Strathallan win Girls’ Indoor Cup 2019 at Bells

The Girls’ Indoor Cup 2019 took place at Bells Active Sports Centre on Saturday with Strathallan coming out on top of a tremendous day of youth hockey.

12 Jan 2019 at Bell’s Sports Centre, Perth. Scottish Girls Indoors cup winners – Strathallan School – photo by Duncan Gray

The first match in Pool A saw Strathallan take on George Watson’s College. The first half saw each team testing their opponents. Both teams had a number of probing attacks but neither able to convert their chances. The first goal of the tournament came from Sophie McGlynn from the near post just sliding the ball under the keeper. In the second half Strathallan pushed for an equaliser, they gained several Penalty corners, but the Watsons Keeper was equal to the shots. George Watsons broke through the Strathallan defence by way of an Emily Simmers run down the board, she slotted the ball low to the keeper’s right to take the score to two. Strathallan pushed forward in the dying minutes but could not break through. The game ended With George Watsons taking the points.

In the First Match of pool B George Heriot’s started their tournament against Robert Gordons College. Katy Martin opened the scoring early on in the match with a well worked run to break through the defence. Martin extended Heriots’ lead late on in the second half with a driven shot beyond the keeper’s reach. Robert Gordon pushed back but could not get an opportunity to test the keeper. In the second half Heriots pushed to extend their lead within four minutes of the restart, Cesca Lang sliding the ball past the right hand side of the keeper. Within a minute Victoria Cameron flicked the ball high into the net to make it four goals in front. Sophie Hinds got her name on the scoring sheet with minutes left on the clock. Despite several penalty corner opportunities, RGC could not convert their chances. The match ended five goals to nil for Heriots.

The second match in pool A had George Watsons playing their second match of the day and The Glasgow Academy in their first. The Glasgow Academy was first to break the deadlock through Emma Forrest. George Watsons replied four minutes later through Emily Simmers.  The second half was a feisty affair with both teams having chances but unfortunate not to convert in to goals.

Galashiels Academy first match was against George Heriot’s. Heriot’s having a win under their belt started strong, it was Galashiels that scored through Holly Shepherd, she picked up a stray ball and sent a driven ball past the keeper at the near post. Heriot’s had no reply in the first half. In the second half the match was full of hard challenges from both sides to try and win the ball. Heriot’s pushed hard to try and gain a point from the match. It wasn’t until the dying seconds of the match that Jessica Thain took a run up the right unchallenged leading to a low shot beating the keeper.

Strathallan and The Glasgow Academy faced off in the final match of their pool. Strathallan took the lead in the 3rd minute through Lisa Biermann. The academy responded straight after the restart with an equaliser by Emma Forrest. The match continued at a fast and competitive pace with Strathallan pushing hard to get their lead back. Biermann with her brace regained the lead. Anna Ballantyne reigned Strathallan back in in the 15th. The second half started with Strathallan blazing forward to convert in just seconds, Biermann with a hat trick. Strathallan’s Captain Izzy Folan added the fourth five minutes later. The pace of the match continued to be high in the last minutes, a ball rocketed across the face of goal ended in Steph Craig slamming the ball into the back board, 5-2. Glasgow Academy gained a penalty corner in the last minute, a body save on the line by a defender escalated to a penalty stroke. Goal Keeper Sarah Cameron-Sutcliffe got a toe to the flick ending the game with a 5-2 victory for Strathallan.

In the final pool match of the day Galashiels and Robert Gordon’s College faced off. Anna Lewis put RGC ahead after ten minutes of the match. No more than a minute later Galashiels rained the Aberdonians back in through Meghan Campbell. Lewis scored her brace to get the lead back for RGC. The second half first goal came two minutes in with Galashiels again pulling back a draw through Molly Turnbull. The Aberdeen team were not content with only two goals Varada Kamate extended the lead once more.

The first semi-final saw Strathallan take on George Heriot’s. Strathallan laid down their intent early with a goal from Nicola McArthur.  A penalty corner minutes later took a heavy deflection from a defender, giving Biermann another notch on her goal tally for the day. Biermann then added a floated flick from a penalty corner to the top left of the keeper, the defence just shy of saving leaving it three goals to nil. There were no further goals in the second half, meaning Strathallen advanced to the final.

In the second semi-final George Watson’s and Robert Gordon’s College played for the chance to play in a final. The opening goal came after nine minutes, making Abbie Grant a conversion on a penalty corner shot. No other goals came until the dying seconds despite the competitive attacks from each team. George Watsons extended their lead with Emily Simmers capping of her day with a well worked goal for her team. The match ended with Watson’s two goal advantage, seeing them in the final versus Strathallen.

In the 5th and 6th play-off, The Glasgow academy took the higher placing with a 6 -1 win leaving Galashiels to take 6th place for the day. The 3rd -4th play-off was between George Heriot’s and Robert Gordon’s. There was no score in normal match time leading to a running penalties competition. George Heriot’s coming out on top scoring two out of their three and RGC with just one.

12 Jan 2019 at Bell’s Sports Centre, Perth. Scottish Girls Indoors cup winners – Strathallan v George Watsons – photo by Duncan Gray

The Final between Strathallan and George Watsons was a rematch of the previous year. Watson’s looking to retain their title. Strathallan not lying down pushed from the start and gained a penalty corner, Biermann sent the ball high towards the net, a deflection off a defender sent it out of reach of the keeper one-nil Strathallan. Strathallan pushed again Izzy Folan picking up the second goal of the game sending the crowd in to elated applause. The first half played out with no changes to the score. In the second half Izzy Folan scored her second of the game to extend Strathallan’s lead to three, after collecting a rebound from a penalty corner. George Watson’s gained a penalty corner but the ball spilled out of the D and Strathallan were able to recover. Strathallan pushed forward and then gained their own penalty corner, the shot hit the post and bounced out giving Watson’s defence a chance to recover.  The clock ran down with three goals the difference giving Strathallan the Girls Indoor Cup title.

 Final Placings

1st Strathallan

2nd George Watson’s College

3rd George Heriot’s School

4th Robert Gordon’s College

5th The Glasgow Academy

6th Galashiels academy

 

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