Women’s Scottish, District Cup & Plate Finals Round-Up

Glasgow National Hockey Centre was the setting for another dramatic day of hockey as the winners of the Women’s Scottish, District Cup & Plate competitions were determined.

We round up the day’s action below.

(All photography, Duncan Gray)

Scottish Cup

A four-goal haul for Edinburgh University’s Sam Judge was the star showing as the students defeated Grove Menzieshill to win the Scottish Cup.

A number of early chances fell to Edinburgh University in the opening stages, including opportunities for Maisie Morris and Amy Brodie, but the capital outfit were unable to register the opening goal.

Indeed, it was Grove Menzieshill who thought they had drawn first blood after Sophie Pettegree appeared to deflect Jude McMullen’s long-range pass into the net. However, the umpires disallowed the goal, judging that the ball had not been touched by the attacker on the way into the net.

To compound matters for the Taysiders, they found themselves behind sixty seconds later, University’s player-coach Sam Judge collecting the ball in the circle to rifle the ball past goalkeeper Cath Rae.

The former Scotland international striker rubbed more salt in Dundonian wounds shortly after, bagging a second goal with another clinical strike to put her side 2-0 to the good.

Nevetheless, Grove Menzieshill responded four minutes before the half-time interval, Louise Carroll scoring direct from a penalty corner to reduce the losing margin to a single goal, which is how the two teams finished the half.

A superb Karin Belch goal put the two teams back on parity in the 48th minute, her brilliant reverse stick shot beating University goalkeeper Nicki Cochrane at the near post.

However, with nine minutes to go, Judge delivered a hammer blow to the Dundee side’s chances, engineering herself into position on the left of the circle to execute a pin-point effort into the far corner and collect her hat-trick.

Four minutes later, Judge capped off a remarkable individual performance, netting her fourth goal from close range to seal a Scottish Cup and League double for Edinburgh University.

Scottish Plate

Bromac Kelburne Ladies fought off a spirited Dundee University side to clinch the Scottish Plate with a 3-1 win.

Scotland youth international Lexi Sabatelli put Kelburne one-up in the 12th minute of the match, smartly cracking the ball past University shot-stopper Rachel Coupland.

University hit back four minutes later though, captain Rebecca Blundell finding space in the circle to whip the ball into the net.

With less than a minute left until the half-time interval, a neat penalty corner set-play from Kelburne led to Laura Carlton scoring her side’s second goal, giving them a narrow advantage at the break.

Two minutes after the re-start, Sabatelli notched her second goal of the contest, cracking another shot past Coupland to make it 3-1.

During the remainder of the half, Kelburne had a number of opportunities to extend their lead further, but a combination of narrow misses and a dogged University defence denied them more goals.

But Sabatelli and Carlton’s goals were enough to ensure a winning outcome at the final whistle, resulting in another competition win for the club this weekend.

District Cup

Milne Craig Clydesdale Western IV won the District Cup with a 5-2 win over Orkney.

Orkney took the lead early in the match, Ruth Clark finding space in the circle to fire the ball past ‘Dale’s goalkeeper Shona Jessiman in the sixth minute.

And that’s how it stayed until half-time, although both sides had chances to trouble the scorers in what was a closely contested first period.

The Glasgow side started the second period in a stronger fashion, and they were rewarded for their efforts with two goals early in the half.

Ann Menzies was well placed to divert the ball into the net from close range in the 37th minute, before Margery Justice put Clydesdale Western in front for the first time with a penalty corner strike to make it 2-1 in the 42nd minute.

Six minutes later, Sharon Duncan put daylight between the two sides, slotting home Ellen Murray’s cross to increase Clydesdale Western’s lead to 3-1.

Orkney pulled themselves back into the match in the 54th minute when Charlotte Thomson reduced the lead to one goal, only for Margery Justice to demonstrate her prowess from the penalty corner again shortly after, dispatching the ball into the left corner and restoring the two goal cushion.

Eight minutes from full-time, Jessica Boyle demonstrated her composure to put her side 5-2 up, sweetly striking the ball from the right of the goal past Orkney ‘keeper Lynn Cursiter and round off the scoring.

District Plate

East Kilbride were the winners of the District Plate, triumphing 3-0 in a penalty shoot-out after the two sides finished the match level at 2-2.

East Kilbride can consider themselves unlucky not to have broken the deadlock in a goalless first half, a combination of near misses and key saves from University ‘keeper Chloe Devlin denying the West District side.

The game’s first goal came with the run of play, East Kilbride’s Rachel Whittle finishing off from close range in the 45th minute to edge her side in front.

Whittle’s second goal in the 53rd minute was a glorious piece of artistry; embarking on a solo run from the mid-point of the opposition’s half, evading the attentions of two defenders with close control, to eventually slip the ball past the on-coming Devlin from a few yards out. A superb effort.

Nevertheless, the students fought their way back into the contest four minutes later, Celia Powell knocking the ball into the right corner of the goal to reduce the deficit to one goal.

Earlier missed chances came back to haunt East Kilbride three minutes from full-time when University’s Kirsty Forgie scored direct from a penalty corner strike to secure her side a vital equaliser and take the match to penalties.

East Kilbride held their nerve in the subsequent penalty shoot-out, scoring three of their four penalties, while University were unable to register from any of their attempts.

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