Western Wildcats men head to Hamburg for EHL

Scottish men’s champions Western Wildcats enter the lion`s den when they make their debut at the prestigious EuroHockey League this weekend in Hamburg.

The Scots take on the host club Harvestehuder on their own patch in front of a big crowd of vociferous supporters in the opening round of competition on Saturday.

The challenges keep coming for the weekend, should Western triumph, they will face the winner of the all-Spanish tie of Real Club de Polo or Club Egara on Sunday.

Western coach Vishal Marwaha has a positive approach to the occasion. He said:

“Yes, it’s a fantastic draw, playing the host club on the Saturday night. An amazing reward for our efforts last season. We are very much the underdogs in both games and are not expected to win in either. I think we go there with the attitude to try and make things difficult for the opposition and be competitive.”

The EHL is a competition for Europe`s elite clubs, many are extremely wealthy and the players are professional. However, Vishal is aware of the challenge.

He said:

“The EHL is a step up for us, and we only have two players who have played in the event before. For the majority last year was their first taste of outdoor European Club Hockey at any level. In saying that we do have a number of senior and U21 internationals who will be able to help and support the other lads. We know everyone will need to perform and be at the top of their game to get a positive result. Everyone is really looking forward to the event and playing against such high class clubs.”

Being so early in the season, full preparation for this tournament has not been easy as Vishal outlined. He explained:

“It’s not been a great pre-season for us. A bit more disjointed than normal. With both the seniors and U21 internationals having such a long summer it was very late before we could come together as a squad. We have two new players integrating into the squad and four who left from last season in addition to having a number of injuries to key players in the build-up. This however has allowed other players to step up and fringe players to come in and stake a claim.”

onetheless, Western have returned to the top of the Premiership with three straight wins.

Vishal will travel to Hamburg with the benefit of a full squad now that Hamish Galt, who broke a bone in his wrist a couple of weeks ago, has passed a fitness test and will travel.

 

There are two outstanding games in the Premiership on Saturday, in the women`s league Hillhead are at home to newly promoted Inverleith. A win for Hillhead would consolidate their position in the top six, after losing by a single goal to Clydesdale Western on the opening day, the Glasgow side opened their account with a 3-0 win at Dundee Wanderers.

In contrast, Inverleith have only played one game in the top flight, losing 3-1 to Wildcats, so captain Eilidh Thomson will out to earn their first points.

In the men`s competition Dunfermline Carnegie entertain a Monarchs side that have lost their two opening Premiership games against Kelburne and Clydesdale. A win for the Fifers would push them into the top six over Watsonians on goal difference.

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