Senior league leaders drop first points
Leaders Delting lost their first game in senior hockey’s Association Rosebowl league, going down 3-2 to nearest rivals Whalsay. In their other game Whalsay lost to Burra while there were also wins for Juniors and Spurs, both over Scalloway.
Association Rosebowl
Juniors 2, Scalloway 1
The teams both started strongly with end to end play but Scalloway’s attacks were thwarted by good defending from Juniors’ Julie Brown and Rhiannon Inkster.
Juniors continued to push upfield, with Hannah Irvine and Rowan Nicolson denied by Scalloway keeper Christine Georgeson.
The game remained scoreless until 10 minutes from half time when Kerri Redfern scored for Scalloway with a lovely strike.
At half time Zoe Irvine took to the Juniors goal, allowing keeper Jessica Bradley a rare opportunity outfield. Juniors were determined for a goal with Caitlin Holmes and Sarah Groat making good runs up the wing, but the Scalloway defence kept them at bay.
The breakthrough came when Hannah Hunter played a ball into the circle for Jessica Bradley to slot home on her outfield debut.
This spurred the Juniors on and five minutes later Debbie Sneddon passed a nice ball to Margaret Johnston on the right wing who went on an amazing run to set up Megan Jamieson for Juniors’ second.
Scalloway kept fighting but Zoe Irvine made some crucial saves to keep the score at 2-1 to Juniors.
Players of the match were Margaret Johnston with her great runs for Juniors, and the ever-consistent Kerri Redfern for Scalloway.
Whalsay 3, Delting 2
Whalsay extended their winning run of seven games, putting pressure on Delting to win their final two matches of the competition.
Both teams were evenly matched throughout the first half but Whalsay gained the lead through Angelina Jamieson, who calmly swept the ball past the keeper following excellent link-up play by the midfielders. Whalsay continued to pressurise the Delting defence but the first half ended 1-0.
Whalsay started the second half strongly and young Abbey Irvine scored a fantastic goal by slotting the ball through the keeper’s legs after picking it up on the right and bypassing the Delting defence.
Spurred on by this, Whalsay gained another goal by Jamieson who slammed in a rebound from the edge of the circle.
Undeterred by being behind, Delting pushed forward and Whalsay found themselves outnumbered in their defensive circle. Lorraine Johnson scored Delting’s first and they added a second through Linda Gunn during a goalmouth scramble in the final minutes. That led to a nail-biting finish of an extremely close-fought match. Players of the match were Alison Williamson for Whalsay and Megan Hibbert for Delting.
Spurs 4, Scalloway 1
Despite fielding only 10 players Spurs started strongly and pressed for an early goal. Their hard work was soon rewarded when Morag Fox crossed from the right and Sarah Grogan coolly slotted the ball past the Scalloway goalie after 10 minutes.
Scalloway, not disheartened, picked up the pace and Kerri Redfern in central defence controlled the balls out from the back. Sarah Groat created space in midfield for Mhairi Moncrieff and Kate Moncrieff to run on to. Their efforts were thwarted, however, by the strong Spurs defence of Louise Moar, Emma Inkster and Irene Gray.
The next 15 minutes saw both teams creating chances and being awarded penalty corners but no goals resulted.
Spurs then upped the pace once more and Kristen Jeromson worked her wing well, linking well with Fiona Shearer and Grogan.
In the 29th minute a through ball from Jeromson was met by Grogan, whose shot was parried by Christine Georgeson in the Scalloway goal. The rebound was met by Fiona Shearer who lifted the ball over the keeper’s pads.
A minute later Spurs intercepted the Scalloway pass back. A ball to the top of the circle from Grogan was again met by Shearer, who slammed it into the back of the net to make it 3-0 at half time.
The second half was a very different ball game. Spurs were tired and feeling the heat, still only fielding 10 players.
Scalloway pressed on and the vocals of Redfern saw an increased confidence in her side. A Scalloway counter attack saw a listless Spurs team caught upfield. Mel Inkster passed into Angela Milne who connected well, her strike going into the bottom right corner.
Scalloway’s increased confidence put pressure on Spurs but the midfield of Grogan, Shearer and Louise Fraser rallied their team. With five minutes left Emma Inkster passed deep to Shearer, who cleverly passed through the gap to the Scalloway back post. New girl Dawn Manson kept her nerve to slide the ball under the keeper and the final whistle blew moments later.
In a good team performances by both sides, Spurs’ Kristen Jeromson outshone her team mates and Christine Laurenson stood out for Scalloway.
Burra 3, Whalsay 0
“It’s too hot to run. Can we not agree just to walk?” That was the feeling at the beginning of the game.
However, Whalsay had other ideas. They started strongly, putting pressure on Burra, but the defenders held their position well and kept the ball from troubling the keeper.
Burra took control and Josie Jamieson was unlucky not to score as she had some good runs up the wing and a few attempts at goal which were unfortunately off target.
Burra had numerous shots on goal but Shona Moncrieff stayed calm under the constant attack from the Burra forwards to deny the goals they were keen for.
Burra finished 1-0 up at half time with a well-finished goal from Julie Keith.
The second half started quite evenly, but Burra had most of the possession and used the width of the pitch to their advantage. Stacey Laurenson worked hard on the right and fed many balls into the circle as well as having quite a lot of shots herself.
Despite getting a number of short corners Burra failed to capitalise on them as Whalsay’s defenders stood firm.
Tracy Blance got Burra’s second goal with a smile on her face and a skip in her step.
Julie Keith was in the right place at the right time, when the ball was passed into the circle she calmly turned towards the goal, took aim and scored her second of the night.
Marie Simpson for Whalsay was determined not to give up without a fight. After winning the ball in defence she made a number of runs up the wing, passing to the waiting forwards, but Whalsay were again denied by the Burra defence.
Players of the match were Stacey Laurenson for Burra and Shona Moncrieff for Whalsay.
Fixtures Monday – Association Rosebowl: Burra v Delting at 6.30pm (Simon Skinner/Helen Robertson). Shearer Shield: Spurs v Zetland at 7.50pm (Simon Skinner/Delting rep).
Wednesday – Association Rosebowl: Juniors v Zetland at 6.30pm (Janice Johnston/Scalloway rep); Whalsay v Scalloway at 7.50pm (Janice Johnston/Zetland rep).
Thursday – Shearer Shield: Delting v Burra at 6.30pm (Simon Skinner/Scalloway rep); Spurs v Scalloway at 7.50pm (Simon Skinner/Burra rep).
