Grange open their account

Grange, who finished runners-up last season, open their
account in the Subway National League with a tricky home fixture
against the steadily improving Grove Menzieshill at
Peffermill.  

“I think our squad is stronger than last year, consequently we
are looking for improvement all over the pitch and aim to challenge
in all competitions this season.  With Colin Clarke back as
coach, our target is to close the gap on Kelburne who are the side
we need to finish ahead of to win the league title,” said Rob Barr,
Grange`s captain. 

Grange have picked up a couple of players from neighbours CALA
Edinburgh, under 21 international defender Fraser Sands and
goalkeeper Colin Johnston along with Andrew Brogdon from English
premier league side Bowdon, although he is presently sidelined with
a broken finger.

Barr could not have wished for a more difficult baptism,
Menzieshill finished third last season and have already held
Western Wildcats to a 3-3 draw.  Ironically, that was exactly
the same score between the sides in the equivalent fixture last
year with Cammie Fraser, Duncan Riddell and Craig Harper getting
the Grange goals.

“We are very aware that Menzieshill are an effective team at the
moment and had a strong campaign last season, and we certainly
can`t ignore that they managed to knock over Kelburne in the
process, so we will have to be at our best to win this fixture,”
said Barr.

Inverleith will face Greaves Clydesdale with some trepidation,
the Glasgow side completed the double over them last year with 3-2
and 2-1 victories. 

Coach Stephen McCurry reflected on the ups and downs of their
opening fixture against CALA last week.   “We played very
well for 75% of the game and were three goals up, but then we lost
our shape and discipline which led to us giving away two very poor
goals.  We have to learn from this for our next game.

“Clydesdale are a very good side who are very well coached,
their league positions over the last two seasons reflects
this.  This should be a very close game as both sides are
looking to compete at the top end of the division.”

Inverleith have almost a full squad for the contest, only Phil
Hall misses the occasion through suspension.

Clydesdale struggled a little against AMN Hillhead last week and
finally emerged with a 3-3 draw, a result which disappointed coach
Gordon Shepherd.  “The back line was very young and
inexperienced, the forwards had plenty of chances to win the game,
and our penalty corners need to be better as we only scored two
from eight.

“Inverleith will be a tougher game, they have strengths in many
areas so we will need to improve, but we will be stronger than last
week,” 

Former VWS Dundee Wanderers` playmaker Allan Law will make his
debut for the Titwood side, penalty corner expert Ciaran Crawford
should return after a jaw injury and there make be places for Adam
Bain and bothers John and Steven McKnight.

Western Wildcats have a potentially difficult assignment away to
CALA Edinburgh, but coach Vishal Marwaha is nonetheless confident
of the three points.  “It is going to be a hard game, CALA
showed last year that they can beat first division sides, but if we
avoid giving away silly goals and take our chances, we are in with
a good chance of winning the game.”

Champions Kelburne should remain in pole position by seeing off
AMN Hillhead.  The Glasgow side are a steadily improving
outfit, but could struggle to cope with the Paisley
firepower.  Last season Hillhead lost 5-1 in both
fixtures, the Christie brothers Michael and Jonny doing most of the
damage in front of goal.

The clash between Giffnock and newly promoted GHK is the most
intriguing contest of the women`s Subway national league this
weekend, Giffnock gave champions Grove a run for their money last
week while GHK produced the shock of the day with a 2-1 win over
Glynhill Kelburne.

“We did pretty well against Grove considering we did not have
Kareena Marshall and only 11 players.  The game could have
been closer as we did have chances and gifted them the first goal,
so if we tighten up on basic errors I would expect to beat GHK, but
I never take anything for granted,” said Rhona Simpson, Giffnock`s
coach.

GHK captain Fiona Donald is delighted with the start in the top
flight.  “Beating Kelburne has boosted the confidence of the
girls, we hope to produce the same fighting performance against
Giffnock, but having played them in the pre-season we know we are
in for a tough match.”

After a poor showing against Milne Craig Western which
culminated in a 6-0 home defeat, CALA Edinburgh can expect more
hard going against a Grove Menzieshill side in search of their
sixth consecutive title.  Last season CALA conceded a dozen
goals in the two encounters with Ali Bell, Ailsa Wyllie, Aimee
Clark and Louise Carroll doing most of the damage.  VWS Dundee
Wanderers should pick up their second win of the season at home to
Kelburne, but last week they struggled to see off Western Wildcats
and had to rely on an overtime penalty corner by Julie Bryce to
finally secure the points with a narrow 3-2 win.

The Wildcats look a more organised pack this year under coach
Murray Laing and could record their first points of the season.

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