Shootouts; goals and action: Junior Schools’ Cup 2022 had it all

11th March 2022

Home » News » Shootouts; goals and action: Junior Schools’ Cup 2022 had it all

The Junior Schools’ Cup finals had it all; from shootouts to goal-fests, it was a day of tremendous schools’ hockey in Edinburgh. Edinburgh Academy were victorious in the Junior Girls’ Cup final while Fettes came out on top of the Junior Boys’ Cup final. Glasgow Academy lifted the Junior Girls’ Plate; Loretto School won the Junior Boys’ Plate; St Columba’s were victorious in the first ever Junior Girls’ Challenge Plate; and Peebles High School won the first ever Junior Girls’ Challenge Cup.

Edinburgh Academy 0-0 (4-2) Fettes College

A supremely close Junior Girls’ Cup final was decided by running penalties with Edinburgh Academy lifting the trophy in dramatic fashion.

The contest was end-to-end right from the first whistle and had all the makings of a classic final.

Some enterprising attacking play by both sides was met by solid defending, but two excellent chances were created. First Fettes whipped the ball across the face of the goal but found no takers; then a short time later some excellent build-up by Edinburgh Academy down the left was halted at the last second in the circle by a crowd of Fettes jerseys.

It was a high speed battle and neither team was letting up.

Into the second half and an early burst into the D by Edinburgh Academy saw a shot on the reverse well saved at the near post by the Fettes keeper.

Edinburgh Academy enjoyed the majority of possession in the second half until Fettes began to ask questions of the Academy defence with around ten minutes remaining.

A penalty corner to Edinburgh Academy nearly brought the opener but a powerful effort went just wide.

Then a slick attack down the right by Fettes was stopped when the keeper managed to boot the ball clear before the attacker could deflect the ball home.

Late pressure by Edinburgh Academy couldn’t find the breakthrough and the game had to be settled by a shootout.

The shootout was tense and everything was finding the net until Fettes were denied and Academy advanced to 3-1. A second stop put Edinburgh Academy 4-2 ahead and confirmed their victory in the most dramatic fashion.

Fettes College 1-1 (4-2) George Watson’s College

The Junior Boys’ Cup final was another nail-biter that was settled by a shootout and it was Fettes College who took the crown of Junior Boys’ Cup champions.

Fettes opened the scoring on the rebound from a powerful penalty corner strike from the top of the D. Oliver Bennett was on hand to slam the ball against the back board for 1-0.

George Watson’s College soon came so close to equalising but a far post effort popped up over the bar instead of into the roof of the net. Fettes collectively took a deep breath.

Early in the second half George Watson’s came agonisingly close to an equaliser with another ball zipped across goal, but it evaded the forward and slid clear.

Fettes then very nearly doubled their advantage on a swift counter attack but the ball rolled agonisingly wide of the mark.

The equaliser eventually arrived midway through the second half when the ball was squeezed past the keeper at the near post by Jamie Leonard to make it 1-1.

The game got extra tense as it moved into the closing stages; Fettes enjoyed more of the ball but George Watson’s battled hard and it ended 1-1. That meant running penalties.

This time the shootout began with both sides drawing blank before the teams evened each other out with goals. In the end a crucial save for Fettes gave them the chance to win the game, which they did with a sensational 4-2 victory.

Glasgow Academy 5-1 Jordanhill School

It was an excellent win for Glasgow Academy as they won 5-1 to lift the Junior Girls’ Plate.

Glasgow Academy got off to a great start when Georgia Newlands struck an early goal; a far post tap in after some nice work down the right.

After weathering the early storm Jordanhill began edging back into the game after the goal.

Then a penalty corner went the way of Glasgow Academy and it led to a second goal. A looping penalty corner strike was knocked home from close range by Eden McGill to make it 2-0.

Jordanhill were quick to bite back and it was Megan McCarry who found the net to make it 2-1.

Then came a sucker punch for Jordanhill as academy made it 3-1 just before half time.

The second half saw early pressure from Glasgow Academy looking to kill off the game, but this time they couldn’t find the net.

It allowed Jordanhill again to creep back into the contest and come close with a penalty corner – an effort cleared off the line.

As the game wore on Glasgow Academy became more clinical and McGill scored again from close range finish on a counter to make it 4-1.

The game was put to bed late on when Alexandra Burdon went on a great solo run before finishing low to make it 5-1.

Edinburgh Academy 0-3 Loretto School

Loretto School won the Junior Boys’ Plate with a great 3-0 victory over Edinburgh Academy at Peffermill.

It was a lightning start to the contest with the game racing from end-to-end. The first close chance of the match fell to Edinburgh Academy, and they were denied the opener by a good close-range near post stop.

The opening goal would come soon enough and it went to Loretto and an excellent finish by Cameron Miller to make it 1-0.

Loretto doubled their advantage a short time later when Marcus Macrae struck into the bottom left corner to make it 2-0.

Edinburgh Academy piled on the pressure toward the end of the half but found the Loretto defence stubborn.

The pressure from Edinburgh Academy continued into the second half and enjoyed a succession of penalty corners but they weren’t able to force the ball over the line.

Loretto settled back into their rhythm as the contest progressed and began to apply some pressure of their own.

A penalty corner was knocked home from close range by Rhett Hussey on the second phase to make it 3-0 and put the game to bed.

Wellington School 0-3 St Columba’s School

St Columba’s School won the Junior Girls’ Challenge Plate with a 3-0 victory in Edinburgh.

St Columba’s struck after eight minutes following an exchange in the D at a penalty corner for Emma Venthum to find the net and make it 1-0.

Then came a great finish by Matilda Clark to make it 2-0 and give the score line a dominant look.

Despite the score it was a fairly even contest and Wellington fashioned a couple of chances of their own, but couldn’t find a finish.

The second half had a very even look to it at the outset but then came a third goal for St Columba’s with Matilda Clark converting on the spin to make it 3-0.

Again, despite the goal, play continued to be quite even with both sides battling hard to create chances, but it was St Columba’s who ran out winners with a great 3-0 victory.

Kelvinside Academy 0-3 Peebles High School

The first ever Junior Girls Challenge Cup is going to the Borders after a 3-0 victory for Peebles High School in Edinburgh.

Kelvinside Academy came close in the early stages with a powerful low shot just wide of the target.

Then Peebles broke forward and took the lead when Alice Finlayson prodded home from close range 1-0.

Peebles enjoyed a lot of the ball as the half progressed and continually probed the congested Kelvinside circle.

Then Kelvinside began to create chances towards the end of the half. First Ruby Neilson weaved through the defence only to be denied by the keeper, then a powerful lose shot by Daisy Dalziel zipped just wide.

The second half was a very close affair with the first real chance falling to Peebles at a penalty corner, which led to a flick. Emma Little stepped up to the penalty spot and buried the ball low into the left corner to make it 2-0.

Any prospect of a comeback was put to bed when at the second phase of a penalty corner the ball forced home to make it 3-0 to Peebles, and confirmed that trophy for the school in the Borders.