Return to the outdoor Premiership

There is a partial return to the outdoor Premiership this weekend – but mostly the lower pool while the World Cup Qualifiers have taken away many of the players from the top clubs for both men and women. Saturday sees the start of matches in the lower pools of the Premiership.

However, on Tuesday evening Wildcats secured their place in the top six of the women`s Premiership with a convincing 4-0 win at Glasgow University – they finished on the same points as Grange but with a superior goal difference, and after several months of a wait the Edinburgh side fall back into the bottom six.

The Cats were a goal up in the first half through Alex Stuart with a shot from the top of the circle.   They confirmed their victory in the third quarter with a penalty corner strike from Kate Holmes and a solo effort from Rachel Osborne.   The fourth came through an overtime penalty corner conversion by Rachel Bain.

Now the Cats face the challenge of securing a top four place and the knock-out stage, and they are up against St Andrews University and GHK for that crucial fourth spot.   And there are only four points separating the sides with five games left – this could go right down to the wire.   On Saturday the Cats travel to GHK for the opening salvo…and last time out it was a 2-2 draw.

The lower half of the Premiership is all about avoiding the spectre of relegation.

Aberdeen University, at the moment pointless, are battling to avoid an immediate return to the second tier – and face a challenge against visitors Grange on Saturday.    The last time out in October it was 7-0 to the Edinburgh side, Rachel Shiel getting four of them.  And Grange just missed out on the top competition on goal difference from Wildcats.

At the moment the relegation play-off spot belongs to Hillhead, yet they are only two points adrift of Inverleith who they face at home this weekend.  The earlier fixture finished goalless, a similar outcome would probably suit neither side.  In many respects the pressure is on Hillhead who need points to get off that eleventh spot while an Inverleith victory would go a long way to securing their safety.  And the Edinburgh side have some form under their belt already, they recently beat Aberdeen University in a Premiership catch-up game and last weekend advanced to the quarter-final of the Scottish Cup with a 1-0 win over Orkney

St Andrews University looked to have been in a similar precarious situation with no points going into the winter break, but last weekend came to life with a 3-1 win at Hillhead.  So a glimmer of hope for the students, yet they are still four points off the safety net.

Grove Menzieshill, at the moment second in the bottom six competition, start the second half of the season with a home game against an Inverleith side that presently sit in the relegation play-off spot… albeit only on goal difference from Dundee Wanderers and Clydesdale – all three are on seven points.   Earlier the sides fought out a 2-2 draw, but Grove Menzieshill in Dundee can be a formidable force.

And so that leaves Clydesdale v Dundee Wanderers…the prize for the winners is an escape route out of the relegation zone.  Wanderers won the first encounter 2-0, goals from Calan Gruar and Finlay Wright, but that was back in September.   More recently both sides have suffered – Clydesdale lost 11-2 in the cup to Watsonians while the Dundonians went down 5-1 to the same side in the league – so what does that tell us?

On Sunday Hillhead entertain Grove Menzieshill in a quarter-final tie in the Scottish Cup.   This has the hallmark of being a close affair as both sides showed a bit of form in the closing matches before the winter break.   Only one point separates them in the league and the earlier fixture finished 2-2 – it could barely be closer.

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