Varsity 2010: Men's Football

Watt emerged victorious from a dramatic penalty shoot-out to clinch a victory in the Varsity Cup after neither side could find a breakthrough in normal time.

This was a game that both started and ended with a flourish, whilst the majority formed a typical stalemate with both teams lacking the final bit of quality to take the lead. Edinburgh had the first attempt at goal as early as the first minute; Hamish Munroe drove down the right wing before cutting back to Andrew Watkin whose fierce drive flew past the post.

Watt were soon making their own claims for the lead in an acrobatic fashion. A 5th minute corner was met with an exquisite overhead kick from Chris Donnelly which required a fingertip save from Mark Tait in the Edinburgh goal. Lars Berger should have put the rebound away but could only direct his header over the bar.

Not to be outdone, Edinburgh’s Mark Cawson produced an equally impressive overhead kick in the 12th minute, yet the goalkeeper was again on hand to prevent an early goal for Edinburgh.

After such finesse the game descended into a midfield battle with neither team able to retain possession. Ally Duff brought some skill back to the game, his 30 yard free kick grazing the top of the Edinburgh University crossbar.

Watt again continued to press, Donnelly and Ryan Wilkie combining aerial passes just outside the box before Wilkie fired a volley past the post in the 42nd minute. They came closer still; Matt Travis was teed up from a free kick on the edge of the area, yet his shot could only find the goalkeepers arms.

The two teams emerged for the second half with renewed vigour; Herriot Watt again looked the more threatening, this time a shot from Ian Fyfe looked destined to roll into the net before being cleared off the line. Fyfe again threatened as he came more into the game, this time his half volley left Tait rooted to the spot as it rolled agonisingly wide in the 55th minute.

Edinburgh were by no means second best and as the half wore on their football became more composed. Despite this, they were restricted to long, speculative attempts at goal by a well marshalled Watt back four. James Craigen and Watkin both aimed to test the keeper from 30 yards or more but their attempts didn’t find the target. Michael Dick managed to find an opening, and his shot was heading straight for the top corner, but the goalkeeper’s fingers met it first.

With the deadlock unbroken by the 90th minute the game went straight to penalties. Watt took the initiative, Craig Gillen hitting the centre of the goal before Watkin capped a fine performance by finding the bottom corner for Edinburgh. Heartbreak struck for Edinburgh soon after, the Watt goalkeeper pulling off two excellent fingertip saves to deny their rivals. Michael Connor and Andy Forbes then showed no hesitation in making it 3-1 to Watt, both of them finding the far corner of the goal. So it was left to Ally Duff to take the deciding penalty for Watt, he chose the centre; and the goalkeeper went left. With that, the Varsity cup was won by the visitors from Heriot-Watt.