Winning in the rain

It was Fresher Fun Day at Peffermill last Wednesday, and with a beer-guzzling evening ahead of them, the onlooking pint-wielding newbies were treated to a match between Edinburgh University’s third and fourth men’s teams.

It was, to twist an oft-used phrase, a game of two 35-minute periods. For a colourblind journalist, the 3s’ green shirts clashed awkwardly with the red-clad 4s, but one could discern it was the green-fingered 3s who scored the opener three minutes in. A bad mistake by the left-back, who slipped on the dewy turf, let in striker James Toogood who finished well. Frustrated anguish rang out as the second goal went in three minutes later, as the game looked over before it started.

Andy Scobie in the yellow jersey made some superlative saves with all parts of his body, and deserved his first-half clean sheet. The eccentric 4s goalkeeper got his positioning awfully wrong, making Rene Higuita look orthodox as he upended Toogood in the D, after the attacker had shown off his juggling skills; a harsher official would have punished him further, or at least given a flick, but his defence were doing him no favours. From the resulting pressure, the 3s made it three, as a centre was turned in from close range, but the result was academic by this point.

The 3s capitalised on every minor error from the 4s, who brought pressure on their own defence with inane balls across the back line, and preferred short, bitty passing to lethal through balls we see from the top university teams. Ten before half-time, the 4s conceded a fourth, consistent with their inability to clear their lines; after hitting the woodwork with a fierce shot, Hamish Kinnear turned the ball in and capped a near-perfect masterclass from his team in clinical finishing.

To reward the 4s with credit, they did win the second half a goal to nil, the strike coming from Josh Rowe who took his second chance at a short corner confidently, the ball helped in by the falling rain, coaxed into the net with a sympathetic coo. Perhaps a bit more gelling time will be beneficial for their season, and the return of club veteran Nick Brown from America will bolster their spirits and stop sticks from being chucked down to the turf. In any case, the 3s will hope to hold onto their good players, although the 2s would be bolstered by any new recruits.