Success for Grange and Watsonians at U18 Club Cup

The U18 Club Cup took place at Peffermill on Sunday with Grange winning the boys’ competition and Watsonians lifting the girls’ title.

Boys’

The first match of the day in the boys’ competition saw Clydesdale and Perthshire taking to the field. In the first half Clydesdale took the lead with a penalty corner, where captain Struan Walker sent a drag flick to the keeper’s left to take the lead. Perthshire were unlucky to not equalise shortly after, a last gasp save off the line cleared the ball. With nine minutes to go in the second half Perthshire had a strong period of play which led to an equaliser through Ross Fleming. Within a minute Clydesdale replied through Struan Walker with his brace. He then advanced Clydesdale’s lead to three a few seconds later. The game finished 3-1.

The Watsonians and Inverleith first game of the day started with Inverleith converting within the first few minutes, a drag flick from Charlie Jack. A minute later the lead was extended by Livio Belotto. Inverleith continued to apply pressure, Jake Inglis earning his first goal. Inverleith’s fourth goal came from Charlie Jack for his brace. Inverleith advanced to five with a goal for Coll Shirridan. Watsonians had a good spell of pressure, forcing three saves from the Inverleith keeper in quick succession, but were just unable to convert one of them. With seconds to go Inverleith were awarded a penalty stroke which was converted by Shirriden to end the match six goals in favour of Inverleith.

Aberdeen Grammar and Perthshire played the second match in Pool F. Aberdeen Grammar took the lead with a minute left on the clock in the first half; James Johnston slipped the ball underneath the keeper. Perthshire’s reply didn’t come until the 26th minute when Ollie Wilson slotted the ball over the keeper. Aberdeen Grammar had a player yellow carded for a breakdown, which opened the game up for Perthshire. Alex Wilson, Perthshire’s Captain, converted with two minutes left on the clock and sealed victory for his team.

Watsonians boys took to the field for their second game of the day, their opponents were Uddingston. Uddingston pushed forward early in the match and Graeme Haxton converted. Towards the end of the first half Uddingston pushed forward and earned a penalty corner; the resulting injection was missed at the top of the D, and the Watsonians defence held strong to get to half time. At the start of the second half Uddingston had a goal disallowed – the tempo of the match increased after. Gavin MacKenzie broke up the field through the Watsonians defence, committed the keeper, and slotted the ball underneath to make it a two goal advantage. Luke Gemmell had the last touch on the line for Uddingston’s third, a good team effort. Watsonians’ effort to push forward towards the end of the match earned a number of corners but the Uddingston goalkeeper was a match to their efforts.

In the fight for the top places Grange and Western Wildcats faced off. Grange advanced first with Jamie Rintoul converting a driven pass at goal to deflect towards the top corner past the Western keeper. Western Wildcats did not waste any time in responding, they worked up the pitch and Matthew O’Toole scored to make it 1-1 at half time. Grange pushed forward early in the second half, they took the lead once again through Jacob Tweedie. Within five minutes Grange scored to advance their lead by two, Alex Riddle converting on this occasion. Less than a minute later a driven ball from outside the D deflected at the penalty spot to give Grange their fourth goal of the game. In the last minute of the match Grange’s Robbie Galloway finished the game, final score 5-1.

In the final match of Pool F, Aberdeen Grammar and Clydesdale finished their competition. Clydesdale took the points with three goals, a brace for Struan Walker and Ethan Robertson.

In the second match for the top placing Grove Menzieshill faced Western Wildcats. Grove Menzieshill took an early lead with a rocketed shot at a penalty corner through Lewis MacKenzie, however Western’s reply came shortly after through Matthew O’Toole. At the start of the second half a crunching tackle at the top of the D led to Jamie Golden converting a trade mark drag flick to the top corner to regain a Grove Menzieshill lead. A Wildcats corner led to a scramble in front of goal in search of an equaliser, however the Grove Menzieshill defence cleared the ball to take some of the ‘Cats’ pressure off. The match ended 2-1 in the favour of Grove Menzieshill.

Uddingston and Inverleith played their final match of the day. Uddingston’s Ben Carroll scored the first goal of the contest. Uddingston advanced their lead through a penalty corner from Andrew Lochrin. Inverleith pulled a goal back six minutes into the second half, Livio Belotti adding to his tally for the day. Uddingston stretched their lead with a goal from Louis Gardiner. The last minute saw Inverleith and Will Ringham make it 3-2.

Grange played Grove Menzieshill in the final game of the day, coincidentally this was the match to decide the top two of the competition. Grange started strong despite a good defence from Grove Menzieshill, and it was Robbie Croll, the Grange captain, who started the scoring for his team. A string of penalty corners led to Grange scoring a second, Croll with his second of the match. The ball going across the keeper was tipped into the net. With ten minutes left on the clock, Grove Menzieshill had a spell of possession and tipped the ball over the keeper to make it 2-1 and it was all to play for as the Dundonians continued to press. Grange sealed victory when Jacob Tweedie caught a rebound off the keeper after a diving save, and launched it into the goal.

Boys’ Placings

1st Grange

2nd Grove Menzieshill

3rd Western Wildcats

4th Uddingston

5th Inverleith

6th Watsonians

7th Perthshire

8th Clydesdale

9th Aberdeen Grammar

 

Girls’

In the first Girls’ fixture Granite City Wanderers took on Watsonians, and there was a strong start for the Watsonians side. Ellie MacKenzie was first to get her goal tally up and running with a well-worked move to round the keeper after seven minutes. There were no goals until late in the second half, then a penalty corner was the next play to create an opportunity, which Emily Simmons converted. With less than a minute on the clock, Ellie MacKenzie made it 3-0 to Watsonians to end the game.

Inverleith and Granite City Wanderers faced off next for the girls. In the 15th minute it was Inverleith that broke the deadlock in an end-to-end match. Isla Jackson provided the final touch to get ahead. It wasn’t until the last minute of the match that Granite City could convert one of their chances. Anna Lewis scoring to take a point from the tie.

Fjordhus Reivers played Clydesdale Western in their first matches of the day. Annabel Ballantyne took an early opportunity to sneak ahead. It wasn’t until ten minutes later that Clydesdale managed to convert another chance, Bronwyn Shields this time took the opportunity with a calm stroke landing in the back of the goal. Fjordhus kept their composure and were unlucky to not gain more from their attacks. The final goal of the game fell once more to Clydesdale – Ballantyne earning her brace.

In an Edinburgh derby match between Inverleith and Watsonians it was Watsonians that secured the points. Ellie MacKenzie increased her goal tally by two and then Emily Simmers added a third with seconds left on the clock to set up a ‘winner takes all’ match later in the day with Clydesdale Western.

A fast paced fixture between Fjordhus Reivers and Inverleith saw Inverleith take a lead after ten minutes – Itske Hooftman getting her first for the day. Fjordhus Reivers’ reply came on the 20th minute through Molly Turnbull. Swiftly she turned her goal into a brace with a goal from a penalty corner. No further goals came from the game.

When Watsonians took on Clydesdale Western the top placings were up for grabs. Watsonians fired first into the lead. The match was end to end with Clydesdale just unable to convert chances. Watsonians cemented their lead through a great move, the ball slotted under the keeper at the near post. Watsonians scored a third goal to seal victory and take the U18 title.

Girls’ Final Placings

1st Watsonians

2nd Clydesdale Western

3rd Fjordhus Reivers

4th Inverleith

5th Granite City Wanderers

6th– Did not compete on day 2- Uddingston

 

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