Sunday, 2nd March : AAM Gordonians V. DWHC 1

Final Score:- AAM Gordonians 2 - 6 Dundee Wanderers

Another great day for the team with a 6 – 2 win over Gordonians.  The day started badly with a no show from one of the umpires delaying the start and Kev Farnan agreeing to stand in.  This would later prove to  be a bad call.

A lively start saw us take the lead in 90 seconds through a great strike at a short corner from Allan Law.  Our passing and running game was again looking good and we were starting to get on top when Kev slipped and dislocated his knee in the 12^th minute.   Down he went squealing like a ....... and the game was then delayed for about 40 minutes whilst the medics morphined him up and they carted him off to hospital.

That might have been a chance for the game to change but the guys kept focus and on 17 mins another corner was saved but Steven Glass latched onto the ball, fired it across goal for Paul Dailly to fire home.  The game was being played at a really high pace and Paul Johnson was called upon to make a diving tackle which he did and with only 3 minutes to half time Craig Polson jumped on a rebound and swept it high into the net.  Half time 3 – 0 and playing well.

Gordonians started the second half well and managed to exert some sustained pressure which led to a good strike getting them back into it in the 42^nd minute.  Again this might have been a turning point before Xmas but we are more than capable of lifting ourselves now, and that we did.  Some good passing and real hard work all over the pitch reversed the pressure and on 57mins a short corner set piece saw Paul Dailly deflect in an Allan Law strike.  Back to a 3 goal advantage and right from the restart we swarmed all over them and with in another minute Bobby Ralph had fired an unstoppable shot past their GK.  5 – 1 and looking good value for it , and on the 65^th minute we iced the cake with a great SCA set piece and Lawser flicked home our 6^th goal.

This game was done as a contest but a sloppy pass let them in for a consolation with a couple of minutes to go.  6 - 2 was a great result against a good Gordonians side and we are now topping the 1B league group.  With the two promoted sides still to play this month we are hoping for another 6 points to stay atop the group and give ourselves a belief that we can compete against Inverleith in the last eight of the cup on the 16^th of this month.

Sadly Kev was kept in hospital and it looks as though he will need an operation.  Some wag did ask if that was to remove his tights. LOL

Final Score:- Dundee Wanderers 3 - 0 Edinburgh HC

DWHC v Edinburgh HC

Another good team performance saw us take our first three points of the season.  This was a particularly sweet victory as they snatched it away from us before Christmas with a couple of late goals.  Playing open passing hockey it only took 8 minutes to get on the score sheet with a sweet move from a short corner seeing Bobby Ralph deflect the ball high into the net.  We were dominant in midfield and their only attacks were a result of their endeavour as opposed to our mistakes.  This is a much needed change in our game and if we keep it that way we should gather plenty more points before the season ends.

Our second goal was an easy walk into the D for Allan Law who hit a fierce shot past a helpless keeper on 20 minutes.  Although we were rarely troubled a reversal of an umpiring decision was required to keep the two goal advantage.  Unusually we are still not firing on all cylinders at short corners but feel we are not far away.  Once we do we will expect a better return than 1 goal from the 18 corners we have had in the last two games.

The second half was much the same with us dominating the game and when Paul Dailly swept a cross high into the net for our third goal we couldn’t help think we were just about to grab another two or three.  It wasn’t to be however CALA held out without really threatening and the game petered out for our first win.  Brief mention to Chase Deans who again was excellent in midfield getting through a huge volume of work and sadly was sent off with a yellow for a completely innocuous tackle late in the game.

Overall our work-rate and energy levels are high and we are playing some great composed hockey. Lets just keep it up.

REARRANGED GAME THIS THURSDAY 6^TH MARCH AGAINST MENZIESHILL, DISC 7PM PASSBACK

POP ALONG AND GIVE YOUR SUPPORT.

 

The first game of the now split league saw the guys up against one of the form sides at Kelvinside. The aim of coach Strachan is to play the type of hockey the top sides play so we can hope to compete with the big boys sooner rather than later. This means a very fast flowing game with the ball passed early at every opportunity.  In turn this means the guys must be exceptionally fit and very focussed throughout.

The starting line up saw young Jack Fullerton make his debut for the first team at left half and he gave an assured performance.  We started well and were soon on top in terms of possession and territory without managing to convert this to a goal advantage. Sure enough if you don’t capitalise when you are on top you can regret it and that is exactly what happened.  Hillhead managed to get down the left wing and a speculative cross was touched off the bottom of an attacking stick to take the lead on 12 minutes.  We didn’t lose focus and were again soon dominant and a series of corners saw us really turning the screw.  On 20 minutes a cross from Steven Glass was met at the far post by Euan Borland who turned it in and we were level.  It was now time to keep this tempo up and forge ahead. We managed this with good performances from the boys in the engine room in particular Chase Deans was working hard to keep their young guns in check.  Another series of corners again underlined our supremacy but 6 corners in the first half without a goal show there is some work to be done there. We were on top however and on 32 minutes Euan again managed to tuck the ball away and we were ahead going into the break.

It had been a decent half and we had shown we have the ability to stick to a plan and come back from adversity and the second half was certainly going to have to be much the same as it was clear they were up for the fight.

We were just as determined and played at a good pace but again no goals for our hard work just some free hits round the D which is another area we need to do more with.  The result of this pressure without outcome was a loss of discipline and we lost 2 players to yellow cards as did Hillhead throughout the second period.  The best chance of the half fell to Craig Polson who pulled it wide and although we were still the better side it was clear we were still coming to terms with the transition from indoor to outdoor.  It looked as though we were going to get the victory we deserved as we had marshalled them quite well with PJ dealing with anything they had to offer.  No sooner had that thought left my head and the subs been called to play the last few minutes as a largely defensive team holding on to the points, did they again bang in a speculative cross which ended up in our net.  This was heavily disputed as our defence don’t think they touched it in the D, but even an umpiring consultation didn’t reverse the decision and we were now sitting all square again.  Galling, as the subs we wanted on to shore it up hadn’t managed to get on yet and now they were we wanted to push for the win in the last 2 minutes. We did this well and won a short corner which ran the clock down so we were about to take the last touches of the game by way of a corner and it was for the win.  It was ripped out well, stopped and moved left to AJ who looked destined to score from about 12 yards but a double touch pulled it wide and that was that.

Overall a point away from home was a decent start to this part of the campaign but we all know it was ours to win and a point left us gutted.  Good performances throughout were encouraging and we showed we were capable to play a high tempo game for 70 minutes. Fitness is the key to this and we showed we are in good shape to do this.  

Next week sees us with two games Edinburgh at home Saturday and Gordonians away on Sunday 3 points are vital but 6 are possible, so bring it on.