Inverleith and Western will contest next weekend`s men’s gala final

Pool matches

Second spot in pool A and a place in the semi-finals later in the day was resolved when Dunfermline beat Uddingston 6-1 to overtake Dundee Wanderers after they went down 11-1 to Inverleith.

It was a close affair in the first half, Mike Ross at a penalty corner and Adam Czub put the Fifers two up before Nathan Allison pulled it back to 2-1 at the interval. At the end of the first half Dunfermline`s ranks were reduced by a couple of yellow cards and sinbin visits.

Undaunted Dunfermline effectively sealed the victory with two quick-fire goals from Andy Doyle and Stuart Eadie for a comfortable 4-1 lead. Towards the end of the contest Doyle again and Gary Clark added two more and the Fifers were in the semi-final.

Wanderers never really looked like holding on to second spot after they were four down to Inverleith at half-time with Kyle Taylor, Derek Salmond, captain Stephen Dick and Keir Robb doing the damage. The goals continued to flow in the second half, it started with a quick-fire treble from Alex Wilson, then Taylor again, Robb another two and finally Wilson for his fourth of the game to complete the scoring at eleven.

The fate of the other pool was nail-biting – Western finally grabbed pole position by a single goal in the end.

In the opening game Western needed to pile on the goals against Grange to confirm pole position and thereby avoiding Inverleith in the semi-finals. It took Western seven minutes to open the scoring through a penalty corner strike from Andrew McConnell, to be followed by an open play strike from Rob Harwood – so it was 2-0 at the interval.

But it was Grange who scored next through a set piece from Fraser Heigh for 2-1 but then Andrew Lochrin restored Western`s two goal lead and that was the end of the scoring at 3-1.

So was that going to be enough as Grove Menzieshill were about to take on bottom side Watsonians? They needed to score eight clear goals to draw level on goal difference and nine to top the pool.

It looked as though the Taysiders were going to give it a go when Luke Cranney put them two up in only four minutes – but 2-0 was still the score at the interval.

However, the scoring perked up after the interval and by 28 minutes it was 6-0, Cranney again, Ollie Jamies and a double from Chris McFadden. But then Dan Coultas scored for Watsonians at a penalty corner for 6-1. As time marched on and four goals still needed, Cranney scored from the spot and then McFadden got his hat-trick with two minutes to go – but that was that and Grove Menzieshill`s bid for the top fell narrowly short.

At the other end of the pool the result meant that Watsonians will play Uddingston to avoid the automatic drop to the second tier.

 

Semi-finals

Having shaken off the shock of almost not making pole position in their pool Western made the final with a 7-4 win over Dunfermline Carnegie.

Andrew Lochrin opened for Western in only two minutes but midway through the half a double from Andy Doyle put the Fifers in a 2-1 lead. However, three goals from Andrew McConnell in as many minutes turned the table and put the Auchenhowie side into a 4-2 lead at the interval.

Fraser Moran`s strike five minutes into the second half seemed to have sealed the tie for Western but back came Dunfermline with goals from Mike Ross and Doyle again to reduce the deficit to 5-4. But Western dug deep and scored a further goal from Joe McConnell at a penalty corner to be followed by Lochrin for a 7-4 victory.

In the other semi-final Inverleith were also stretched as the half-time score was 2-2 against Grove Menzieshill. Inverleith`s Keir Robb opened in seven minutes but the Taysiders replied through Sam Knight and Gavin Byers. Then Inverleith captain Stephen Dick levelled five minutes from the break.

But the second half belonged to Inverleith with Kyle Taylor and Ewan Mackie advancing the score to 4-2. Not long after Euan Cuthill pulled the score back to 4-3 but the Edinburgh side were not to be denied and Taylor and Mackie added another to the tally for a comfortable 6-3 win.

 

Other games

Grange secured fifth place after a 5-2 win over Dundee Wanderers in the first play-off. Fraser Heigh scored twice for Grange in the second half while Callum Ross matched that for Wanderers.

Uddingston were relegated to the second tier after going down 8-2 to Watsonians who still have to go up against the runners-up of division two next weekend to confirm survival.

Goals from Drew Dickson-Murray, Danny Cain and Henry Porter put the Edinburgh side 3-1 up at the interval, Louis Gardiner replied for Uddingston. Watsonians motored ahead in the second half with a further five goals, Fraser McCurdy got two while Porter helped himself to a second half hat-trick, JonJo Lavin getting Uddingston`s consolation.

Grove Menzieshill took third spot in the day`s final game, they drew 4-4 with Dunfermline Carnegie but won the resulting shoot-out 4-3. In normal time it was 2-2 at the interval, Grove Menzieshill`s Chris McFadden and Sam Knight were on target but cancelled out by the Fifers` Stuart Eadie and Paul Weston.

The second half produced the same score line with a double from Grove Menzieshill`s captain Ross McPherson negated by Sam Eadie and Andy Doyle, and so third spot was decided on a shoot-out in favour of the Dundonians.

 

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