Davie Heaton sees Edinburgh's first win of the season in a relegation six-pointer with Heriot-Watt.

Women's Netball
BUCs Scottish 1A

Edinburgh 2nd 40
Heriot-Watt 1st 29

Relegation-threatened Edinburgh overwhelmed fellow strugglers and local adversaries Heriot-Watt on Saturday to record their first win of the season. Goal attacker Juliet Thompson provided over half of the home side’s points, while Lucy Burgess controlled large portions of the game from centre.

The win draws Edinburgh level with their rivals with four games remaining in the battle to avoid relegation from Scotland’s top division – and skipper Jessica Atkinson is confident the side can turn things around.

“This was a much needed win,” said the goalkeeper. "We can definitely turn this around now.

“This should provide a real boost to moral and spur us on to put together a run for the rest of the season.”

The hosts were quick to find their rhythm, piecing together one fluid break after the other in the opening quarter as Heriot-Watt’s sloppy passing presented plenty of interception opportunities.

The visitors' persistent distance fouling allowed regular free shots, and it was only through a combination of wasteful finishing by Edinburgh and good shooting on Heriot-Watt’s own rare forward breaks that the match was not out of sight at the first interval.

Buoyed by their good fortune, the away team rallied in the second period as goal shooter Catriona Smith and goal attacker Kimberly Onions chipped away at the deficit to trail by just four points at half time.

Atkinson urged her team to slow the tempo during the break, and a more controlled approach prevailed for the remainder of the match as they denied their opponents the handling errors on which they fed in the second quarter. They patiently extended their lead over the increasingly ragged visitors as Thompson found her range to score with demoralising regularity.

The seconds host third-from-bottom Stirling next. Meanwhile, the 1sts are engaged in battle with Dundee at the other end of the table, who they face on February 11.