Eight in a row for Kelburne?

Glynhill Kelburne are on the quest for an eighth
consecutive title as the Subway national league campaign starts
this weekend, a point made forcefully by their manager Harry Coles,
but is there a side out there to put pressure on the long term
champions?   Grange are the most likely, they came second
last season but were nine points adrift at the death, while the
chasing pack were well short of the mark.

The Paisley outfit will certainly be weaker this season with the
departure of midfielders Iain Scholefield and Gordon McIntrye to
foreign parts, but are unlikely to falter at the first hurdle
against VWS Dundee Wanderers at Bellahouston.  The Taysiders
lost both encounters last year and could struggle with the loss of
playmaker Allan Law to Greaves Clydesdale.

Western Wildcats will have much the same pack as last year,
except Gavin Sommerville replaces Kris Kane in goal and former
internationalist Vishal Marwaha has taken over as coach, but they
have a tricky assignment away to Grove Menzieshill in their first
outing.  The Wildcats proved their credentials by taking the
Scottish Cup last season but their league form was inconsistent,
hence they finished a disappointing fourth in the league. 
Their form against the Taysiders was symptomatic of the problem,
the Wildcats won the first meeting 5-2, Scott McCartney scoring a
hat-trick, but then lost the replay 4-2 at Auchenhowie.

“It is never an easy game playing Menzieshill in Dundee, last
season they showed that they can compete with the top teams with
some good results in both league and cup.   We are
expecting a tough game, and I believe we are more than capable of
winning, but we are going to have to play somewhere near our best
to take full points,” said Marwaha.

Inverleith under the new coaching regime of Stephen McCurry and
Bill Robson, have a spring in their step after taking the Cookstown
tournament in Ireland last weekend against quality
opposition.  “Winning in Ireland was a massive bonus because
our objective for the weekend was to make sure we are ready for our
first league game against CALA Edinburgh,” said McCurry.

With such a sizeable squad of players to pick from, Inverleith
could have the necessary strength in depth to sustain a very real
challenge to Kelburne, especially as defender Andrew Sinclair has
fully recovered from a broken ankle sustain during the last indoor
season, and he was named player of the tournament in
Cookstown.    Another player in form is
internationalist Adam McKenzie, his penalty corner routine was in
good working order with strikes in every game in Ireland.

McCurry has given his charges the target of a top three place in
the league for this season, so an opening victory against CALA has
to be part of that script.

Although newly promoted to the top flight this season, CALA have
already sent out the warning signals last year by knocking out both
Grange and Dundee Wanderers out of the Scottish Cup.  
But CALA will be without some key players for the Inverleith
encounter, Ramsay Bell and Michael Witchell are out due to work
commitments, injury has ruled out former Wanderers midfielder
Steven Glass while strikers David Guy and David Patterson are
considered doubtful.

Nonetheless, coach Neil Allan remains confident.   “I
believe we can beat Inverleith and get the season off to a flying
start, but it will be difficult against a team with so many
options.  We have our own threats as an attacking team, and
Scott Sutherland and David Patterson, if he plays, can be lethal at
penalty corners.”

Greaves Clydesdale flattered to deceive a little last season,
they finished fifth in the table, but captain Ross Macpherson
bemoaned the unnecessary loss of points, today they open their new
water-based pitch at Titwood with AMN Hillhead as the
visitors.  There is a lot of raw talent in the Titwood outfit,
but that will only be converted into results if coach Gordon
Shepherd can instil a modicum of composure into the
youngsters.  Clydesdale`s cause has been boosted with the
signing of former internationalist Allan Law from Wanderers, he
will bring additional options to the midfield.

Hillhead are in the process of re-structuring with some players
now out of the country, but they did come away with the CALA
Edinburgh pre-season tournament last weekend.

“The games between the clubs last season were close, and I don`t
expect anything different this weekend,” said Keith Joss,
Hillhead`s coach.  “So the final result will probably come
down to which team scores when they have the chance – I can`t
imagine a nil-nil draw.”

Potential title challengers Grange will have to wait a week
before entering the hostilities, their game with Edinburgh
University will be played later in the season.

It is a similar picture in the women`s league, is there a side
capable of preventing Grove Menzieshill capturing their eighth
title in nine years?   Giffnock, who finished third in
the table last season, have the first opportunity as they host the
champions for the opening encounter.

Was it pessimism or realism that was behind the opinion
expressed by Rhona Simpson, Giffnock`s player/coach.   “I
think this season will be pretty open for second place, but I
believe Grove will be too strong for most opposition this year with
the number of international players they have.

“I think it will be a tall order for us to beat Grove on
Saturday due to our limited preparation time, while the majority of
the Grove players have come back from an international tournament
and I would suspect they will be a bit sharper than us.”

Grove captain Linda Clement was also a bit muted on the
subject.   “We will certainly push for the title again,
but as yet we don`t know the strength of the other sides. 
Certainly, Giffnock away is not an easy start by any means, I don`t
suppose either side will really know what to expect, so it is
difficult to predict what Saturday will bring.”

The Taysiders did the double last season, winning the opening
fixture 3-1 and the return match 5-1, Ali Bell, Louise Carroll from
the set piece and Nikki Kidd dong the damage in these games. 
One crumb of comfort for Giffnock is that Kidd has left Dundee for
the German Bundesliga while Nicki Cochrane takes over from Anna
Schwartz in goal.

The other challengers to Grove`s hegemony will certainly not
want to falter at the opening hurdle, Dundee Wanderers and Kelburne
should see off Western Wildcats and newly promoted GHK
respectively, but Milne Craig Western could have a tricky
assignment away to CALA Edinburgh.    Western
slumped to fourth in the table last season, their poorest
performance for decades, but there were a lot youngsters in their
ranks who will have a year`s more experience in the top flight
under their belt.   Western will be without international
striker Sam Judge, she is due to turn out as player/coach at
Edinburgh University.

CALA won their own pre-season tournament in some style last
weekend, winning all three games without conceding a single goal,
it will be interesting to see if they can transfer this sort of
form into the league.

Recent posts:

Back to all news
Back to top