Men’s Indoor National League back in action – Kelburne maintain pole position

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There appears to be no stopping striker Johnny Christie and Bromac Kelburne in the men’s indoor hockey first division, the Paisley striker scored nine times in his side`s 6-3 defeat of Grange and 9-3 win over Hillhead.

Christie has now amassed a total of 29 goals in the seven league encounters which has been a major contribution to Kelburne staying in pole position in the table, a point ahead of second placed Inverleith.

The Paisley side had a rocky ride in their opening encounter with fourth placed Grange, they only led 4-3 with five minutes remaining, Christie scored all four for Kelburne and Luke Cranney got a double for the Edinburgh side.

Grange`s Ali Irvine then picked up a red card; Kelburne took immediate advantage with further strikes by German Jonas Nommensen and Christie again for a 6-3 win in the end.

There was only one winner against Hillhead when Christie and Jack McKenzie put Kelburne two up inside the first minute. The score advanced to 6-1 at the interval, Christie again along with Adam Bain, Iain Scholefield and Craig Morton were on target.

Christie added two more in the second period along with Kiwi Nick Finlayson although Hillhead did manage to pull two back.

Inverleith maintained their second place in the table with back-to-back victories over bottom side Uddingston and Western Wildcats.

The win over Uddingston was a stroll after the champions held a 5-1 lead at the interval and then went on to add another four in the second half. Patrick Christie was top scorer with a hat-trick while there were two each for Derek Salmond and Stephen Dick.

The second encounter with the Wildcats was a closer affair – Inverleith moved into a three goal lead but were pegged back by a double from Joe McConnell for 3-2 at the interval.

Midway through the second half the score had moved on to 4-3 with Wildcats` McConnell completing his hat-trick. Then the Edinburgh side`s expertise at the penalty corner took over with three goals without reply and a 7-3 win. Adam McKenzie got three in total with Dick picking up another brace.

Third placed Grove Menzieshill were under no pressure with back to back 8-2 victories over Uddingston and Western Wildcats.

It was a tight opening in the first match, the Taysiders were only one up against the bottom team in the league at the end of the first half, and veteran Ross McPherson was the sole striker. However, Grove Menzieshill opened out after the break, they scored seven more with Ben Cromar on target with four.

Against Wildcats it was rather different, the Dundonians were five up at the interval, Cameron Golden grabbed a couple, and Gavin Tomlinson scored from the spot, while the other goals came from Mike Ross and Chris Wilson. Grove Menzieshill added three more in the second half, all came from Wilson.

Grange recovered their composure after the Kelburne reversal to defeat Clydesdale 9-2 and hold on to fourth place, Cranney was the catalyst with four goals.

The final game of the day proved to be the closest encounter – a 6-6 draw between Uddingston and Clydesdale in the lower reaches of the table. The contest was poised at 4-4 at the interval, then Clydesdale took a 6-4 lead through Struan Walker – that was his hat-trick – and Andrew Allan at a penalty corner.

The Lanarkshire side did not give up the ghost, on the contrary strikes by Steven Percy for his fourth of the match and Tom Hyndman brought the scores level with eight minutes left.

The Wildcats picked up their point with a 1-1 draw with Hillhead. After a goalless first half the evergreen Scott McCartney put the Auchenhowie side ahead only for Fraser Ward to level.

The results leave Uddingston bottom of the table on goal difference from the Wildcats, while Clydesdale continue to occupy sixth place.

 

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