Dell insists Edinburgh will take no prisoners in final pool clash

ALLAN DELL arrived at yesterday’s press call in Murrayfield’s North Stand bearing gifts in the form of a tray of pastries snaffled from an adjacent conference room – but the prop insisted there would be no such generosity on Friday night against Timisoara Saracens in Edinburgh’s final pool match of this year’s European Challenge Cup campaign.

The occasion will mark the capital outfit’s long-awaited decampment from the vast surroundings of Murrayfield Stadium to the rather more intimate setting of nearby Myreside, and having already hammered the Romanians 59-17 away from home in round one, it is hard to envisage this being anything other than a triumphant occasion for the hosts. However, Dell insisted that it is vital that the team avoid making life difficult for themselves by putting the cart before the horse.

“First and foremost we’ve just got to go in there and do the job of getting the five points. We have put ourselves in a great position to get a home quarterfinal so we’ve just got to concentrate on keeping playing like we have in the past few weeks,” he said.

“I believe their season ended in November and I don’t think they have played much rugby since then, but you know in these kind of games where you think there is a good chance to get points that you need to go in with the right frame of mind and focus on your own role.

“We played them over there, obviously, and they were a big bunch of men, really physical and strong, but when we stuck to our game and got our skills right we put them away. Towards the end of the game we got a bit loose, lost some structure and let them back in a bit. We need to front up physically from the start, that’s the main thing.”

Having just become the first team to beat Harlequins at the Stoop this season, Edinburgh go into the match on a high, but they know that they need a bonus-point win to be certain of qualifying for the knock-out stages as group winners, and consistency has been a major stumbling block this year – so it is vital that there is no drop-off in intensity despite the humble pedigree of this week’s opposition.

“We’ve had some really good results, like beating Ulster here [at Murrayfield], but then the following weekend we lost to Dragons away, and that’s a rollercoaster we need to get off,” agreed Dell.

“Hopefully we can use this European competition to kick-start our league campaign.”

SPORTINBRIEF

CRICKET Scotland shook off a major dose of the jitters to dramatically snuff out the challenge of the Netherlands and clinch a place in the semifinals of the Desert T20 Challenge,

For the bulk of the contest in Abu Dhabi, Kyle Coetzer’s side were made to struggle.

But the bowlers found form when it mattered most and clocked up two victories on the trot.

Now they will turn their focus on the tussle with Oman in Dubai, knowing another success will take them through as group toppers.

The picture had looked bleak for Coetzer and Co following a top-order batting collapse and a brisk start to the Dutch response as they pursued a target of 149.

However, the late pressure sparked panic in the Holland ranks - and the born-again Scots clinically finished them off. BOWLS Scots finished with three wins from their three first-round matches in singles event at the ‘Just’ World Indoor Bowls Championships at Potters to cement places in next week’s second round,

Spearheading the challenge was Charlie Bence, making his debut in the championships as the oldest competitor in the field at 71 and who qualified for the event courtesy of winning the Scottish qualifier. He ousted No.16 seed Mark Dawes from Blackpool 4-9, 10-7, 2-1. The feisty old hand, didn’t take long to settle, scoring singles on three of the four opening ends to stand at 3-3 but after that it was Dawes took control and won the first set.

He remained in control at 6-0 after just three ends of the second set but the Blantyre challenger scored 10 shots over five of the remaining six ends to win 10-3 and then played a superb three-end tiebreak to book his place in the second round.

The second Blantyre challenger, 2013 champion Stewart Anderson, moved through at the expense of fellow Scot Julie Forrest, one of only three women who qualified for the mainstream event. He won 13-3, 7-2.

David Gourlay, who won this event in 1996, beat Blackpool’s Chris Gale 9-4, 7-6

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