Edinburgh Napier outclass Abertay at Saughton

Two goals in the first ten minutes helped the Edinburgh Napier 1st XI to a 3-1 victory over a poor Abertay side in a scrappy encounter at the Saughton complex on Wednesday 4 March.

An unfortunate own goal and a Chris Crookes penalty looked to have sealed the game for the home side early on, before striker Graeme Duncan grabbed one back for Abertay. But a sublime Chris McIntyre free-kick on 75 minutes put Napier firmly in the driving seat all the way to the final whistle.

The match got off to a bad start for Abertay, who turned up with the same coloured strips as their opponents, and it was a sign of things to come as the visitors soon found themselves chasing the game after a spell of shambolic defending.

On six minutes, Napier winger Chris McIntyre showed great acceleration to burst away from his marker and fire a teasing cross into the box. The ball was too fast for Gregor Campbell, but took an awkward deflection off an Abertay defender and sailed past hapless keeper James Mitchell.

With Abertays' heads down, Napier grabbed a decisive second four minutes later when a penalty was awarded for a clumsy foul on Paul Henderson. Tricky midfielder Chris Crookes stepped up and chipped the ball over the keeper, only for it to be ruled out due to encroachment from his team-mates. However, victory for the home side was essentially sealed with the re-take, which was calmly nestled into the back of the net.

The pace and power of Napier right midfielder Chris McIntyre proved to be the biggest threat to the shaky Abertay defence and he almost put his side three up just before half-time, managing to evade his marker before floating a fantastic cross into the box from out wide, but the Saughton front men were too slow to react.

As the second half kicked off, Abertay looked to have found some of the bite that was severely lacking in the previous 45 as they started to cause Napier problems at the back.

On 55 minutes, Abertay midfielder Steven Ellis found himself with ample space in the middle of the park and unleashed a stunning shot at goals from 30 yards out. Napier 'keeper David Easton did well to get a hand to the ball but could only palm it into the path of Graeme Duncan who poked in the rebound. But the Abertay celebrations were short-lived as the goal was ruled out for offside.

However, Duncan did not have to wait much longer for another opportunity, deservedly firing home in the 66th minute. The powerful forward spotted a gap in the Napier back line before bursting through and blasting a shot past Easton.

But Napier were in no mood to surrender their lead, and McIntyre continued to cause problems, constantly cutting in from the right and firing dangerous shots at goal. Nearly all of Napier’s attacks were going through the on-form number two, so it was perhaps no surprise when McIntyre put the game beyond question on 75 minutes with a fantastic free-kick.

Again sub-standard defending from Abertay led to a free-kick being conceded about 25 yards out on the right wing. McIntyre stepped up confidently and curled a great shot round the wall and beyond the reach of Mitchell. It was a moment of magic that livened up a rather dull second half and sealed the three points for Napier.