With such a great pitch on which to play a game, it was no surprise that this Lothian & Edinburgh Amateur FA cup tie was a super game to watch and all the players taking part appeared to enjoy themselves as well, with the high level of sportsmanship from both sides a real credit to amateur football.

This was a game of non-stop action and most of it was in the Heriot-Watt goalmouth! It would be easy to say Heriot Vale missed several great chances to put the game well and truly beyond the students outfit, but that would be disrespectful to the Heriot-Watt defence and their goalkeeper, Sammy Jackson. The students rearguard were immense in keeping the much more experienced Heriot Vale attack at bay with Jackson the busiest player on the park as the visiting side put the home goal under siege for most of the game.

It was no real surprise when Vale opened the scoring in the 4th minute when Keith Wilson sent over a great corner from the left for Sean Ronaldson to slam the ball past Jackson to make it 1-0. Heriot-Watt struggled to get in to the game but they were thrown a lifeline when Vale's excellent goalkeeper, Steven Gilchrist had to go off with an injured shoulder. With no subs on the touchlines, Vale were reduced to 10 players, with sprightly veteran, Jimmy Paterson, taking over in goal.

But even with a man short, Vale still looked in control and it was a real shock when Aiden Farrell let loose with a piledriver of a shot from fully 40yd out and the ball crashed past Paterson in the Vale goal to make it 1-1.

The more experienced visiting outfit surged back in to attack at every opportunity with Ronaldson causing Heriot-Watt all sorts of problems with surging runs on goal. Rab Wallace also went close to restoring the lead for the visiting side with a great effort and with the introduction of late arrival, Les Hallett, Heriot-Vale were back to full strength. While the students kept playing balls through the channels in a bid to use catch out the Vale defence, the visitors were much more impressive with their movement and passing.

But it was still 1-1 at the break, to the delight of the home side and the consternation of Heriot-Vale. They had so much possession but nothing to show for it. But that changed in the second half. The pressure on the home defence was non-stop and they enjoyed several lucky breaks, while Vale were guilty of overplaying passes in the danger area instead of shooting at the Heriot-Watt goal. The second goal duly arrived for the visitors, however, and it was Rab Wallace who scored, running on to a great ball across the face of the students' goal from the left to hammer a tremendous shot at Jackson. The Heriot-Watt keeper somehow managed to block the shot, but Wallace got to the rebound first to smack the ball in to the net to make it 2-1.

That goal came in the 70th minute and it was long overdue. Vale got another goal, the best of the game possibly, when brilliant play by Gavin Cowan created a chance out of nothing and he completed his magnificent run by placing the ball across the goal from the left for Steven Appleby to score - from about 1yd!

The Heriot-Watt goal survived several other all-out assaults by the Vale side in the closing minutes, but the home side, somehow, did not lose any more goals before the final whistle. This was a thoroughly enjoyable game to watch and you could only admire the tenacity of the Heriot-Watt players and they never gave up at any time, despite the dominance of the Heriot-Vale outfit. With a very good match official in Colin Cook, this was a superb amateur game of football with all credit to the players from both sides.

To play football on such a pitch as this at Riccarton was an occasion to enjoy for Heriot Vale. They have given up on their 'home' pitch at Drumbrae Leisure Centre and moved to the Gyle Park. Club spokesman, Larry Walls, said: "You could never tell if the pitch at Drum Brae would be lined. The level of maintenance was poor too. The pitches at the Gyle are better, not great and the same can be said about the changing rooms. What a pleasure it is for us to get the chance to play on such a great pitch at Heriot-Watt University. All pitches in Edinburgh should be like this!"

Heriot-Watt 'A' - Sammy Jackson, Rob Gray, David Lee, Kieran Oliver, Michael Wilson, Steven McLeod, Michael Wilson, John Hill, Scott Main, Lee Jamieson, Aiden Farrell, David Purvis, Gareth Wall, Nick Ramage.

Heriot-Vale- Steven Gilchrist, Barry Ronaldson, Mike Yuill, Ali Muir, Stuart Veitch, Rab Wallace, Gavin Cowan, Keith Wilson, Steven Appleby, Sean Ronaldson, James Paterson, Les Hallett, Campbell Scott, Mike Thomson, John Storrie, Mike Stewart.