Watsonians break new ground in Europe

Watsonians Hockey Club are breaking new ground in Europe this weekend, the women will be the first Scottish side to take  part in the EuroHockey League FINAL 12 while the men have their first sojourn into European competition.

Watsonians women have the honour of opening the knock-out programme against Irish side Railway Union – not an easy baptism as the Dublin side lie second in their league.   No margin for error in this winner-take-all environment.

However, win or lose the Scottish champions will take on either SK Slavia Prague from Czechia or Belgian side Gantoise in either the next round or for a ranking match.

So what does Watsonians coach Keith Smith think of the occasion, “I think we`re all excited to be going to hockey`s best club competition, especially because we`re the first Scottish women`s team to play in the EHL.  But we also want to make sure it`s not a one-off, and so we`re aiming to pick up as many ranking points as we can so that we maximise the chances that a Scottish team – hopefully us! – will be there next season too.

“With all our European trips, we`ve had the same three goals; to learn as much as we can, to give the best account of ourselves possible, and to enjoy the experience, and that remains exactly the same this time round.

“Yes, we`re now there alongside the top teams and top players, but we`ve worked hard and performed well over the years to earn that chance.”

There can be no doubting that Watsonians have been Scotland`s top women`s side over the recent years, and although this season is not yet concluded they are not only top of the Premiership but with a perfect record – you can`t get better than that.

Watsonians men make their Euro baptism in Vienna this weekend at the EuroHockey Club Trophy competition.   It will be interesting to see if they can transmit recent domestic success into a positive outcome in Vienna.

On the forthcoming venture Watsonians` Luke Campbell remarked, “Our women’s team have been regulars in European competitions over the last few years, but on the men`s side it`s the first time competing in Europe, and also the first appearance at this level for most of our players, so it`s a proud and exciting moment for all involves.”

Initially Watsonians will play in a four team pool competition against WKS Grunwald Poznan (Poland), hosts SV Arminen (Austria) and finally TJ Plzen-Litice (Czechia) – and that sounds a challenging baptism.

On that Luke had this to say. “There is an element of the unknown about some of our opponents, but clearly there are some very strong teams in the competition and we are aware that every other club has plenty of recent experience in Europe – in contrast to ourselves.

“We just want to represent the club and Scottish Hockey to the best of our ability and see where that takes us.  We are seeded fourth going into it, so anything level or above would be pleasing.  Hopefully the competition will also act as a springboard for us as we return for the final part of our domestic season.”

And Watsonians final finish is important as ranking points gained will Scotland`s placing in next season`s EHL.

After a very successful first part to the season Watsonians form has dipped a little with two draws and a defeat since the restart but they have every chance of making the knock-out stage and another bid for a European place.  However, their send off last weekend was encouraging with a 3-2 win at Uddingston.

And it looks as if they will be taking a full squad. Luke confirmed: “The squad going is the same as in recent league games since the break, everyone is available apart from Craig Falconer through injury, plus long term absentees Drew Dickson-Murray and Matthew Leiper.”

 

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