Burra put in strong performances in senior hockey league

It was a good week for the Burra senior hockey team, with victories over neighbours Scalloway and Zet­land in the Association Rosebowl league. The other matches saw wins for Spurs, Scalloway and leaders Delting, who narrowly beat bottom-placed Zetland.

Association Rosebowl

Zetland 0, Scalloway 2

Zetland worked tirelessly to prevent Scalloway scoring until halfway through the first half when Nicola Smith managed to break through the defence. Throughout the rest of the half both teams pushed forward with many good runs.

In the second half Zetland’s Stacey Gardner put pressure on the Scalloway defence with her fast and impressive runs up the pitch. However, Zetland could not find a way of breaking through the Scal­loway defence. Disappointingly for Zetland in the second half the duo of Naomi Johnson and Nicola Smith managed to push forward into the Zetland defence and make it 2-0.

Players of the match were Stacey Gardener for Zetland and Nicola Smith for Scalloway.

Scalloway 0, Burra 1

Burra dominated the first 15 minutes and then old rivals Scal­loway had the bulk of the chances, with Hannah Burgess and Mel Inkster both going close.

Burra took the lead when Sarah Young hit the ball from the edge of the circle and it seemed to dribble into the goal.

Scalloway continued to work hard to gain a goal back but Burra’s Karen MacKelvie was doing well on the right wing and Josie Jamieson was a threat in the midfield.

In the second half Scalloway worked tirelessly and were rewarded several penalty corners. From the last short corner, Kate Moncrieff pushed ball across to Kerri Redfern who hit the left post. The ball was deflected to Mel Inkster who also tried shot on goal, but again the Burra defence held strong, and a third attempt by Kate Moncrieff was also blocked.

Players of the match were Kerri Redfern for Scalloway and Karen MacKelvie for Burra.

Delting 1, Zetland 0

Delting were awarded a number of penalty corners in the first half which they failed to convert.

Zetland’s defence held strong until the 27th minute when Julie Kirkness cracked an unstoppable ball past Debi Kane.

Zetland tried to push forward with some good passing between Kara Thompson, Alice Unsworth and Stacey Gardener. The most spectacular moment came when Lorraine Johnson bravely dived to reach the ball on the edge of the goalmouth. However, it was equally matched by diving from Zetland keeper Debi Kane.

The second half saw Delting take the upper hand as they pushed into the Zetland circle, with Michelle Stark, Brenda Leask, Kerry Burgess, Julie Kirkness and Megan Hibbert unlucky to capitalise on the op­portunities.

Julie Kirkness left the field mid­way through and Zetland began to take advantage of the extra space available. Karen Jarvie in goals dealt admirably with a couple of one-on-one situations. Despite sev­eral chances for both teams the score remained 1-0 to Delting.

Players of the match were Stacey Gardener for Zetland and Brenda Leask for Delting.

Spurs 2, Juniors 0

Spurs took on the young Juniors side, playing in their first match since their impressive triumph over Orkney. It was Spurs who settled first, with some steady flowing teamwork. Fiona Shearer and Gayle Johnson were instrumental in midfield – they pressurised the Juniors defence and were awarded a number of short-corners. However, Juniors’ Ava Sim and Rhiannon Inkster commanded the defence well and Jessica Bradley pulled off some great saves.

Spurs were finally rewarded when some good work in midfield led to a through ball to the speedy Kristen Jarmson who swept the ball into the back of the net.

This was closely followed by a fine strike from captain Fiona Shearer.

The second half was much more even with Spurs seeming to lose their shape and Juniors more organised. That led to good end-to-end play but no further goals. Spurs were unlucky on a couple of oc­casions but the on-form Bradley denied any further chances.

Players of the match were Fiona Shearer for Spurs and Jessica Bradley for Juniors.

Burra 2, Zetland 0

Burra started strongly with good passing between Josie Jamieson, Stacey Laurenson and Kristen Robert­son and were rewarded after 18 minutes with a goal from Josie Jamieson.

Burra had some short corners but failed to capitalise due to great saves from Zetland keeper Debi Kane.

Zetland broke through a few times but Burra kept their cool and got back possession. Burra were awarded another short corner near the end of the half and Kane saved four shots one after another and finally cleared the ball from danger.

The second half saw more pressure from Burra, who were unfortunate not to score. Joy Duncan had some great runs up the middle but the Zetland defence were strong.

Burra finally got their second goal in the 34th minute from birthday girl Stacey Laurenson.

Players of the match were Stacey Laurenson for Burra and Debi Kane for Zetland.

Fixtures Monday – Association Rose­bowl: Spurs v Scalloway at 6.30pm (Simon Skinner/Burra rep); Burra v Whalsay at 7.50pm (Simon Skin­ner/Spurs rep).

Thursday – Association Rose­bowl: Scalloway v Spurs at 6.30pm (Jillian Copland/Delting rep); Delting v Burra at 7.50pm (Kerri Redfern/Morag Fox).

The games postponed from 7th May due to the weather will be played on Wednesday 8th July. This will involve Juniors v Zetland (Janice Johnston/Scalloway rep) and Whalsay v Scalloway (Janice Johnston/ Zetland rep).