Men’s Indoor National 1 serves up big results in the first week

Grove Menzieshill and Dundee Wanderers may have had their outdoor Premiership woes, but any suggestion that this may transfer to the indoor game has proved unfounded. Both Tayside sides had considerable success on the opening day of the indoor Division 1 programme, however, it is Western who are in pole position with a hat-trick of victories.

In the opening match of the Division 1 campaign, Dundee Wanderers showed that their indoor expertise perhaps defied their Premiership record by recording a fighting 5-4 win over Grange.

The Edinburgh side partly contributed to their own demise – they took the pitch with a squad of only seven, they squandered a 4-1 lead and finished the final three minutes of the contest with two players in the sin bin with green cards.

After a blank opening ten minutes, Elliott Sandison, Albert Rowling and Callum Milne gave Grange a comfortable three goal lead only for one to be pulled back by the Taysiders through a penalty corner conversion by captain Callum Ross.

When Duncan Riddell added a fourth for Grange, it looked curtains for Wanderers. But then came the comeback, two from Cammie Bell brought the score back to 4-3, and then in the final two minutes two more penalty corner strikes by Ross secured a belated three points for Wanderers.

Wanderers went on to add Kelburne to their scalp with a convincing 7-1 victory. It was 5-0 at half time, courtesy of a hat-trick from Callum Ross, a penalty corner by Bobby Ralph and another from Kennedy Gibb. The Dundonians added two more with Sean Dowie and Frank Mulgrew while Ciaran Wilcox got Kelburne`s consolation.

Meanwhile Western were not troubled in their opening match with a more than comfortable 9-1 victory over Kelburne. Western were six up at half time and the contest was over, Rob Harwood got two and the others came from Hamish Galt, Scott Menzies, Euan Cowan and Andrew McConnell. The latter scored again along with Nikki Homfray and Joe McConnell to complete the scoring.

Uddingston also opened with a win – they beat Watsonians 4-2. However, it was the Edinburgh side who took an early lead through Danny Cain but by half time Uddingston had built up a 3-1 lead through Ben Wilson and a double from Andrew Lochran.

A conversion from the spot by Cain three minutes into the third quarter reduced the Watsonians` deficit to 3-2 but the points headed in the Lanarkshire direction with a fourth from Louis Gardiner.

In perhaps the game of the day, champions Inverleith were given a sort of Tayside lesson as they went down 4-3 to their rivals Grove Menzieshill who resurrected several experienced indoor players for the occasion under the expert eye of coach Bruce Cuthill.

It started well for the Edinburgh side when Patrick Christie opened with a penalty corner strike in ten minutes. Sam Knight levelled five minutes later, but just on the interval Stuart Hatton put Inverleith 2-1 ahead at another penalty corner, and then Christie proceeded to miss from the spot.

A minute into the third quarter Chris McFadden gave the Taysiders a vital equaliser but Hatton again put the champions into a 3-2 lead. But Inverleith failed to capitalise on their advantage and two penalty corner conversions by Ben Cromar sealed the narrow victory for Menzieshill.

Inverleith coach Stuart Neave was philosophical. “We had lots of chances but did not put them away. We had six penalty corners and scored from two and missed a penalty stroke while Menzieshill had two penalty corners and scored from both – and that was the difference.”

Menzieshill then went on to consolidate on the Inverleith victory by seeing off Uddingston 6-3 in their second game of the day. In a ding dong first half, Cromar put the Dundonians ahead in only two minutes, then Louis Gardiner and Jacky Tran from the spot gave Uddingston a 2-1 lead, but by the interval Luke Cranney and Ollie James had given the Taysiders a 3-2 lead.

Menzieshill then ran away with the second half, a double from Cranney for his hat-trick and another from Euan Cuthill put them 6-2 up before Ben Wilson got a late consolation in the last quarter with a penalty corner for Uddingston.

Inverleith recovered some of their composure with a comfortable 6-0 win over Watsonians in an all-Edinburgh derby. The opening goals came in the first quarter through two penalty strikes by Patrick Christie while Kyle Tayler got the other. There was no further scoring until the final quarter when Stuart Hatton, Ollie Wilson and Derek Salmond added to the Inverleith tally.

But it was Western who took a three point lead at the top of the table with two late victories. Vishal Marwaha`s charges romped into a six goal lead over Grange, Andrew McConnell score a hat-trick while the others came from Andrew McAllister, Fraser Moran and Adam McKenzie before Grange troubled the score sheet. However, the Edinburgh side did get a couple of late consolations through Charlie Jack and Albert Rowling.

With both teams on six points after their two earlier games, the final clash between Western and Dundee Wanderers looked to provide a fitting climax to the day.

However, it was Western who stole the show with a 9-3 win, this time it was Fraser Moran who scored the hat-trick while Andrew McConnell bagged another couple.

 

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