Premiership and Scottish Cup action await

After only four weekend`s of Premiership competition there is a semblance of trends emerging. Some teams, like Glasgow University and GHK who meet head to head on Saturday, are punching way above their traditional weight.

The students, only promoted to the Premiership a few years back, have recorded three straight wins and sit in pole position, albeit on goal difference from GHK and Clydesdale Western. A far cry from March 2020, the students sat second bottom of the table with only four points from eleven games

Glasgow`s Catriona Humphery was not getting carried away. “We are very happy with our results so far and our best performance in the Premiership, but of course it is still very early on in the season.

“We worked hard as a team utilising the little pitch time we got last season and during pre-season this year, the girls have put time and effort into keeping up their fitness and hockey skills which has also helped us to gel so well as a team.

“GHK will be a tough game for us but we are looking forward to the competition as we can only improve as a team when we play other strong teams in the Premiership.”

In their three games so far Glasgow have scored eleven goals, mainly through Zara Mason, Ciara Forgie and Emily Simmers, while at the other end have only conceded a couple.

Unfortunately GHK`s fairy tale ended last weekend with a 3-1 reversal at the hands of a talented Watsonians` side. On a positive note GHK captain Carly Bisset said: “Watsonians had a lot of chances, Ali Westwood made numerous key saves and strong defensive work at penalty corners from the GHK defenders limited their chances.”

This could be an interesting tussle and one that is difficult to predict.

While Glasgow University and GHK clash at Glasgow Green, Clydesdale Western may well overtake both if they could see off Uddingston at Titwood and score a few goals in the process.

Clydesdale have emerged from their first three challenging fixtures with nine points, so should have the confidence and firepower going into this weekend. Successive victories over the likes of Watsonians, Wildcats and Edinburgh University was an encouraging start for coach Derek Forsyth, and it is clear that the Titwood-based side will be well in contention at the end of the competition if this form continues.

Having said that, the newly promoted Lanarkshire side have started to move up the table after their first victory in the top flight, a 2-0 home win over Hillhead.

Also intriguing is the clash at Auchenhowie between Wildcats and Edinburgh University, both sides in the top four in March 2020.

The Edinburgh students are on the march up the table into the top six after a very comfortable 5-0 win over Hillhead in a midweek fixture.

So again, not an easy one to predict.

Elsewhere, Watsonians, now fourth, could progress higher with a home win against Dundee Wanderers. Keith Smith`s charges should have too much firepower for the Taysiders with Emily Dark, Ellie Stott and Sarah Jamieson on target last weekend.

Gordonians` Lyndsey Davidson was enthusiastic about her side`s first victory of the season, a 2-1 win at Grove, and said: “Today we created a lot of chances upfront and looked strong on the attack.” A similar approach against visitors Erskine Stewart`s Melville in the North-East could lift the Aberdonians close to, or even into, the top six.

With only four weekend`s play under the belt in the men`s Premiership it is hardly surprising that there is constant coming and going from the top six, but what appears to be a permanent fixture is that Wildcats seem to have their claws firmly attached to pole position despite not playing last Saturday.

This Saturday it is the turn of Edinburgh University to visit Wildcats at Auchenhowie and it will intriguing to see if the students can stem the goal flow that has produced 21 goals in three games so far.

Player/coach Hamish Imrie has made a solid start with his young side, they currently lie second on goal difference with two wins, a draw and last weekend`s defeat at the hands of Clydesdale. They are clearly candidates for a top four spot at the end of the campaign, but Imrie may have his work cut out stemming the goal flow from the likes of Jonny Christie, Rob Harwood, Andy McConnell, Fraser Calder… and so on.

Rivals Grange are back in action after a two week lay-off, they travel to Tayside to engage with a Dundee Wanderers outfit that have yet to get off the mark.

Kelburne, one of three teams in second spot on seven points, have a tricky assignment away to Uddingston. This could be labelled as the battle of Scotland`s talented youngsters as both sides have invested heavily in that direction.

The Paisley side were forced in that direction following the departure of so many experienced players, but rather than accept a bottom six status, the youngsters have responded positively with two wins and a draw so far.

Uddingston have similarly invested with mixed results in the opening three games, but surpassed themselves last weekend with a 7-1 win at Grove Menzieshill, with teenagers Finn Halliday, Gavin Mackenzie and Louis Gardiner making their mark.

Whatever the outcome on Saturday, it can only be to Scotland`s benefit that so many youngsters are given the chance to cut their teeth in the Premiership.

Dunfermline Carnegie started their Premiership baptism with a couple of victories, then came a cropper against Kelburne two weeks ago. On Saturday the Fifers visit Watsonians whose form is somewhat unknown – they have only played one game and an additional 15 minutes at Glasgow Green. So far Carnegie have relied substantially on the penalty corner expertise of Aidan McQuade who has scored four times in their three matches.

On the penalty corner front Clydesdale`s Andrew Allan is also firing them in with six strikes in their three games, including a hat-trick against Edinburgh University last week. Inverleith are the visitors to Titwood on Saturday, and coach Chris Duncan will be looking to build on back to back victories over Hillhead and Uddingston. So this could be another close encounter.

The final match on the card brings Grove Menzieshill to Hillhead. The new-look Hillhead outfit have been getting closer to a positive result, they only lost their recent encounters with Inverleith and Edinburgh University by a single goal – so Saturday may provide the final breakthrough. Menzieshill are another side who have lost a lot of players since March 2020 so it will be interesting to see who comes out on top.

The Scottish Cup gets underway on Sunday with first round ties on the card. There are only four ties in the men`s competition with Inverleith the only Premiership side on duty against Granite City Wanderers from the second division.

There is a full card in the women`s cup with all the Premiership sides involved are up against opposition from lower leagues and should progress with ease – but the Cup can be an unpredictable beast!

Recent posts:

Back to all news
Back to top