Inverleith`s European baptism

EUROPEAN INDOOR CLUB TROPHY   FRIDAY 17
FEBRUARY TO SUNDAY 19 FEBRUARY 2012  AT ENGAGE SPORTS CENTRE
AT NAPIER UNIVERSITY IN EDINBURGH

Inverleith make their European baptism when they
entertain Racing Club Bruxelles of Belgium on Friday in
their opening match of the European Indoor Club Trophy, to be held
at the Engage Sports Centre at Napier University in
Edinburgh. 

It will be no picnic for the Edinburgh novices as the opposition
in this league-based format are national champions and are also
seasoned European campaigners.  AD Lousada (Portugal) are next
up later today, then Slagesle (Denmark) and HC 1972 Rakovnik (Czech
Republic) tomorrow, and finally Kolos-Sekvoia Vinnitsa (Ukraine)
and Lille (France) on Sunday.

Following the withdrawal of the Polish champions through a clash
of fixtures, Poland are due to play in the Olympic Qualifier in New
Delhi at the same time, the remaining seven teams were rescheduled
to play on a round-robin basis.  It is now a bit of a
cut-throat competition, the top two will be promoted to the elite
Championship level while the bottom two are relegated.

Stuart Neave, Inverleith`s coach, remarked:  “As with any
competition we enter, our target is to win.   Obviously
that is easy to say and despite the high standard of this
competition, I feel we have a good squad of players capable of
competing at this level.

“With the assistance of Billy McPherson and Harry Byers at
Menzieshill, I have now seen footage of all the competing teams and
we will need to be at our best to win.  And the round-robin
format of the tournament also leaves very little room for
error.”

Neave has been meticulous in preparing his charges for the big
European initiation, Inverleith have participated successfully in
the Grove Menzieshill tournament last December and their own
Richard Docherty Cup in early January.  Although the Edinburgh
side lost their Subway indoor national league crown to rivals
Menzieshill, that was only by the narrow margin of two goals as the
teams finished level on points.  In addition, Neave`s squad
gained revenge by beating the Taysiders 7-6 to take last weekend`s
knock-out cup.

Playing at home in Edinburgh could be a double-edged sword, they
will have the advantage of a vociferous home crowd to urge them on,
but it could also put additional pressure on the squad to
succeed.

“Playing in Europe is very important to the players, and given
that the club are hosting the event, it is of huge importance to
everyone at Inverleith,” said Neave.  

Although this is Inverleith`s first sojourn into European indoor
hockey, Neave remarked that many of his players have played at
international level, including Olympians Stephen Dick and Graham
Moodie, along with Scotland players Adam MacKenzie, goalkeeper
Allan Dick, Derek Salmond and Andrew Sinclair.  But the
absence of Chris Grassick through injury is definitely a blow to
Neave`s aspirations, he is a very influential player who can score
from both open play and set pieces.

With the withdrawal of the Poles, Inverleith have the unenviable
title of favourites to take the gold and promotion as last year
Menzieshill were relegated from the elite top eight.  Full
points from Friday`s games against Racing Club and Lousada would
give Neave and his squad a real confidence boost and get rid of the
early tournament nerves.

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