Sauchie Juniors beat Edinburgh University in the capital

SAUCHIE took all three points in the capital with victory over Edinburgh University on Saturday afternoon.

Assistant Manager Darren Cummings managed the team, making two changes from the midweek comeback against Luncarty, with Rhys Caves and Stuart McDowell coming in.

Caves and McDowell had been substitutes and were instrumental in Sauchie’s turnaround at Brownlands Park during the week; their performances more than deserving a return to the starting eleven.

The game took a while to get going, with large portions being battled in the middle of the park; a gusty wind combined with the warm sun made things difficult for both teams.

Sauchie got the closest during the early exchanges, a chance at close range that went wide of the mark.

Several chances fell to the Sauchie front three, but neither Mikey Cunningham and Ross Kavanagh, nor Mark Smith had enough to make the opposition work.

The hosts also didn’t offer much, but when attacker Christian Lamm went one-on-one with Sean Robertson, the goalkeeper won the battle, standing tall to deny the chance.

Moments after the break, Connor Willaghan delivered a cross to the box, finding the waiting Smith, who would tap in to break the deadlock.

Willaghan also got on the scoresheet, a header into the back of the net at the far post, this time a cross from teammate McDowell. 

Speaking to Advertiser Sport, Cummings praised Willaghan - a former student at Edinburgh University: “He’s up and down that line all day.

“I thought Connor was absolutely sensational, getting the assist and then the second goal, his energy was also superb.

“I spoke to him about it, he is doing a hard shift but he’s now putting a bit of end product to his game, picking people with a final ball.”

Only in the game's dying embers would Sauchie get another chance in front of goal, Aaron Isaacs playing a ball through for Josh Swain, only for the youngster’s shot to head over the bar.

Resilience seems to be this squad’s middle name, Cummings alluded to this: “We just said to them at half-time, we are creating chances so keep going and keep believing.

“We knew that we would eventually break them down and that’s exactly what happened, we came out of the traps in the second half, all guns blazing.”

Sauchie Juniors now continue time away from Beechwood Park with games against Haddington Athletic and then Jeanfield Swifts. 

Sauchie's number two emphasised the challenge that the Hi-his will pose: “We know that it will be a difficult game down there, it always is and we know what we’re going to get from Haddington, they are a very good side.

“We need to be at our best to go down there and get something.

“There’s a bit of momentum with us at the moment, getting boys back which also helps, we’re in a good place but we’ll just take one game at a time.”

SAUCHIE: Robertson, Willaghan, Harrison, Thomson, Caves (Fisher 70’), Kavanagh, McDowell (Swain 76’), Davidson (Churchill 76’), Williamson, Smith (Isaacs 70’), Cunningham (Sludden 84’). UNUSED SUBS: Robertson, Liczba.