Scottish Cup Final Weekend Comes Round Again

The business end to the season is now upon us this weekend the Scottish Cup Finals followed by the Premiership play-offs a week after. This is where trophies and European places are won and lost on the knock-out format.

The men`s Cup Final is an all-Edinburgh affair between Watsonians and Edinburgh University. Ironically both sides won their first silverware recently, Watsonians two years ago and the Edinburgh students this time last year with a 3-1 win over Hillhead.

Results-wise there is little to choose between the sides – last weekend the sides fought out a 3-3 draw in their final league encounter. Earlier in the campaign Watsonians were 3-2 winner with Charlie Jack bagging a couple and Guy Rowson the other, Jamie Golden`s double was the students reply. So, it looks like a tight contest is on the men and with a few goals thrown in for the spectators.

Asked if Watsonians could emulate their impressive performance in Vienna at the recent EuroHockey Trophy, captain Luke Campbell mentioned:  “Yes, Vienna certainly helped us to fast track some improvements as a team, so we can win on Saturday. Having said that, league tables rarely lie and Uni deservedly won the title, so they go into the game as favourites for sure. They`re a fantastic team and we will have to be at our very best to compete.  We`re excited to be back in the final and let`s hope for a great game.”

Edinburgh University under coach Neil Allan have had their best season ever, they have just clinched the Premiership title for the first time and booked a place in Europe next season, they are again in the Scottish Cup final and will contest the play-offs next weekend – so the treble is very much on.     

Their form all season has been impressive and, in the league, they won 13 of their 16 outings, only dropping points in a single defeat and two draws and finished four points ahead of Western Wildcats.    

But the Edinburgh students have a not such a secret weapon in top goal scorer Jamie Golden who finds the net from both set pieces and open play.  Edinburgh have scored a total of 76 goals in their league campaign and Golden has bagged 45 of them.     While hockey is very much a team game, such lethal finishing is clearly a real bonus and one the Watsonian defence will have to snuff out.

So, this is how head coach Neil Allan is viewing the occasion.  “Yes, we are looking forward to the cup final, as with the full season we just take it one game at a time.”

“Watsonians are a strong team with numerous threats.  They are well coached by Sam (Judge) and are a difficult team to play. We have played them twice this season in two very competitive games, I don`t think the final will be any different. We have had some great results in Europe and a strong domestic season.

“We will naturally look to play our own game and bring our own threats to the pitch.  We have threats all over the pitch to cause teams a lot of issues and it will come down to which team can deal with the others threats better.

Statistics show that Wildcats are the clear underdogs in the women`s final – although statistics don`t win cups!

The Cats have had a frustrating season, certainly they did make the Premiership`s top six, but in all they only won four games and drew five of their 16 outings.   And their form against Clydesdale does not make happy reading, they have yet to find the net in 5-0 and 8-0 reversals with Jenny Eadie and Ava Graham doing the main damage.

So, the Cats are underdogs, but this what Vishal Marwaha had to say. “In any cup final you expect a tough match.  It`s a great opportunity to test ourselves against a top team. We are excited with the challenge and really looking forward to the final.”  

In contrast, Clydesdale have had a successful season and were just pipped for the Premiership title by three points. Recently the Titwood side have been piling in the goals, mainly through Jenny Eadie ably supported by Ava Graham and Jika Nyirenda along with several others – perhaps too much firepower for the Wildcats defence to cope with.

With that in mind the Cats may hope that complacency could be Clydesdale`s undoing, but it is a one-off cup final which is not the forum for complacency, and the Titwood side have not won the cup since 2015, so that is the motivation.

Also, the Cats will not take much solace from the words of Clydesdale`s coach Fiona Semple.  “We`d love to win the cup!   We try to win every game we play, and this will be no different.”   

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