Grove Menzieshill maintain perfect record in men’s indoor Nat 1

Grove Menzieshill seem untouchable, their back-to-back victories over Hillhead and Clydesdale confirmed their perfect record and pole position in Men’s indoor National League 1 before the competition advances to the group stages. Following the other results Bromac Kelburne and Inverleith occupy second and third places respectively while Dundee Wanderers advanced to fourth at the expense of Clydesdale.

Grove Menzieshill started their day with a comfortable 10-4 win over Hillhead to maintain their perfect record and pole position in the league table. Andrew Hilton opened for Hillhead in only three minutes, but by the interval the champions were 6-2 in front, Gavin Tomlinson scored twice with Ross McPherson, Gavin Byers, Ben Cromar and Albert Rowling also on target, David Gay replied for the Glasgow side.

The Taysiders added four more in the second half, Rowling collected his second, Aidan McQuade scored while Ben Cosgrove got a late double, Andrew Black and Callum Duke got Hillhead`s consolations.

Grove Menzieshill maintained perfect record – photo by Duncan Gray

Ali Richmond had the audacity to give Clydesdale an early lead in Grove Menzieshill`s second outing of the day, but by the interval Ben Cromar and Albert Rowling had restored normal service for a 2-1 half-time lead. The Taysiders cut loose in the second half with nine further goals without reply, Rowling added another three, there were doubles for Gavin Tomlinson and Cromar while Cameron Golden and Gavin Byers got the others.

Bromac Kelburne maintained their winning sequence, but only just by getting the better of Clydesdale in a 15-goal thriller in their opening game of the day. However, with two minutes to go it was the Titwood-based club who held the initiative with a 7-6 advantage, but two late set piece counters by Josh Cairns secured the points for the second placed side.

Kelburne looked to have the points already in the bag when they romped into a four goal lead in the opening 13 minutes, Chris Caldwell scored a hat-trick after seven while Michael Bremner got the other.

A double from Clydesdale`s Chris McFadden brought the score back to 4-2 by the interval, with Fraser Hirst and McFadden again levelling the match half way through the second half. Cairns and Bremner made it 6-4 for Kelburne but two goals from Ali Richmond and Hirst again put the Glasgow side into a slender lead for the first time in the contest. But it was Cairns who had the final say to give his side the belated three points.

The Paisley side confirmed their second place spot with a bizarre 6-6 draw with Dundee Wanderers in their second outing of the day. The outdoor champions were 3-1 up at the break courtesy of a hat-trick of set-piece conversions by Cairns while Sean Dowie got the Taysiders` only counter from the spot.

In the second half Kelburne raced into a commanding 6-1 lead through Gary Maitles, Adam Bain and Bremner, but then the wheels came off. In the final seven minutes the Dundonians scored the required five goals for a share of the points, Fergus Sandison was the hero with a quick-fire four while Francis Mulgrew got the other. The point won confirmed Wanderers fourth place status, now a point ahead of Clydesdale.

4 February 2017, Bromac Kelburne v Grange – photo by Duncan Gray

Four-times champions Inverleith completed a five-game winning sequence with a commanding 7-3 win over Hillhead to finish the league part of the championship in third spot. The Edinburgh side were only 3-2 ahead at the interval, their scorers were Stuart Hatton, Paul Taylor and Patch Christie with Andrew Hilton and Ewan Campbell replying for Hillhead.

But the second half belonged to Inverleith with both Christie and Hatton completing their hat-tricks while Ross Jamieson got Hillhead`s consolation.

Inverleith started their day with a comfortable 8-2 win over Clydesdale, a result that relegated the Glasgow club out of the top four on goal difference from Dundee Wanderers.

Inverleith captain Patch Christie again led from the front with five of the eight goals. The first half looked to be heading for a goalless conclusion at the break, but almost inevitably it was Christie who broke the deadlock with a belated strike.

However, the Edinburgh side upped their game in the second half, Christie scored four more with Stuart Hatton, Stephen Dick and Murray Fotheringahm also pitching in. Clydesdale`s consolations came from McFadden and Hirst.

Earlier in the day Dundee Wanderers joined Clydesdale and Inverleith on the nine point mark with a 7-5 win over Grange in their opening match. Frank Ryan opened for the Edinburgh side in 14 minutes, but by the interval the Taysiders were 2-1 up through Callum Ross and Francis Mulgrew.

Luke Cranney levelled for Grange but Wanderers went two ahead through Sean Dowie from the spot and Fergus Sandison. Back came Grange in this ding-dong affair, Cranney again and Andy Graham were on target. The points were secured for the Dundee side with further strikes by Bobby Ralph and Sandison again for a 6-4 lead. Cranney pulled another back for his own hat-trick, then a late penalty corner from Ralph restored the two goal advantage for Wanderers.

Hillhead secured their second victory of the campaign with a 5-4 win over bottom side Edinburgh University. The Glasgow side seemed to have the contest well won with a 5-1 lead in the second half but then allowed the students back into proceedings with three goals in the final ten minutes, yet just managed to hang on to the three points.

Grange recorded their first win of the campaign with a 6-3 win over the Edinburgh students in a bottom-of-the-table confrontation. Cranney was Grange`s chief striker with four second half goals while Ryan picked up a couple. Tim Miller scored twice for the students with Matthew White got the other, but the result leaves them with no points from their seven outings.

 

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