golf
Scott Henderson continued his enjoyment of the air north of Inverness yesterday, writes Colin Farquharson. The Aberdeen Kings Links tour pro finished second in a Tartan Tour 36-hole event at Tain and Brora Golf Clubs last year and he returned to Tain to shoot a four-under-par 66 and lead the field at the halfway stage of the PGA Optical Express 36-hole Order of Merit Tournament.
It is the only PGA in Scotland event played in two counties – Tain is in Ross-shire while Brora, venue for today's final round, is in Sutherland – and Henderson will not be celebrating yet. He is only one shot ahead of Ladybank's Alan Lockhart, the Scottish PGA champion just returned from honeymoon, and Ross McConnachie, an assistant at Peterculter GC, near Aberdeen. Only two shots off the pace and ready to make a charge at Brora are players of the calibre of David Orr (Mearns Castle Golf Academy, David Patrick (Elie Sports Club), Greig Hutcheon (Banchory), Ian Brown (Newent) and Chris Kelly (Cawder).
hockey
Western Wildcats women successfully maintained their Division 1 status for next season with a comfortable 2-0 win in the play-off match against Watsonians at Peffermill, writes Craig Madden. After a goalless first period, Rachel Houghton gave the Glasgow side an early second-half lead and a Kristie Howe strike minutes later gave the Wildcats a deserved win in this tense encounter.
Watsonians men were 4-1 winners over CALA Edinburgh to secure a Division 1 place at the expense of their Edinburgh rivals. Watsonians were three up inside the first 15 minutes. A Craig Beattie penalty corner goal was followed by open-play goals from Magnus Ferrier and Callum Duke. Dave Paterson pulled a goal back for CALA in 46 minutes but Malcolm Reid ended their hopes with eight minutes remaining.
n Japan's women claimed the final place at the London Olympics with a 5-1 win over Azerbaijan in the final qualifying tournament on home soil in Kakamigahara. The FIH have confirmed that they will be in Pool A with Netherlands, Great Britain, China, Korea and Belgium Pool B comprises Argentina, Germany, New Zealand, Australia,USA and South Africa, who visit Scotland at the end of May.
The men's Pool A features Australia, Great Britain, Spain, Pakistan, Argentina and South Africa, while Pool B features Germany, Netherlands, Korea, New Zealand, India and Belgium. South Africa claimed the final place with a 2-1 win over the host nation Japan at the weekend.
speedway
SCUNTHORPE SCORPIONS 55
EDINBURGH MONARCHS 37
Micky Dyer, Edinburgh Monarchs' Australian rookie, powered to 10 points, equalling the best points haul of his British career, but Monarchs opened their Premier League campaign with a defeat at Scunthorpe's Eddie Wright Raceway yesterday, writes Nigel Duncan. Dyer, 21, from New South Wales, said: "I'm pleased with the way things went. I've never been here before and adjusted pretty well." He was top scorer, along with Theo Pijper and Craig Cook, but the skipper Matthew Wethers fell heavily in his second race and missed two races before returning for Heat 14. Andrew Tully, Monarchs No. 1 earlier this season, scored only one point at a track he knows well.
Scunthorpe rider replacement for D Howe, T Jorgensen 11, R Worrall (guest) 13, M Palm Toft 8, J Auty 15, J Hart 5, A Birks 2
Edinburgh C Cook 10, rider replacement for D Sneddon, T Pijper 10, M Wethers 2, A Tully 1, M Dyer 10, S Worrall (guest) 4
n Officials from Glasgow Tigers spent yesterday assessing the fall-out from Sunday's home Premier League defeat by Leicester Lions but Alan Dick, the co-promoter, vowed that there will be no knee-jerk reaction, writes Nigel Duncan The two-point reverse was a major setback, as Tigers went through their league championship-winning season last year by being unbeaten at home. They are next on duty in the League Cup at Scunthorpe Scorpions on Friday.
Dick said: "One home defeat, albeit a bad one, does not spark a knee-jerk reaction. We're concerned and we're looking at the side. James [Grieves] and Josh [Grajczonek] only scored 12 between them; they have been going well but they didn't score this time. You can't win speedway matches with two heat leaders scoring only 12 between them."
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