The Auld Enemy turned up at Murrayfield on Saturday with eight new caps, a new head coach and the full support of Britains bookies, but with a bit of rumbling from the English ‘experts’ about dropping most of the old hands. While they weren’t anywhere near as dominant a force as some English teams have been in the past, they did manage to cross the finishing line seven points clear for their first Murrayfield win since 2008, Scotland’s eternal lack of success in the try scoring department letting them down in the end – but it was close.

Scotland kicked off into the seething cauldron that is Murrayfield when Scotland and England compete and straight away went on the attack with players all over the field making it difficult for the visitors to decide where the kick off was going to end up. However, once the game was underway, both teams were playing a cagey game with possession and territory swapping regularly. England had the first scoring opportunity 13 minutes in with a penalty which, new cap, Owen Farrell stuck just wide, giving the nay-sayers of English rugby a chance to stroke their beards and nod sagely. Less than 10 minutes later though, Scotland gave Farrell another chance to open the scoring, which he duly slotted home to give the visitors a three point lead with 24 minutes on the clock.

Straight from the kick-off, the home side put the English team under immediate pressure in their 22 and were awarded with their own penalty, a chance which Cardiff’s Dan Parks scored to draw the sides level.

Weathering an England attack which failed to penetrate the home sides defence, Scotland turned-over the ball, which was hoofed off down the field to get Scotland on the attack and just short of the England try line. With Chris Cusiter forcing Chris Ashton to hold onto the ball just short of the line, Parks took the chance the chance to put Scotland in the lead.

The half ended with Scotland in possession, on the attack, but not really doing anything to look like making a try-scoring opportunity and going into the break 6-3 ahead.

From the restart, the ball ended up in Parks’ hands for a nice, simple kick to touch. It didn’t quite work out as planned when Charlie Hodgson charged the kick down and then fell on the ball over the Scotland line. With Farrell scoring from the kick, England were 10-3 ahead with still 39 minutes to play. The Scots didn’t let their heads drop and attack after attack saw first David Denton making a charge up the left hand touch-line, then Richie Gray battling up the middle of the field (pictured) and finally a kick through from yet another assault on the 63 minute mark which saw the ‘nearly try’. Greg Laidlaw, on for Parks, chipped the ball in behind the visitors defence, and charged through to compete with Ben Youngs for the touch down. Oh, it was close! It took the TMO almost 5 minutes to decide that Laidlaw hadn’t got enough on the ball to warrant the score and match referee, George Clancy, gave the ‘no-try’ signal that the home fans were dreading.

And that was that, more or less. England came up with another two penalties, Farrell only scoring from one, and Scotland ended the match as they had begun, on the attack, but just failing to make the breakthrough. With David Denton being awarded Man-of-the-Match, Scotland came away from the encounter with another ‘brave’ defeat, 13-6 down, too many turn-overs and lack of penetration being the match losers which need to be worked on before meeting Wales in Cardiff next week.

As a footnote, such is the aura surrounding the Calcutta Cup encounter that the tongue-in-cheek reckoning in the Photographer’s room afterwards was that Scotland’s bid for Independence could hinge on the result of this very match. Choose your date wisely Alec…

Report and Photo – John Preece
Web - http://www.photoboxgallery.com/jlp-photography

At just a touch under £90,000 Musselburgh is putting up record prize money for its feature jumps meeting of the season on Sunday  with the John Smith’s Scottish Cheltenham Trials.

Three £20,000 races and a supporting £12,000 race has caught the attention of leading stables from as far apart as Newmarket, Lambourn, Cheshire and North Yorkshire, with the indigenous Scottish stables poised to ensure the raiders don’t disappear with the bulk of the booty.

Musselburgh has made a concerted effort to establish this fixture as genuine trials or prep meeting for the major Spring festivals, starting with Cheltenham and on to Aintree and the Grand National in April.

The John Smith’s Scottish County Hurdle is billed as a run out for the top handicap hurdlers fancying a shot at Cheltenham’s County Hurdle and Nicky Henderson will be looking to repeat his 2009 victory in this race when Eradicate won. The leading Lambourn trainer holds a powerful hand this year with Crystal Rock and Dubai Crest but Henderson will not have matters easy this time round.

Richard Fahey is sending his talented Ingleby Spirit in search of his third consecutive Musselburgh success, while Cumbrian trainer Nicky Richards is optimistic that Simply Ned will follow up last month’s popular win in the valuable TurfTV Handicap Hurdle. Scottish trainers Jim Goldie and James Ewart are equally confident of a bold showing from New Year’s Day winner Kaolak and Allow Me.

A decent run in the £20,000 John Smith’s Scottish Triumph Hurdle could lead to a pop at the Triumph Hurdle proper at Cheltenham and this race has piqued the interest of Newmarket’s John Ferguson who is enjoying a fine season with his ex-Godolphin flat racers. His final choice between dual winners Asaid and Creekside will have to be seriously respected but the value could lie with the Malton-trained Blue Destination and John Quinn’s four year old – a runner up in both his recent outings over hurdles – looks a progressive type poised to improve with experience.

Always keen to innovate, Musselburgh introduces a new race, the John Smith’s Scottish Champion Steeple Chase Handicap and the best two miler collects the Bowes-Lyon Cup, named in honour of David Bowes-Lyon who recently retired as a director of Musselburgh Racecourse.

A tartan version of Cheltenham’s Queen Mother Champion Chase, albeit a handicap, the race will feature razor sharp competition amongst the top northern stables. With front runners like Carrietau, Laterly, Storm Surge and Quito Du Tresor among the entries a strong gallop will be assured and the early pace could play to the advantage of Time Out. Langholm trainer James Ewart has already saddled the nine year old to score three times this season and Time Out’s ability to act round sharp tracks and his proven stamina will both be in his favour.

Musselburgh Racecourse general manger, Bill Farnsworth, is predicting another cracking day of National Hunt action at the East Lothian course. He said: “This is the richest jumps fixture yet staged at Musselburgh and that is reflected in the quality of entries and the geographic spread of the stables heading our way.

“It sets the stage for a superb day on Sunday and I expect an old fashioned north/south tussle will make for very interesting racing. I won’t be surprised if the furthest travelled trainers don’t get it all their own way which can only be good for the paying race goer.

“We are grateful to John Smith’s for their ongoing support in building up this flagship fixture and we are in talks with the brewer to strengthen our relationship, with possibly other fixtures benefiting from their sponsorship.”

Gates open on Sunday at 11.30am and first race on the seven card meeting is at 1.30pm.

Musselburgh Windsor Amateur Football Club has started 2012 with a new look thanks to an Edinburgh property company.

Ross and Liddell set up its  Community Bursary Scheme last year and donated £250 to the club, which used the funding to purchase a new change strip for its amateur squad.

Mark Finlayson, team manager, said: “On behalf of Musselburgh Windsor Amateur Football Club I would like to thank Ross and Liddell for its  funding and support.

“The bursary has allowed us to fund a new change strip, which is essential when there are so many teams and competitions at amateur level.

 “Musselburgh Windsor Football Club has been around for a long time with a range of teams of all ages, but this team was only established in 2011 and this is their first competitive season.

“It was a natural progression for a boys club as large as Windsor to develop a senior team for boys to progress towards as they work through the age groups. We hope to be successful within the Lothian and Edinburgh Amateur Football Association and compete with the existing amateur teams in Musselburgh and the surrounding areas.”

Based in Clifton Terrace, Edinburgh, Ross and Liddell specialises in property management and maintenance, as well as providing a comprehensive range of residential and commercial services, including sales, lettings, surveying and insurance.

Property manager, Wayne O’Connor, recently visited the club to meet the team and check out their new strips.

He said: “Our aim when we set up the bursary scheme was to give non-profit groups in the area the opportunity to apply for financial support to help continue their valuable work in the community.

“Musselburgh Windsor Football Club is very much part of the local community and we are delighted that the club has been able to purchase a new away  kit with the money awarded through our bursary scheme. We wish them every success throughout the season.”

Sports Aid Athlete Jonty Barron gets sponsorship from Comet electrical store, Edinburgh

Edinburgh athlete Jonty (Jonathan) Barron, aged 18, from Lasswade near Edinburgh, received a cheque for £1,000 from the Edinburgh Fort Kinnaird Comet store as part of the electrical specialist’s partnership with sports charity SportsAid – helping the sports stars of tomorrow, today!

Jonty is pictured with Comet’s Edinburgh Fort Kinnaird store manager John Taylor.

Today, Comet presented aspiring shooting star Jonty Barron with a £1,000 cheque to support his training. As part of Comet’s charity partnership with SportsAid, the electrical specialist will back 20 young talented sports people around the UK with training grants, giving them a vital boost during the defining early years of their sporting careers.

Already competing at a national level, Jonty was recently Top Junior performer in the Scottish Squad at the 2011 Scotland vs New Zealand match. Jonty will put the funding towards his training so he can reach a higher performance level and work towards the ultimate goal – representing Great Britain in an international tournament.

Picture from:  Colin Hattersley Photography
www.colinhattersley.com
colinhattersley@btinternet.com
07974 957 388

For the first time since 2004, Edinburgh Rugby have qualified for the knock-out stages of the Heineken Cup. And they did so in some style, winning five of their six matches, topping their group, finishing third in the overall standings and coming out with a home draw in the quarter-finals. Admittedly this will be against one of Europe’s, if not the World’s top clubs, Toulouse – a club whose budget reputedly exceeds that of many International federations…

Nearly 10,900 spectators turned out to watch Edinburgh give themselves the best chance of simply qualifying by having to secure the win in the first instance. A bonus point win and match results elsewhere would determine where in the table the ended up and who they would play.

London Irish, with their token Irishman Bob Casey at the helm, were the first with points on the board. An early attack from Edinburgh was absorbed fairly easily and, with a quick foray up the field, a penalty was secured and the first three points were racked up with ten minutes on the clock.

Securing ball from the kick-off, Edinburgh resumed the assault, using their big forwards to move the ball up the park, before Greg Laidlaw saw a wee gap, and with Tim Visser prowling on the wing, slid the ball in behind the Exiles’ defence for him to run on to and score Edinburgh’s first of four tries. With Laidlaw in fine form, the conversion went over and it was 7-3 to the home side.

And it continued, with London Irish on the back foot, another ten minutes of, mostly, Edinburgh ball left Laidlaw with a simple penalty to take the score out to 10-3. London Irish fought back from the kick-off and came away with their own score from a penalty a few minutes later. After a period of fairly even play Laidlaw was presented with another chance to put the home side further ahead, and, in what was to be a flawless kicking display, he duly obliged – 13-6 to Edinburgh.

With five minutes of the half remaining and following a drive deep into the visitors 22, the ball ended out wide on the right wing in the hands of Jim Thompson who crossed the line to score Edinburgh’s second try. With Laidlaw again kicking the points, the home side went into the break 20-6 ahead.

The second half started fairly cautiously for both sides with a few probing kicks up and down the field, before London Irish took the initiative and spent a lengthy period of time encamped deep in the Edinburgh 22, hammering away at the Edinburgh defence. Even with two penalty awards, one taken quickly, the other a scrum, they couldn’t break through the superb host’s defence and only a turn-over ball from Thompson prevented what really should have been a try. Having weathered this storm, Edinburgh again moved the field, ending up with Roddy Grant with hands on the ball. A brilliant pass from out of a tackle saw the ball in Matt Scott’s hands. His pass went out to Visser who galloped home round the outside of Delon Armitage to cross the whitwash in the corner. The team went wild. The crowd went wild. The referee… Well, the referee blew up for a forward pass from Grant. Shame.

Securing ball from the scrum, it was Irish’s turn to have a go. And this they did and were awarded with a try from Jonathan Joseph. A wide move up the wing, a kick through, and Joseph gathered to romp home outside the defence to score. With the kick missed the score stood at a slightly worrying 20-11.

The home side didn’t quite see it that way and two tries in the final ten minutes, one from close in by Man-of-the-Match, Netani Telai and the second from another back’s move leaving Lee Jones (pictured) to sprint up the line, finished off a superb display from the Edinburgh side. With Laidlaw scoring from both kicks, the final score was 34-11 to the home team – a team who, at the beginning of the tournament, were ‘granted’ a possible third place in the group by Sky Sport’s panel of ‘experts’. What do they know? Given that Edinburgh currently lie ninth out of twelve in the RaboDirect league, you can almost see where they were coming from.

So, with the big boys of European rugby coming out to play at Murrayfield at the beginning of April, what chance a semi-final place? Well, after this season’s HC display, anything’s possible.

Report and Photo – John Preece
Web - http://www.photoboxgallery.com/jlp-photography

This product is still in pre-production, but if you send a pledge of some cash you will receive one of the very first LED bike light systems, and you may help others buy the system in future, which may in turn save lives.

LED By LITE is an innovative group of cycling enthusiasts who showcased their new line of bicycle lighting systems at INTERBIKE in Las Vegas last September. Their systems boast of having the most brilliant and greatest quantity of LEDs for a bicycle (from 24 up to 48). The technology includes modulation modes and wireless turn indicators.

The originator of the idea and President of the company, Brandon Smith, expressed his company’s goals, “We believe LED By LITE TM system’s are the most feature rich bicycle lighting system on the market. When designing our LBL Lite Systems TM we set out to develop the safest, most durable and most comprehensive lighting system everproduced for a bicycle. We think we have achieved this.”

LBL Lite Systems include up to 48 High Intensity LEDs, providing the most radiant 360 degrees of visibility. The LEDs are encased in flexible straps, making them waterproof and durable. The video shows the straps being dipped into a fishtank and a car driving over them.

Another innovative aspect of their lighting system is the turning indicator option. “Our LBL Dashboard TM converts an LBL Lite System into directional turn indicators. Our wireless controller, mounted on the handler bars helps a cyclist become safer by illuminating their turning intentions and making them a more relevant vehicle on theroad,” says Rick Smith, CEO.

Powered by what they are calling the LBL Black Box, is a 12 Volt rechargeable lithium Ion battery pack producing intense lighting and high run times. They boast run times with 48 LEDs in modulation mode up to 8 hours.

NSPCC Scotland is calling on people in Edinburgh to take on the ‘2012km Gold Challenge’ to help raise funds for the children’s charity.

The charity is calling on budding local athletes to cover a distance of 2012km, 201.2km or 20.12km either by walking, running, cycling, swimming, horse riding, sailing, windsurfing, rowing or canoeing, (or by choosing several of these activities), and to complete the challenge by December 2012.

It is hoped that through sponsorship and corporate support, participants will raise a total of £1 million to help continue the vital work of the NSPCC in offering services to children and young people in Scotland and across the UK, including ChildLine.

The Gold Challenge, a non-profit organisation, is part of the mass participation legacy programme for the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, and the NSPCC is one of 125 ‘Gold Challenge Partners’.

Susie Barron, community fundraising manager for NSPCC Scotland, said: “The 2012km Gold Challenge is a fantastic goal for anyone wanting to get fit after the excesses of Christmas and New Year! As an incentive to raise as much money as possible through their Gold Challenge, participants could be in with a chance to run the Olympic Stadium 100m track at a Gold Challenge event on Sunday 1^st April 2012, in front of a cheering crowd of 20,000 people!”

There are several ways to earn a place at the Gold Challenge Olympic Stadium incentive day, supported by the London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games (LOCOG), charities’ celebrity ambassadors and Team GB legends; the first is to be one of the 72 highest Gold Challenge fundraisers by 29^th February 2012, or to be in the top nine fundraising businesses, the top university or the top four fundraising schools. The second is for the NSPCC to allocate you a place within its own exclusive 100m race, or for selected corporate partners’ employees to fundraise their way into the NSPCC Corporate Team Relay.

To find out how you can get involved or for more information on Gold Challenge, contact Kate Hershkowitz on (0)20 825 2560, email goldchallenge@nspcc.org.uk or visit www.nspcc.org.uk/goldchallenge.

The awards recognise the hard work, planning and innovation that goes in to keeping racecourses in tip-top condition and Musselburgh was first past the post ahead of Ascot in the dual flat and jumps category.

Musselburgh’s head of ground staff, Mark Bemrose, and his team were praised by the judging panel for “the improvements in the racing surface at Musselburgh, along with the high standards in all areas and the involvement of the team in development of the new stable complex”.

The Awards are sponsored by Pithcare.com and are now in their 16^th year. The judges comprised of representatives of the National Trainers Federation and Professional Jockeys’ Association, with support from the BHA Inspectors of Courses.

Richard Linley, Senior BHA Inspector of Courses, said: “It was an extremely difficult decision for the panel to select a winner in each category for the Pitchcare Neil Wyatt Groundstaff Awards 2011, as yet again groundsmen around the country have demonstrated real commitment to their work and on frequent occasions in very difficult circumstances. There is some impressive work going on at racecourses around the country and the panel has chosen very worthy winners.”

Dale Gibson from The Professional Jockeys Association said: “We all appreciate the hard work that the ground staff put in day in day out and without their effort racing simply would not take place.”

Musselburgh Racecourse general manager, Bill Farnsworth, said the award was a “truly great result” against strong competition.

He said: “Mark and his team deserve great credit for this Award and it reflects the dedication and hard work which goes into the track and grounds at Musselburgh throughout the year.

“Working alongside our clerk of the course, Harriet Graham, we undoubtedly have one of the strongest ground staff in the country and I don’t think anyone who has visited the course would object to Musselburgh’s team receiving this accolade.”

This latest award follows on from Musselburgh being recognised for its Operational Excellence in the Racecourse Association Showcase Awards. The East Lothian track has also been nominated for the Racecourse of the Year title in the Betview Awards which will be judged in May.

His diary entries have reached us by email which is of course a little intermittent as he has been sailing in the middle of the Atlantic…Gavin’s job is to film the race and also to collect the SD cards from GoPro cameras attached to the 17 boats which started the race, edit the footage (yes on a yacht in the middle of the Atlantic) and eventually perhaps produce a documentary about the whole experience.

Here is one of the wee videos posted on the Talisker site:-

TALISKER YACHT EN ROUTE TO AID ROW TO RECOVERY from Talisker Whisky on Vimeo.

Sunday 1 January 2012
After yet another VERY slow breakfast, this time due to missing staff at
the Mindelo cafe we leave Cape Verdes, glad to get away. Mark from Maisie
Rose passes, I’m the only one up I explain we were planning to leave at
10am, it was now 11am, he laughed and said it was a very relaxed boat. Ole
drops by to say hello, he hands over yet another large wad of money!
Canadian dollars to be enjoyed once we’re at Barbados.

Monday 2 January 2012
Day 2 of sailing 330 NNW to find GO commando. Sea has been continuously
lumpy and winds of 25 – 32 knots. I am so exhausted and enjoying spending
all my spare time in the bunk catching up on sleep and this diary. It’s
coming up to dinner time.

Tuesday 3 January 2012
Great watches last night. The evening watch with Graham had a show of
Risso’s dolphin, swimming alongside and jumping out of the larger waves.
The later watch had stars and phosphorecense, the waves and lights and the
clouds and stars create an almost mirror image. A flying fish landed in
the cockpit right in front of me. They are so wriggly with large scales
that come off very easily. I threw it back but found out later there was
already one on board trapped under the slats of the cockpit sole.

Spent so much time sleeping today. Getting back into boat routine. So glad
to have loads of fresh fruit and veg on board, beginning to feel normal
again. Imo (1st mate) has been ill.

Interviewed Graham regarding his plans for collecting the boats.
Photographed a tiny flying fish that was thrown onto deck by a wave.
Beautiful sunset as we hove to for the evening. We should be close to Go
Commando around 11am tomorrow.

Wednesday 4 January 2012
We find Go Commando. Come along side her and Jacko and Graham climb
aboard. They spend an hour on board removing and packing up spares and
food. Graham looks very at ease on board, Jacko is in the cabin most of
the time, it almost looks like Graham is about to take the oars and start
their watch. As GC has been adrift for weeks it now has its own
ecosystem, many dorado jump near by, a huge dorado can be seen just under
the hull. At once a huge dorado jumped out and onto GC, almost making it
on board but it bounced off the fore cabin.

A call comes from James and Bertie to Imogen, it sounds like they are in a
bad way, feeling very low, they had a roll after their oars got broken.

Evening brought a pod of common dolphins to the boat, fantastic. Spent
half an hour filming them. My turn to cook today, I have been voted the
best cook by the cooking ‘crew’. Tonight I am making chicken stir fry. My
meals are always looked forward to and it’s great to bask in the glow of
the crews appreciation for a while.

As I was preparing food the dolphins returned, it was now approaching sun
set, there is a light golden glow on the water. I spend another 15 minutes
on the bow filming them. THIS IS WHAT IT’S ABOUT.

Thursday 5 January 2012
On watch till 8am so stayed up. Had breakfast as the day warmed up. We
have company, a large Tuna has latched itself to Aurora, swimming on the
shaded side of the boat I assume it is using the shadow to hide itself
from it’s prey. It stays with us.

Many flying fish again. We watch one fly what looked liked 100 yards, we
shouted encouragement as it went.

James calls, I take the call as skipper is watching Jaws down below. James
seems in good spirits and tells me they have some great footage. Good to
here from him, they have had a roller coaster of a ride physically and
mentally. We should be with them mid afternoon tomorrow. We will spend a
few hours with them sorting out oars etc.

Spent a hour or more filming the tuna now joined by a second from the deck
and in with a GoPro in the water. Torn between filming and fishing! Have
some great footage and plan to use the technique again if they’re still
around tomorrow or when the dolphins are back.