Cala Edinburgh and Grange are U16 Cup winners

21st March 2022

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This season’s U16 National Club Cup finals provided a thrilling day’s youth hockey at sunny Peffermill. Congratulations to Cala Edinburgh boys and Grange girls for being crowned champions in two superb finals.

U16 Boys Cup Finals

Pool A of the boys’ competition started with a 2-0 win for Watsonians against Perthshire, with goals from Ally Paul and Owen Hunter. Grove Menzieshill went one better with a 3-0 win over Perthshire thanks to goals from Alfie Bonnar, Murdo Kiddie and Findlay Duncan. This set up a tie between Watsonians and Grove Menzieshill for a place in the final. In a tight tussle, neither side could find a breakthrough and the 0-0 draw was enough for the Dundonians to top Pool A on goal difference.

Inverleith started their day strongly in Pool B with a 2-0 win against ESM, with Ben Turtle and Olly Tomlinson scoring. Cala Edinburgh were next up, and they scored three second-half goals to beat ESM 4-1. Alex Ainsworth put ESM one up before Cala replied through Jack Adams, Edward May, Dillon McLellan and Kallen Salmond. In the final pool match, Cala beat Inverleith 4-2 in a superb match to qualify for the final. Kallen Salmond, Logan Forbes, Cody Adams and Alex Buckley scored for Cala.

In the play-offs, Inverleith beat Watsonians 5-4 in a nine-goal thriller to finish 3^rd. The purples stormed into a 5-2 half-time lead before the maroons hit back and narrowly missed equalising in the last seconds. Inverleith’s goals came from Olly Tomlinson, Callum Young, Finlay Duncan, Rory McLean and Zak Turtle; with Owen Hunter (2), Ewan Barnet and Sean Ridge replying.

The 5^th/6^th play-off was also a close encounter with Perthshire edging it 2-1 against ESM. Alex Ainsworth scored early for ESM, but the yellows hit back through Euan van Aswegen and Stuart Nel.

Boys Final

The final was a classic end-to-end match with both sides giving their all. After a goal-less first half, there were five goals in 10 minutes. Cody Adams put Cala ahead before Murdo Kiddie equalised. Cody and his brother Jack put Cala 3-1 up, then Murdo scored again but Grove Menzieshill couldn’t find another goal in the last nine minutes. Final score: Cala Edinburgh 3 Grove Menzieshill 2.

Scottish internationalist Robbie Croll and Scottish Hockey President, Colin Fraser handed out the medals and trophy.

U16 Girls Cup Finals

The girls’ competition had a different format with two semi-finals. On pitch 1, Charlotte Robertson put Watsonians 1-0 ahead at half-time against Grove Menzieshill. The maroons added three further goals in the second half from Izzy Hogarth (2) and Kate Thomson to finish 4-0 winners.

Over on pitch 2, Grange edged out Fjordhus Reivers 2-0 in a tight match. A double from Anna Esser was the difference between the two teams, as the Borderers couldn’t find a way past a solid Grange defence.

In the 3^rd/4^th play-off, Fjordhus Reivers scored in each half to beat a hard-working Grove Menzieshill 2-0. Goalscorers were Eve Rathie and Izzy Molyneax.

Girls Final

The final was a high-quality, end-to-end match by two excellent young teams. Ellis Marriott put Grange ahead after 21 minutes, and chances continued to be created at both ends but excellent defensive performances kept it that way. Just as it looked like Grange had won it, Jessica Garden smashed home an equaliser with seven seconds of the match left. It was a dramatic end to take the game into penalties.

Charlotte Robertson scored first before Grange missed, giving the maroons an early advantage. However, superb goalkeeping kept out all other Watsonians’ penalties and Grange scored twice through Marianna Maclean and Ione Dobson to win it 2-1. The day finished with Scotland Emerging Squad head coach, Kelly Fillingham, presenting the trophy to Grange captain Kirstie Buchan.

Thank you

A special ‘shout out’ must go to the officials and umpires. Chris Macdonald ran pitch 1 single-handed as technical official all day, and some umpires did four or five matches over the whole day. We are also very grateful to our photographer, David McCarthy for all his work at the Schools Cup and U16 Finals over the weekend.