Southern ladies finish well as Reivers try double student raid

Glasgow University 1sts 3

Sunday saw a depleted Fjordhus Reivers 1s squad travel to Glasgow to face a strong University side, in their second game of the weekend.

The game started off at a ferocious pace, with Fjordhus Reivers creating lots of early pressure and breaks.

However, the attacks were thwarted by some excellent goalkeeping.

As the game settled, the students became more dominant but the Reivers’ defence remained strong.

With 10 minutes until the half-time whistle, Glasgow managed to find the net.

The second half started off at a similar pace but, again despite many opportunities, Fjordhus were unable to find the net and convert a number of short corners. The students, on the other hand, were able to convert a short corner to take their lead to 2-0.

Again, play went from end to end, with Reivers fighting with determination and unlucky not to score from a fantastic cross by Sara Robson.

But, once more, the students were just able to scramble the ball over the goal line to take the final score to 3-0.

Despite the result, Reivers had great team performance and could take a lot of positives into this weekend’s fixtures.

Fjordhus Reivers 1sts........2

Aberdeen University..........1

The previous day, Reivers and Aberdeen University were greeted by a strong north westerly wind blowing across the pitch, which made for testing conditions although did not detract from a skilful and entertaining game, despite Aberdeen’s journey to Tweedebank being delayed.

Reivers made the perfect start, with Sara Robson finishing off good build-up play for the opening goal after three minutes.

Reivers completely dominated the first half, with Aberdeen visits to their opposition’s half rare and no shots on goal recorded. Despite this, Reivers found a second goal elusive, with a number of opportunities from open play and short corners wasted, leaving the single goal separating the sides at half time.

The second half continued in the same vein, with Reivers again producing good openings from sharp passing by Megan Campbell and Holly Shephard in particular, but finding Aberdeen’s defence hard to break down. Midway through the half, Aberdeen levelled with their first real opportunity.

Reivers responded with a further period of pressure with a couple of goal mouth scrambles going unconverted. Persistence eventually paid off, with Sara Robson scoring her second. In the final minutes, Aberdeen almost salvaged a draw, with a brave last-ditch tackle by Emma Pate saving the day. More Reivers action on page 64.

Inter District Tournament

The South U18 hockey squad travelled to Glasgow National Hockey Centre recently for the annual Inter-District Tournament. After eight weeks of training together, the team was ready to compete against five teams from across the country.

The first match was against East and, after a strong start, the South girls were very much in control and putting the East defence under pressure.

Lucy Murray (Kelso HS) and Aimee Martin (captain, Kelso HS) produced some ferocious hockey up the left wing. During the second half, South were unable to take advantage of any penalty corners. Towards the end of the game, a small glitch in concentration resulted in East converting a penalty corner to win 1-0.

South went on to the pitch with big intentions for the second game against West. Maris Cawthorn (Aberdeen University), Jenny Sharp (former Hawick HS), Emma Grieve (Hawick HS), Julia Corcoran (Galashiels Academy), Dani Walker (Galashiels Academy) and Amy Inglis (Earlston High School) worked tirelessly throughout both halves to prevent West scoring any goals. South played some superb hockey and, eventually, Caitlin Wright (Selkirk High School) scored the winning goal.

Sunday saw three more fixtures, against North, Midland and South-West. Despite some heavy rain and some sore bodies from the day before, the South girls produced some incredible hockey to steal victory from North (2-0) and South-West (2-1). Goals were scored by Lucy Murray and Chloe Richardson (Earlston High School).

The Midland game was exceptionally competitive, with the unbeaten Midland squad made up of a lot of individual talent. The South girls created opportunities but were unable to convert any of this pressure to goals. The Midland players gradually broke down the South’s defence to win 3-0 and went on to win the tournament.

As a result of some outstanding individual and team performances, South U18s finished third behind East on goal difference.

The South U16 squad was also taking part, in a section with East, Midlands and Highland.

The first game was against East and the South girls started well, with half time score 1-1. The goal was scored by vice-captain Chloe Aitchison. East applied more pressure in the second half and won 3-1.

The next match, against Midlands, was very close. A South goal from a penalty corner was disallowed and it finished 0-0. Against a young Highland team, South played some very good hockey and ran out 7-0 winners. Scorers were Chloe Aitchison (4), Molly Morris, Beth Logan and Hannah McNair.

Day two saw the play off matches, with South playing for fifth to eighth place. They faced North in their first match and started strongly, scoring through Chloe Aitchison. North equalised just before half time but South’s winner came after some great play by Olivia Hogg down the right and was finished by captain Holly Shepherd with four seconds to go.

The final match was against a hybrid West/East and Midlands team. South ran out comfortable 3-0 winners, through goals by Hannah McNair (2) and Molly Morris, which helped South finish fifth. The squad was coached by Ashley and Sara Robson, and managed by Sarah Knox and Mary Weir.