Expect goals and great hockey this weekend in National League

National League logo blue full

There is much to play for this weekend in both men’s and women’s National League with many tasty encounters slated for competition.

Edinburgh University coach Graham Moodie has seen his side drop out of the top four in men’s National League 1 after back-to-back defeats at the hands of Hillhead and Grange. Getting back on the rails will require the daunting task of taking three points from champions Bromac Kelburne at Glasgow Green this weekend.

“It will be difficult, as ever, to beat Kelburne, but we are improving and moving in the right direction, so it should be a good match,” said Moodie.

Moodie explained that this was a difficult part of the season for the students with weekend first division and cup matches, and also British University commitments in midweek combined with some injuries. Although Edinburgh may have slipped a little in the first division, Moodie`s charges are top of their British University League.

The former Great Britain Olympian mulled over the last two outings and concluded firstly that they “didn`t play well” against Hillhead. On the Grange game Moodie said: “We played very well against Grange but didn`t quite get the rub of the green; we created plenty of chances and won 11 penalty corners, so on another day we could have won the match.”

Kelburne, striving for their 13th consecutive league title, will be a hard nut to crack. The Paisley side currently lie in second spot having only dropped three points in the seven games to date. Moodie will take some heart from the fact that last season Kelburne won the first league fixture 2-0 but the students surprised the champions with a 2-1 victory in the return encounter.Uddingston v Edin Uni

Grange`s tenure in pole position will be elongated if they overcome the challenge from Western Wildcats at Auchenhowie. Grange already gained a comfortable 2-0 win in the first round cup tie at the same venue. The Edinburgh side may have too much firepower for the young Wildcats` pups, although the recall of veteran striker Scott McCartney might cause a few palpitations in the Grange defence, should he take the field.

Hillhead will be hoping to cement their new top four status with the three points from a struggling Clydesdale outfit. New coach Mark Ralph is far from carried away by the recent success. He said, “The league table says we are in the top four but we are only focusing on one game at a time and aiming to perform in each game.

“Clydesdale is definitely not an easy game; they have the squad to push themselves up the league very quickly, but we will go into the game confident from recent results.”

Even with a victory over Clydesdale, Hillhead could drop from third to fourth if Grove Menzieshill beat Watsonians and then see off Clydesdale in a catch-up fixture on Sunday. Clydesdale however, sitting in second bottom on two points, will be looking claw their way up the table by making good use of their game in hand this weekend.

The Uddingston Riva versus Gordonians encounter has a “must win” look about it for both teams. A home win here would propel the Lanarkshire side out of the drop zone. On the other hand a Gordonians triumph would put the bottom half of the table back into the melting pot.

The pack could be reshuffled at the top of women`s National League 1 with several crucial encounters in a double header weekend on Friday evening and Sunday afternoon.

Table toppers Milne Craig Clydesdale Western open their weekend against Western Wildcats at Titwood on Friday night, then visit CALA Edinburgh who are in bottom spot without a point on Sunday. Wildcats, under the eye of player/coach Kareena Cuthbert, have made a promising start to the season – they currently sit in fourth place having dropped points to Edinburgh University in a 1-1 draw and then went down by the odd goal in seven to Grove Menzieshill. Irrespective of the outcome of the Western encounter, the Auchenhowie side will aim to take the three points at home against Erskine Stewart`s Melville on Sunday.

Grove Menzieshill begin their weekend against CALA Edinburgh and do so with a 100% record. They are currently level on points with Western at the top of the table but will need to take all three from their Sunday encounter with champions Edinburgh University to maintain that contact. But the match is equally important to the students; at the moment they trail the top by five points and this weekend they are up against the Tayside duo of Wanderers and Grove Menzieshill. Any further surrender of points could put their chances of retaining their crown in serious jeopardy.

Player/coach Sam Judge said: “It`s a very important weekend for us and I`m confident that we can win both games. We have been playing well in spells but need to do this for the whole match, and if we do this then we should win both games.

“We have been creating lots of chances in our other games and not always been finishing them off, which is frustrating, but with the forwards that we have I`m confident that we can score goals.”

With lethal strikers like Amy Brodie, Becky Merchant, Sophie Maunder and Judge herself in the ranks, the boast may not be an idle one.Clydesdale Western Edinburgh Uni

Wanderers, who finished in third place last season, have struggled to made inroads into the top four – they need to take full points from their encounters with Edinburgh and Watsonians to reduce the gap. Both Kelburne and Watsonians will hope to put some more distance between themselves and the relegation zone by taking full points from their weekend meetings with second bottom Hillhead. Hillhead are currently second bottom on three points but a couple of wins for them this weekend could see them rise up the table dramatically. There is much to play for.

Recent posts:

Back to all news
Back to top