Blairgowrie Junior Hockey Club win their section at Edinburgh tournament

Jun 14 2012 by Clare Damodaran, Blairgowrie Adv

BLAIRGOWRIE Junior Hockey Club won their section in a tournament in Edinburgh last week, making them one of the top five junior teams in Scotland.

The team earned their place in the tournament having qualified through two regional heats in recent weeks.

The first match was forfeited by the opposition, as they turned up late. The second match was against Duloch Primary from Dunfermline. The team took time to settle and were slow onto the ball and were fortunate that Lewis Hall was able to dribble through the opposition to score the only goal in the match.

After a lunch break the team showed more form against Gullane Primary from East Lothian, who were good at passing the ball around the pitch. Blair scored an early goal but let the opposition equalise after the ball was passed up the field and Blair was slow to tackle back. It looked as if the result was going to be a draw but just before the whistle, Lewis Hall took the ball up the pitch and Euan Rutherford pushed the ball into the goal.

The next game saw Blairgowrie get into their stride and they started to pass the ball around the pitch with Callum Dow, Luke Cunningham and Robbie Alexander dribbling up the wing and passing the ball across the goal for Katy Alexander, Emma Forrest, Euan Rutherford and Lewis Hall (3) all to score and win the match 6-1.

Blair stayed on the pitch to play Paradykes from Midlothian and continued in the same attacking way. They scored the first goal, and kept pressing the opposition goal. They had two goals disallowed and Paradykes, who were also unbeaten, moved the ball up the pitch and scored the equaliser. From another attack by Paradykes the ball was sent over the back line close to the goal and from the hit out a long ball was sent up the pitch to a waiting Katy Alexander who dribbled the ball round the defence and scored an excellent goal.

The last match was against Riverside 2 from Stirling. The Blair team was in full flight, the ball was consistently in the opposition shooting area and all players were keen to score a goal. Fraser Morrison who had been playing in defence for a number of games moved forward and received a good cross from the right wing and was delighted to put the ball in the goal. Rebecca Humble playing midfield stuck to the defensive role and didn't allow the ball past the centre line and she passed the ball back into the shooting area and Euan Rutherford was ready to put the ball back into the goal. The final score was 4-0 to Blairgowrie.

Coach Susan Whiteford said: “The team played very well and won all their matches to win the section. We are delighted with this result which makes Blair one of the top five junior teams in Scotland.”