GHK and Grange triumph at U18 Finals
This season’s U18 National Club Finals lived up to expectations with two thrilling matches. After two closely fought encounters, GHK won the girls’ final; and Grange boys regained the trophy they last won in 2018.
A big crowd gathered to watch the action under the floodlights on a perfect Friday evening at Peffermill. These were the first national cup finals in Scotland since March 2020.
GHK 2 Grange 1
GHK won the U18 Girls’ title for the first time with an impressive performance. They came out of the blocks fast and took the lead after only one minute when Zara Kennedy slotted home an accurate cross at the back post. GHK’s fast-flowing play continued to cause Grange problems and they took a 2-0 lead just before half time with a penalty flick for a stick tackle. Zara Kennedy converted to grab her second goal.
Grange grew into the game as it went on and dominated the final quarter, with the GHK goalie making a couple of key saves. Grange got their deserved reward when Marissa McLean scored to set up a grandstand finish, but GHK held on for a 2-1 win.
Photo: David P McCarthy Photography
Ellie Wilson from the Scotland Women’s squad handed out the medals and trophy to a delighted GHK captain, Ciara Brown. GHK coach, Fiona Cafolla, was proud of her team’s resilience as they had to work very hard to deny space all over the field to an impressive Grange team.
Grange 5 Perthshire 3
Grange and Perthshire served up an 8-goal thriller before the Raeburn Place team came out on top. After chances at both ends, the impressive Pete Caughey opened the scoring just before half-time to give Grange the lead.
Within 7 minutes of the restart, Grange had shot into a 3-goal lead with a penalty corner from Jamie Croll and then Cameron Miller finishing off a fast-flowing move. But that just sparked Perthshire into life, as Samuel Gardiner pulled one back.
Neil Mitchell’s charges dominated the next phase of the match but were unable to convert their penalty corners. However, Grange hit on the break and Xavax Cordero scored from a rebound before Jamie Croll scored his second from a penalty corner to make it 5-1.
A gutsy Perthshire team finished with a bang as Alex Douglas scored with 2 minutes to go, and then Archie Stephen converted a penalty flick on full time. The final score of 5-3 seemed a fair reflection of the balance of play.
Photo: David P McCarthy Photography
Jamie Croll, Grange captain, collected the trophy from Hamish Imrie, current Scottish internationalist. Alan Johnston, the Grange coach, was delighted with his team’s performance, especially as they rarely play U18 matches.
The high standard of umpiring added to the quality of the matches, allowing the games to flow. Well done to James Adshead, Karen Thomson, Fraser Munro and Jamie Telfer, and technical official Ben Hortin.
The next national cup finals will be indoor youth and senior finals in Perth in January.
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