Top Game of the Day at Uddingston this Weekend

There can be no doubting the game of the day this weekend, champions Edinburgh University travel to meet up with Uddingston at Bothwell Castle in the Open/Men’s Premiership.

Uddy have started the season in fine fashion, they sit second only on goal difference from Western Wildcats, having won all four games so far. While they may only have scored twelve goals, at the other end only one has been conceded. Impressive, but the Lanarkshire side have yet to cross swords with either Western Wildcats, Watsonians or Edinburgh Uni, although it is the latter on Saturday.

So, the question put to coach Tom Hyndman was – can you beat Edinburgh Uni on Saturday?  And he replied: “Anticipate it will be close. Knowing Uni are returning from a tough EHL weekend and having done our homework before Saturday, we hope to be in a good place to compete.”

We then asked Tom about the season so far. “Can’t complain with four wins out of four.  Although we are aware tougher challenges are fast approaching.”

Uddy came close to achieving something in the equivalent fixture last season, the game was poised at one each but a late penalty corner strike from Jamie Golden ended the possible upset, so can Uddy go one better this time?

For Edinburgh, this smacks of a banana skin outing. At this moment it is not certain if the students EHL experience will have a positive or negative impact on Saturday’s outcome, and there is the additional concern of injuries sustained. Time will tell on this one!

Meanwhile Western Wildcats could be the beneficiary of the result at Bothwell Castle, but Vishal Marwaha’s charges have first to see off Grove Menzieshill at Auchenhowie. To date, the Western Wildcats have been lethal in front of goal with 27 strikes already in the bag.  While the Taysiders picked up their first win last weekend against Dunfermline Carnegie, it seems unlikely they will be able to stem the flow of goals from Fraser Moran and company, but then again, you never know.

Third placed Watsonians are back in action after missing out last weekend and they entertain a FSEG Clydesdale side that have lost their last two fixtures and not scored a goal into the bargain. They will have to contend with Charlie Jack who has already put together a couple of hat-tricks.

ESM Lions have moved up to fourth in the table, courtesy of three victories out of four outings, albeit the most recent against Hillhead and Grange were only by a single goal.  However, the Lions have made a steady start to the season, only losing out to Edinburgh University in their opening match, and must be favourites to grab another three points against a Kelburne side still trying to adjust to the top flight.

When were Grange last at the foot of the Premiership with no points, rhetorical question perhaps, but that is how it is for the former champions as they try to rebuild. They need to pick up points before the situation becomes serious, so is away to Hillhead the start of the recovery? Having said that, Hillhead are also bereft of a win, although they have secured two draws, and they almost got another share of the points against ESM but fell to a late penalty corner strike from Keegan Russell for his hat-trick.

Inverleith gathered their first win of the season with a 4-3 win over Kelburne and moved out of the bottom rungs, another three points at Dunfermline Carnegie would propel them even further up the table. The Fifers have made a torrid start to their Premiership campaign with no points at all after four outings, although they were perhaps unlucky not to at least share the points at Grove Menzieshill last weekend so maybe the tide is turning.

Even after only two outings Watsonians and Azets Clydesdale Western are out in front, so will that be a continuing trend?

The Premiership champions look to have the more difficult task against Edinburgh University. Despite losing a couple of players this season, Watsonians have started with two crushing wins and Sarah Jamieson seems as sharp as ever. Not good news for the Edinburgh students!

Edinburgh’s start has been a bit indifferent, surrendering eight goals to Clydesdale Western was followed by a 2-0 win over Hillhead, so they have a bit to do if they hope to unseat Watsonians.

In contrast, Clydesdale look to have an easier task away to a Glasgow University side that leaked seven goals to Uddingston last week. However, with the likes of Millie Steiger, Bronwyn Shields and Jenny Eadie in the ranks, and others, then goals will inevitably flow.

So, what of the chasing pack?  Although early doors, it looks like Grange, GHK, Uddingston and St Andrews University could be in the mix and the first two meet in Edinburgh on Saturday. This could be a close encounter; Grange have started with a win and a draw while GHK opened with a win over the Glasgow students but then went down 2-0 to Clydesdale. Both have the potential to make the top six, but Saturday’s winner will certainly get their noses in front, unless there is a share of the points.

Uddingston have also made a promising start and currently sit in third spot, on goal difference courtesy of seven strikes against Glasgow University, Lexi MacMillan was top scorer then. This weekend they travel to Auchenhowie to face Western Wildcats. This season the Cats are somewhat of an unknown quantity, not much information on players coming or going, although they lost heavily to Watsonians in their only outing so far.

So on to St Andrews University, they welcome Hillhead to the home of golf. Draws against Uddingston and Grange demonstrate that the students have promise but it may take coach Jamie Carnegie several weeks yet to establish a winning formula. So, what better time than at home to Hillhead! However, very early indicators would seem to suggest that the Glasgow side, so often relegation candidates in past seasons, might be more of a force this time round.

It is Gordonians turn to be idle in the eleven-team Premiership.

 

Recent posts:

Back to all news
Back to top