the end of a well-placed cross and prodded the ball into the net. With 31 minutes gone, Civil drew level when Matthew Cunningham rose above the home defence to head home a Jack Downie corner. Steven Froude thought he had put Civil ahead on the hour mark, the big striker played in by substitute David Churchill before finding the net. However, the referee’s assistant signalled for offside. Cumbernauld keeper Chris Fahey made fine saves from Churchill and Downie to ensure the spoils were shared.

Cumbernauld Colts: Fahey, McKenzie, Marshall, Kerr, Pascazio, Morray, O’Neil, Lachlan, Brown, Mortimer, Wallace. Subs: Kirwan, Fergus, McCrory, Waddell, Hunter, Sheridan.

Civil Service Strollers: Burnside, Stewart (Devers), Mair, Fee, Laird, Boyle (Churchill), Downie, Cunningham, Ballantyne, Mitchell (Dillon), Froude. Subs Brown, Newall.