Heath have five sent off

The weekend's sole fixture in the Edinburgh and District Sunday Amateur FA Thompson's Intersport Premier Division descended into farce with just two minutes to go as a rare Heath hat-trick - red cards for the trio of Mark Dawson, club captain Gary Stewart and Mark Arthur - meant that the visitors were left with just five players following the earlier dismissals of goalkeeper Dean Philp and John Robertson.

Referee Michael Tsagkarakis was on the receiving end of loose tempers and all sorts of colourful language as Heath stumbled to their first league defeat in over a year, with the man in the middle dishing out two yellows to Philp, Robertson and Dawson and straight reds to Stewart and Arthur - all for dissent or foul and abusive language.

The league association posted a committee member to witness the game, which was identified as a contest with potential to boil over, and a spokesman now says it will investigate the matter at a disciplinary meeting.

If both teams are found to have been at fault for the enforced abandonment, the match could be replayed. However, as is more likely, if just Newton Heath are found guilty of bringing a halt to proceedings then the result would stand.

Any decision made should not, though, devalue the efforts of East Craigs, who were well worth their win and have turned their form around since the Evening News reported on their 10-1 home loss to joint table toppers Redhall Star just a fortnight ago.

The hosts were to prove formidable opponents for Heath, whose frustrations were manifested as early as the seventh minute when John McManus' penalty was brilliantly saved by East Craigs goalkeeper Stuart Addison after Robertson was felled in the box.

Addison pulled off a second reflex block two minutes later, denying Robertson as the Heath striker bore down on goal.

The closest East Craigs came to scoring in a fairly tame opening half hour was when Aaron Neill played in strike partner Fraser Bruce, who skewed an attempted chip over the goalkeeper wide of the target.

The same combination paid off shortly afterwards, though, as the home side took the lead. A Newton Heath corner came to nothing, with the ball cleared by United's defence as far as Neill, who swiftly instigated a counter attack. After driving forward, he released the ball at exactly the right time to take what remained of Heath's defence out of the equation, and Bruce, running on to the perfectly-weighted pass, slotted underneath Heath goalkeeper Philp as the two came face-to-face 20 yards from goal.

Heath came close to equalising a few minutes later after Robertson played in Stuart Kidd with a clever reverse pass from the edge of the box, but Kidd saw his subsequent effort clear the top right-hand corner by a matter of inches.

Kidd had better luck on the stroke of half-time as he drew Heath level with a glancing header over East Craigs goalkeeper Addison as the two contested a high ball from the left eight yards from goal.

United, though, hauled themselves back in front immediately after the restart, with Neill curling a delightful strike from 20 yards over Philp for 2-1.

The beginning of the aggro to come was heralded on 55 minutes as Heath skipper Stewart, who had made little impact in the middle of the park and who had, seconds earlier, become riled at a decision against his team, performed a petulant, malicious challenge on East Craigs' Rees Allan before hurling a volley of abuse at his opponents' touchline. Referee Tsagkarakis could have sent off the No.?6 but chose to limit punishment to a booking.

Through gritted determination, Heath's Jonathan McGraw brought his side level on 57 minutes with a deft lob over Addison from the edge of the box, but two minutes later East Craigs were back in front once more as Neill converted an easy close range chance from a left wing cross to make it 3-2.

On 61 minutes, with a complete disregard for the authority of the match official, Heath goalkeeper Philp earned two yellow cards within seconds for dissent at a corner kick, and the actual football on show began to slip towards the status of a minor footnote in proceedings thereafter.

United's Steve Mackenzie had a goalbound strike cleared off the line as a buoyant home side strived to add to their lead, but the regrettable events of the last five minutes somewhat overshadowed the skills of either side. Robertson's choice of language brought the second red card of the game on 85 minutes, and Heath's weakness for indiscipline and disrespect caused them to implode completely three minutes later.

As their players shamelessly continued to target referee Tsagkarakis for his perceived role in their downfall, Heath's Mark Dawson was shown two yellow cards for dissent. Knowing what their fate would be but by this point past caring, Dawson's team-mates Stewart and Arthur personally criticised the referee in a similar style and duly earned straight red cards.

Despite the despicable scenes, East Craigs manager Daniel Kelly was keen to accentuate a fine result for his side. He said: "It was a great result for us. We were promoted with Newton Heath last season, when they were the best team by far."

East Craigs United: Stuart Addison, Grant Baird, Ross McLeod, Stuart Blair, Steve Mackenzie, Ross Lennie, Rees Allan, Fraser Bruce, Aaron Neill, Mikey Thompson, Iain Ferguson, Dougie Collins, Ally Brown.

Newton Heath: Dean Philp, Stuart Kidd, Andy Keith, John McManus, Gary Stewart, Darren Philp, Mark Arthur, Mark Dawson, John Robertson, Jonathan McGraw, Brian Porterfield, Richard Stewart.