Students toast historic University triumph

THE students of Edinburgh University had waited an age to celebrate a victory in the Scottish Cup, and began to make up for lost time the second the final whistle blew on their momentous 2-1 victory over Keith. They celebrated with their supporters on the pitch, partied in the dressing-room and had every intention of carrying on long into the night.

When the man of the match, George Nikolaidis, emerged to answer a few questions 20 minutes or so after the end, his traditional reward was long gone. "Most of the champagne is on the wall, and I'm drinking this," he said, brandishing a can of the sponsor's product. "We'll go to the Union tonight, and have a meal as well. Then things will get messy. I'm planning to be sick."

It was way back in 1890 that the university team last won a match in the competition proper - against Cowdenbeath, the team they will now meet in the second round. Somewhat closer to the present day, it was all of 33 years since they had actually made it into the first round. They fell at the first hurdle then, although they were at least able to boast that they made it to Hampden, as the draw sent them to Queen's Park, where they lost by a single goal.

Before Saturday's match, the PA system blasted out a reminder of that era, with songs such as Paul Simon's Mother and Child Reunion, You're So Vain by his namesake Carly and What Is Life? from George Harrison. In a nod to a slightly earlier era, Bob Dylan's Mr Tambourine Man also received an airing.

Even the team mascot, a lion, paid tribute by wearing a replica strip with Burgh 73 on the back. Besides whipping up the crowd before the 1:30pm kick-off, this king of beasts also went in goal for the half-time penalty shoot-in. He dived around with no concern for his personal welfare, and on a couple of occasions caused consternation among some of the younger fans present when his head came flying off.

Fortunately, no-one in the team lost his head. Up against bigger, stronger and more experienced opponents, the students needed discipline as well as the flair which players such as Nikolaidis had in abundance. "We knew we were going to do it - and we'll beat Cowdenbeath as well," the 22-year-old said. "There's a lot of belief in the squad, we've been playing well, and we've been working hard in training.

"We thought we were going to do it from the start, and even when they got a goal and were pressurising us we still thought we could do it. We're young students, we're enjoying our football, and we just didn't feel that much pressure on us. This is our home park and we feel very confident here.

"We've been working with Dr Richard Cox, the sports psychologist, this week. He helped us focus a little bit and was very positive. We were asked to give examples of what we thought would help us win the game - four or five things that we felt would get us through. Things like concentration, hard work, preparation, focus, and it was really enjoyable."

These qualities were vital in the face of a late onslaught by the Highland League side, who, after pulling a goal back with more than half an hour to play, fancied their chances of at least forcing a replay. But they could never relax totally, knowing that Burgh had twice proved lethal on the break.

The first occasion, in the eighth minute, had come against the run of play. The strong-running Andy Howat profited from a couple of breaks before slipping the ball inside to Mike Hazeldine, who slid in to score from the edge of the six-yard box.

The University coach, Dougie "Sammy" Samuel, had said in the programme this was his toughest team selection of the season, but it was one he got spot on. Hazeldine, a first-year medic, was making only his second start for the team, and was outstanding.

Midway through the half a cheer went up from the home fans closest to their own team's goal. "It's a streaker! A female streaker!" one excitable fan gurgled. But it wasn't. It was a fully-clothed male being led away by the police for some minor misdemeanour.

Just short of the half-hour, Burgh went two up - again from a break, and again from the same Howat-Hazeldine combination. The latter knocked down a high ball to the No 9, who drew the defence then returned the pass. With just the keeper to beat, Hazeldine curled the ball into the net from about 15 yards.

The home supporters were in their element by now, going through their slightly unusual repertoire of chants. "Do we pay our council tax? No, no," they sang, then broke into a quick burst of "Fortress, Fortress Peffermill". It seemed less of an impregnable fortress a while into the second half when Keith substitute Stuart Walker got a goal back with a low drive from just inside the box, and there were a few close calls for Scott Bennett in the home goal late on. But the students held out to go through to that tie at Central Park on 9 December. They should have shaken off their hangovers by then.

Taken from the Scotsman