Senior Shetland hockey inter-county squad chosen

The following squad has been selected to represent Shetland in the forthcoming senior inter-county hockey match against Orkney: Jill Hibbert, Maree Simpson, Toni Sidgwick, Gayle Johnson, Fiona Shearer, Maggie Irvine, Michelle Stark, Brenda Leask, Zoe Irvine, Rhiannon Inkster, Ava Sim, Josie Jamieson, Kristen Jarmson, Kirstan Robertson, Stacey Laurenson and Karen MacKelvie.

Meanwhile Delting suffered a double setback in the senior Association Rosebowl competition, drawing twice with Burra, but they still lead the table.

Spurs defeated Scalloway to move level with Whalsay in second place. Meanwhile Spurs made a good start in the Shearer Shield with a comfortable win over Zetland.

Association Rosebowl

Scalloway 0, Spurs 1
Scalloway were determined to put their defeat behind them from their last meeting against Spurs and were awarded the first pass back of the game as Spurs opted to play with the sun behind them.

Scalloway were soon on the attack with great play from Sarah Groat and Michaela Johnson, linking up well in midfield and feeding passes to the forwards. However, they were denied any shots on goal by the Spurs defence of Rona Simpson, Louise Moar and Irene Gray.

Play continued to be very even throughout the first half and then Spurs made a break through Kristen Jeromson. She had a great run upfield into the Scalloway defence which allowed Sarah Grogan to open the scoring.

Scalloway’s Christine Georgeson made some great saves in goal and her side never gave up. The remainder of the half saw some great play from both teams before the whistle went for half time.

The second half saw Scalloway’s Nicola Smith producing some good runs down the wing and linking up well with Mhari Moncrieff. Scalloway were eager to equalise and were awarded a penalty corner which narrowly missed the goal.

Spurs were soon on the counter attack with good passing between Fiona Shearer in midfield through to Sarah Grogan and Emma Inkster but were denied another goal by the strong Scalloway defence.

The game continued evenly with both teams producing end-to-end play, using the whole width of the pitch, but the second half remained scoreless before the final whistle went.

Players of the match were Scalloway’s Nicola Smith and Spurs’ Kristen Jeromson.

Delting 1, Burra 1
Delting were the first to break and attempt a shot on goal which resulted in the first short corner. Burra quickly settled and dealt well with the early pressure.

Delting continued to attack, getting another two corners, but unfortunately their attempts on goal were saved well by Jessica Bradley in the Burra goal.

Jill Hibbert was unlucky not to score when she struck a beautiful hit.  Her efforts came to a short end when she unfortunately had to be taken off the pitch having sustained a blow to the face. The first half finished in deadlock at 0-0.

The second half started in the same way as the first with lots of good play from both teams. Josie Jamieson, Kristen Robertson and Stacey Laurenson made some great runs and Burra were a constant threat. However. a solid Delting defence managed to keep them at bay until a lovely pass to Laurenson saw her score the first goal.

Delting were determined to stay in the game and linked well through Brenda Leask, Julie Kirkness, Linda Gunn and Michelle Stark. Their efforts finally paid off when Kirkness fired the ball into the back of the Burra net.

Both teams continued to battle and Delting keeper Toni Sidgwick was forced to make some excellent saves.  Brenda leask was unlucky not to score in the closing minutes and the game finished with a very fair draw.

Players of the match were Toni Sidgwick for Delting and Josie Jamieson for Burra.

Burra 2, Delting 2
Burra started the stronger side, putting pressure on the Delting defence. Good clearances from Delting’s Lauren Peterson and Rhiannon Inkster made the Burra strikers work hard.

Josie Jamison made an excellent solo run up the pitch to open the scoring for Burra. Karen MacKelvie and Kristan Robertson continued to apply pressure with great switching across the pitch which led to a super strike from Stacey Laurenson for number two.

Delting fought back with brilliant play from midfielder Brenda Leask, which led to a goal from Linda Gunn minutes before half time.

Delting came into the second half determined to score and some promising Julie Kirkness put the Burra defence under pressure. Burra keeper Mary Allan had her first game in goals and made some good saves, but Jill Hibbert managed to neatly slot a loose ball into the goal to equalise.

Players of the match were Karen McKelvie for Burra and Ellie Burt for Delting.

Shearer Shield

Spurs 4, Zetland 0
Spurs won the toss and elected to take the first pass back. Both teams took time to settle, and adjust to new and returning players.

Spurs broke the deadlock after 10 minutes. A good one-touch-pass manoeuvre from Ava Sim, through to Sarah Grogan on the left, saw the ball slammed to the top of the circle. The ball was met by Rona Simpson who calmly flicked the ball beyond the reach of the Zetland keeper.

At this stage Zetland introduced Helen Robertson and she regrouped her team. That boosted their confidence. Aimee Keith, Stacey Gardener and Kara Thomson all made threatening runs. However, they were thwarted by the eager Spurs defence of Sim, Louise Moar and Irene Gray.

A quick counter-attack by Spurs saw a good through ball by Emma Inkster at centre midfield find Simpson. Her strike at goal was saved by Debi Kane, the deflection falling into the path of Karen MacKay, who pounced to knock the ball into the net.

A good period of end-to-end play resumed, with Kane saving from the Spurs front line on many occasions. At the other end Elaine Smith was called upon to make a fine save from the ever-threatening speed of Stacey Gardner.
Spurs scored their third in 25 minutes after Fiona Shearer played a well-timed first-touch pass into MacKay, who tonked the ball low past the goalie’s pads.

Spurs dominated the second half but were unlucky on a number of occasions not to convert their strikes into goals. Grogan’s effort rebounded off the post and Shearer’s strike was just wide, while Lisa Johnson at the heart of Zetland’s defence worked tirelessly, ensuring all the Spurs attackers were marked.

Another counter attack saw Spurs awarded a free pass on the edge of the Zetland 25-yard line. Inkster squared to Simpson, who cleverly found MacKay again, and she deservedly gained her hat trick.

As the clock ran down Spurs were again awarded a series of penalty corners and were unlucky not to capitalise on their chances. Gayle Johnson’s effort looked goalbound, before being cleared off the line by the diving Kane. In the dying minutes Kane made some tremendous saves to deny both Grogan and MacKay, with Suzanne Manson saving off her own goal line.

An all-round good team effort by Spurs saw Fiona Shearer edge out her team mates for player of the match. Lisa Johnson claimed the honours for Zetland for her dogged defending and organisational skills.