Christie continues to bag goals as Kelburne take indoor pole position

Indoor Kelburne m Christie

Outdoor champions Bromac Kelburne continue their indoor adventure and have grasped pole position in their pool with back-to-back wins over Grange and Uddingston, and again Johnny Christie was on fire with 11 goals over the piece.

Arch poacher Christie laid the foundation of the 10-3 victory over Grange; he scored the equalising goal after Frank Ryan had given Grange an early lead, and went on to claim another hat-trick which had taken his total for the season to 32 in only eight outings.

Kelburne led 3-1 at the interval with a double from Scotland midfielder Michael Bremner. Although Grange were able to grab another two in the second half the Edinburgh side were unable to halt the Paisley goal machine marching into double figures, with Bremner also claiming a hat-trick.

In the second game Christie went berserk with eight goals in Kelburne`s 13-4 win over Uddingston, five came in the first half, including a hat-trick in as many minutes just before the interval, and a further three in the second period, advancing his personal tally to an impressive 40 in the season to date. German Jonas Nommensen and Adam Bain both scored twice, and Jackey Tran did the same for Uddingston.

Grange recovered their composure to beat Hillhead 6-4 to consolidate second spot in the pool. A first half hat-trick by Ryan was the foundation of the Edinburgh side`s 5-2 interval lead, Callum Milne and Todd Mills got the others, Callum Duke got Hillhead`s two goals.

In the other pool champions Inverleith took a giant stride to claiming top spot with a comfortable 5-3 win over their great rivals Grove Menzieshill in their opening match.

There was an early exchange of goals, Derek Salmond`s open play strike was cancelled out by a penalty corner from Chris Wilson. Then up stepped former GB Olympian Stephen Dick to put Inverleith 3-1 up at the interval with a brace of set piece strikes.

The result was effectively over a minute into the second half when Dick struck again from a penalty corner for a 4-1 lead and his own hat-trick. Stuart Hatton added a fifth midway through the second half, although Wilson struck twice more for the Taysiders and his hat-trick.

Inverleith went on to consolidate their pole position in the pool with a comfortable 10-4 mauling of Western Wildcats in their second outing.

The champions were well on their way to the three points when they led 7-2 at the interval, there were hat-tricks each for Patrick Christie and Hatton, while Adam McKenzie opened the scoring from a penalty corner in the third minute.

The second half was a closer affair with McKenzie and Christie adding another to their personal tallies while Derek Salmond got the other; the replies from the Wildcats came from Joe McConnell and Fabian Goldie.

Grove Menzieshill went on to stake their claim to second spot in the pool with a 7-3 win over Clydesdale. The underdogs took the lead through Andrew Allan in only four minutes but normal service had been resumed by the interval with Gavin Byers, Euan Cuthill and Ben Cosgrove giving the Taysiders a 3-1 lead.

In the second half Chris Wilson, Ross McPherson, Cosgrove again and Gavin Tomlinson added to Grove Menzieshill`s tally while Euan Fraser and Fraser Hirst replied for the Glasgow side.

Hillhead took a massive step towards avoiding the relegation play-offs by seeing off Uddingston in a tense 3-2 victory. With the scores tied at 2-2 and only four minutes left a Callum Duke penalty corner strike claimed the three points and the route to safety.

Earlier, Duke had given Hillhead a single goal lead at the interval, but early in the second half Jackey Tran had levelled for the Lanarkshire side. In a quick exchange of goals Andrew Hilton put Hillhead into a 2-1 lead only for Martin Lorimer to equalise and set up a nervy finish. The score could have been different but for Hillhead keeper Jamie Frail saving a penalty flick.Indoor Hillhead m Frail

In the other pool Clydesdale would appear to have sent Western Wildcats into the relegation play-offs with a 3-1 win over the Auchenhowie side.

Struan Walker put the Titwood side a goal ahead at the interval. There was no further addition to the score until four minutes from the end when James Nairn doubled the Clydesdale score. In the closing minutes Joe McConnell gave the Wildcats a whisker of hope but Euan Fraser quickly put the game to rest with a third for Clydesdale.

It would appear that Dundee Wanderers have made an immediate return to the top flight after a 3-1 victory over Edinburgh University in the men’s second division play-offs. Although the students took the lead from the spot Wanderers were level by the interval through a penalty corner strike by Fergus Sandison.

In the second half Sandison scored two more to complete his hat-trick and take Wanderers to the final play-off against Grove Menzieshill`s second string who saw off Watsonians 8-1 in the other tie.

The Gala Day confrontation between Wanderers and Grove Menzieshill will decide the second division title but promotion automatically goes to the former as reserve sides cannot gain promotion to the first division.

Photos by Mark Pugh

Indoor Uddingston m Gardiner

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