Karate stars win global medal haul
THE instructor with a Dunfermline martial arts school has said he was “shocked” after they achieved significant success on the global stage.
Seventh Dan Gordon Mathie, who began instructing in 1971, and members of his TKA Shotokan Karate group took part at the WUKF (World Union of Karate Federations) World Championships and picked up an incredible 22-medal haul - seven of which were gold.
Dunfermline TKA, who are based at Bannatyne Health Club, at Fife Leisure Park, took a team of 38 competitors to the event, which was held in Dundee and was the biggest world karate championship to be held.
More than 1800 competitors took part from across the globe, from 62 federations and associations, and the West Fife team also picked up two silver and 13 bronze gongs.
That place them 14th in the medals table, with accolades including world individual championship gold for Gordon; a 18-20 years team kumite silver for Ben McNair; world individual bronze medals for Tommy Johnston; and veterans (36 years plus) team bronze medals for David Woods, Jon Huddleston and Gordon.
Gordon commented: “It’s way, way above my expectations, because we’re only a small group within the world body that we’re part of.
“We’re not a big association; it’s like a family group. Before the start, if I got half-a-dozen medals, I thought it would’ve been amazing, but we got 22 medals!
“We got six individual world champions and a team world champion. I was literally shocked. I couldn’t believe it!
“I was competing but also I was coaching my students as well. It’s great we’ve come away with much more than I expected, but it’s encouraging the ones that didn’t come away with anything, because there was a few that didn’t.
“It’s trying to get through to them that it’s not always the medals, it’s how well you’ve performed because you could be up against the person that’s going to win it, and there’s nothing you can do about it. Sometimes they are better.
“It’s trying to instil in them not to just always think of the medals.”
Dunfermline TKA hold classes on Tuesday, Thursday and Friday evenings, and new beginners, as well as former students, are welcome.
For more information, visit https://tkakarate.com/.
A BATTLING performance against third top side in East Division 2, RHS/Corstorphine 2nd XI, on Saturday, has seen Dunfermline and Carnegie guarantee themselves a top five spot in the table, with one game left.
In a match reduced to 30 overs, due to inclement weather conditions, DCCC batted first on winning the toss and lost early wickets and were soon 28 for 3, but Vasu Reddy batted sensibly, and through a 57 run partnership with Nishi Nithiyannathan guided the side on course for a useful total of 127 for 5.
RHS/Corstorphine found batting equally as tricky, and lost four cheap wickets, with Reddy and Yasar Arfat proving difficult to keep out.
When Usman Saleem entered the attack the visitors tried to get back up with the run rate, but lost more wickets and they were eventually all out 27 runs short of their target.
The result sees Dunfermline and Carnegie, with their fifth win of the second half of the season, on 67 per cent now well clear of the relegation zone and skipper Raj Khurram was delighted: “Vasu’s innings put us in a very solid position and we bowled really well to keep them under 100.”
Dunfermline and Carnegie (20) 127 for five, V Reddy 60 not out, N Nithiyannathan 35, J Wright 2 for 26.
RHS/Corstorphine 2nd XI (5) 98, J Gibson 24, U Saleem 4 for 31, Y Arfat 3 for18, V Reddy 2 for 15.
Dunfermline and Carnegie 2nd XI won at Peebles County, on Saturday, to give themselves the chance to win promotion to Division 5 if they beat second top Morton 3, at McKane Park, this weekend. Only two per cent separate the sides so it will be winner takes all on Saturday.
DCCC batted on winning the toss and a good knock by Karsan Piyumal, supported by Steve Rowley, Arran Barclay and Dylan Wood, saw a healthy score of 142 posted.
In reply Peebles County never really good going against a good visiting attack, with Stanley Wilson, Sohael Ali and Rowley picking up eight wickets for only 18 runs.
Dunfermline and Carnegie 2nd XI (20) 142, K Piyumal 28, D Wood 24, A Barclay 21, S Rowley 21, D Gray 4 for 20.
Peebles County (5) 53, N Burns 25, S Wilson 3 for 5, S Ali 3 for 7, S
Rowley 2 for 6.
DUNFERMLINE and Carnegie 3rd XI lost to Leith FAB 3rd XI at neutral venue, Dunnikier Park, in a Division 8 fixture on Sunday.
Leith FAB 3rd XI (20) 187, A Anand 48 not out, A Tiwari 35, N Gupta 3 for 26, M Spiers 3 for 52.
Dunfermline and Carnegie 3rd XI (5) 46, N Gupta 14, A Kumar 4 for 6, A Tiwari 2 for 6.
BROOMHALL’S hopes of winning promotion from Division 2 of the Strathmore and Perthshire Cricket Union virtually ended with defeat at the hands’ of Glenrothes, at The Cairns, on Saturday.
Broomhall batted positively on batting first and Chris Hoefling scored freely, missing out on a century by only seven runs and it gave them a very useful total of 190.
But Glenrothes batted very solidly and won by four wickets to put themselves clear of the home side in second spot in the table.
Broomhall 190, C Hoefling 93, I Ward 38, S Ahmed 5 for 22.
Glenrothes 196 for 6, S Ahmed 84, B Balan 41 not out, N Ramsay 3 for 21, C Hawthorne 4 for 40.
Dunfermline and Carnegie were asked to host a finals day on Sunday by the East of Scotland Cricket Association.
Livingston pulled off a shock win to lift the Braw Skelp Trophy, defeating Drummond Trinity in the final. Linlithgow, who were the favourites, and Murrayfield DAFS were the other sides involved.
Sauchie Juniors 5 Crossgates Primrose 1 SAUCHIE put in a strong secondhalf performance to put Primrose out of the Challenge Cup.
Crossgates made a bad start and went behind after eight minutes when Scott Davidson netted, and just as they began to regroup and pose problems Mark Smith made it 2- 0.
A fine finish by Cammy Muirhead brought the Fife side back into it but they were caught out in 28 minutes when Ross Hutchinson scored to make it 3- 1 at the break.
Another goal for Primrose would have made it interesting, and they did have a go, but their Premier Division rivals put the game to bed with goals from Ross Kavanagh and Keiran Anderson booking Sauchie’s spot in the next round of the competition.
However, Alan Campbell’s men quickly got that defeat out of their system on Tuesday with a 2- 0 win over Luncarty at Humbug Park.
And it was Muirhead at the double, he nabbed goals in the 11th minute and 66th minute to secure the three points.
The league win took them up two places in the Premier Division table to eighth, with seven points from five games.
Next up at Humbug Park is a clash with Berwick Rangers, who are currently 6th in the Lowland League, in the East of Scotland Qualifying Cup on Saturday.
Rosyth 0
St Andrews United 4 ROSYTH failed to cope with a strong wind as they were blown away by a second half flurry of goals at the Fleet Grounds.
The depleted side made it to the break without conceding but tumbled out of the Challenge Cup when United began to find the net.
They did have their moments, Michael Ness smashed a good chance over the bar and Callum Strang had a header ruled out for offside, but they were well beaten in the end by their high flying First Division opponents and finished with 10 men when Mati Zara saw red after conceding a penalty. Manager Greig Denham said: “We had six boys out injured, which obviously doesn’t help, and the majority would probably have started so it’s not as if they were fringe players.
“That’s out of a squad of 20, so we had to bring in a couple of under- 20s boys to bolster it, and we’ve been missing our top scorer, Tam Hampson, for a while now.
“That’s not an excuse, it’s a fact, and we were up against tough opposition that we knew could cause us problems.
“Ironically, it’s probably the best we’ve played in recent weeks, in terms of shape and how we tried to pass the ball, but without that quality in the final third.
“So I was pleased with the first half but to lose four goals at home in the second half, no- one needs to tell me that’s unacceptable.”
He continued: “The third goal was a freak goal, due to the strong wind, and the fourth was a penalty.
“We had a man sent off at the penalty incident, but it was right at the death, there are no excuses for the manner of the defeat.
“I think the scoreline flattered St Andrews, I’m sure they’d agree, but it doesn’t change the fact we lost 4- 0.
“We’ll dust ourselves down and go again. We need to show a bit of character but there’s more to come from this squad.”
However it got even worse for Rosyth on Tuesday night as they were smashed 6- 0 at Heriot- Watt University.
The league defeat leaves them second bottom of the First Division.
They face the team below them, Vale of Leithen, at home on Saturday with Denham hopeful of having “one or two” of his injured players available.
Oakley United 1 Dunbar United 4 OAKLEY gave their Premier Division opponents a fright before Dunbar eventually showed their class to win this East of Scotland Qualifying Cup tie.
The Blairwood Park men took the lead in the 21st minute, the visiting goalie could have done better with Scott Bruce’s shot which found the net from just outside the box.
That was against the run of play and the Fife team, who are struggling in the lower reaches of the First Division, weren’t in front for long.
Dunbar levelled with a free kick from James Redpath and only a fine Sean Dolan tackle prevented them from taking the lead.
That respite was short- lived however and just before the break Johnny Edmond edged the visitors ahead.
Finn McLaren and Jason Watson came close for Oakley but Dunbar finished off the tie with second half strikes from Taylor Hendry and Darren Handling.
Oakley, currently 14th in the table with three points from four games, travel to face Leith Athletic in a league match on Saturday.
Whitburn 4 Inverkeithing Hillfield Swifts 6 THIS turned out to be a crazy 10-goal thriller where Swifts nearly threw it all away before claiming a moraleboosting first win of the season.
They were 3- 0 and 4- 2 up before being pegged back but just as momentum swung towards the home team, Inverkeithing toughed it out to progress to the next round of the East of Scotland Qualifying Cup.
After no wins and no points from three league games, boss Jason Dair is hoping the victory will give his players the confidence to climb out of bottom spot in the table.
“Definitely, that’s the aim now,” he said. “I’m not happy we lost four goals but I’m happy we scored six!
“We dug in and showed a bit of character so we just need to take that spirit into the league games.”
Whitburn, riding high in the First Division, would have fancied their chances of taking the scalp of a team in the division above and the Swifts boss was wary of their threat.
Dair said: “Obviously it was a tough game for us.
“Whitburn have spent a bit of cash and had some good results but we got off to a quick start, and managed to go 3- 0 up with goals from Ben Ramage, Ronan McMurchie and Liam Kelly.”
Ramage thumped a great effort into the top corner, McMurchie intercepted a pass back and rounded the keeper to net and a similar blunder allowed Kelly to score.
Dair blamed “defensive errors” for letting Whitburn back into it and it was 3- 2 at half- time, with one of the goals from the penalty spot.
Ryan Cowie put Swifts 4- 2 up after the break but the home side fought back again to level at 4- 4.
The boss said: “We could have lost it, as we’ve lost a couple of close games recently so confidence wasn’t high, but credit to the lads for finishing it off with goals from Che Reilly and Sean Cumming.”
Swifts faced Sauchie at home in a Premier Division match last night ( Wednesday) after the Press went to print and they’ve got another home game in the league against Dunbar on Saturday.
Dair said: “We had a good, hard pre- season but we’ve picked up a few niggly injuries to important players so we’ve not really settled yet.
“Hopefully we’ll get a couple of them back soon and we’ll be stronger.
“If someone did become available, we may look at it but the priority is progressing the ones we have and bringing the under- 20s lads through.”
Saturday fixtures ( kick- offs 2.30pm unless stated): East of Scotland Qualifying Cup Crossgates Primrose v Berwick Rangers; Premier Division Inverkeithing Hillfield Swifts v Dunbar United ( 2pm kick- off); First Division Leith Athletic v Oakley United, Rosyth v Vale of Leithen.
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