Spurs maintain unbeaten record in senior hockey league

Spurs maintained their unbeaten record in senior hockey’s Association Rosebowl league with a single-goal win over Juniors, while Burra, Delting and Juniors picked up victories.

Association Rosebowl

Spurs 1, Juniors 0

Both teams started well, eager to score early, but play was congested in the midfield. Spurs settled into their quick-passing game and began to press forward. Many a run up the right wing by Morag Fox and Karen MacKay were thwarted by Abby Irvine and Debbi Sneddon in the Juniors defence.

Juniors, on the counter-attack, were always looking for sister act Zoe and Karis Irvine. However, they were tightly marked and closed down by Lara Thomason and Fiona Shearer, resulting in no scoring opportunities.

Spurs used their width thereafter, seeing Sarah Grogan and Kristen Jeromson come into play. Grogan’s surging runs caused all sorts of problems for the Juniors defence, with Thomason clipping the post twice.  Shearer and Ava Sim were connecting well on the wings for Spurs while Gayle Johnson made lots of driving runs out of defence, ably supported by MacKay. A series of short corners were awarded but Jessica Bradley in goal for Juniors made many crucial saves.

After the break Spurs, keen to keep a clean-sheet throughout the competition, attacked from the outset. They were unlucky not to score when an Emma Gray strike rebounded to the feet of the prowling Shearer whose shot went wide of the post.

From here on in it appeared one-way traffic, with Spurs attacking well. Again Grogan made some telling runs, splitting the Juniors defence. Pick-ups from Gray and Gayle Henry were met by the agility of Bradley in goal to deny them.

Juniors continued to fight but they were halted by the strong Spurs defence of Johnson, Sim and Susan Morrison. Andrea Tait in the Spurs goal was commanding the area well, and they were never really under threat.

As the clock ran down it looked as though the game would end level. However, Spurs persevered and their patience was soon rewarded. A sideline ball was driven forward by Gayle Henry and met in the penalty area by Emma Gray. The deadlock was broken and the Spurs forward line sighed a sign of relief with five minutes left.

Gayle Johnson picked up the honours for best Spurs player while Debbi Sneddon played a great game in the Juniors defence to hold the Spurs strikers at bay.

Burra 3, Zetland 1

Burra were immediately on the attack and Shona Keith was unfortunate not to score in the 13th minute, her great strike hitting the post and then being cleared by Louise Kok in the Burra defence.

Burra’s first goal came from Joyce Adamson. The ball was played into the air by a Zetland defender and Adamson calmly steered it into the back of the net.

The second came from Josie Jamieson gaining possession of the ball and with a determined gleam in her eye she dribbled down the pitch past several Zetland players. Debie Kane in the Zetland goal came out but Jamieson coolly slotted the ball past her.

Burra’s third and final goal came from a short corner. The ball was played at the top of the circle to Jamieson who passed to Kristan Robertson and she beautifully struck it in the back of the goal.

Burra were quite in control in the first half with some wonderful passing play, putting the Zetland defence under pressure, but Lisa Johnson and Dawn Anderson made sure this did not result in any further goals.

Zetland started well in the second half, putting a lot of pressure on the Burra defence and in the 17th minute were awarded a short corner. The ball was struck well into the circle, a deflection resulting in a great ball in from Indiya Bradley.

Stacey Gardner found herself free on the wing and played some good balls into the circle but the Burra defence stood strong and cleared the ball away from the danger area.

Both teams seemed to pick up the pace and the game became quite frantic. Robertson seemed hungry for another goal and was not keen to give up the ball. A few corners were awarded to Burra but Zetland defended well.

Andrea Henderson (Burra) and Debie Kane (Zetland) both played well in goals and their contribution stopped the goal tally from being any higher.

Player of the match for Zetland was Dawn Anderson for her great defending and pushing her team up in midfield. Burra’s player of the match was Josie Jamieson for her superb play and determination.

Juniors 2, Scalloway 0

No report was received

Whalsay 1, Delting 5

Whalsay started confidently with only 10 players fielded for Delting. As they settled, good driving play up by Maggie Kay Irvine to the forward line was consistently met by good defence blocks from Brenda Leask and Jillian Copland.

Whalsay had a good period of possession in the first half but were unable to convert any chances, and Delting keeper Karen Jarvie made some key clearances to keep the score blank.
Against the run of play it was Delting who opened the scoring with a perfectly-executed short corner taken by Jill Hibbert.

In the second half Delting took the lion’s share of the possession and within 10 minutes Jill Hibbert had squeezed in another short corner and goal from open play to give her a well deserved hat trick.

Wounded but not out, Whalsay rallied and pursued another counter attack. Good runs were made by Maree Simpson and Victoria Duthie into the forwards and Alison Williamson who managed to break through Delting’s defensive wall to take the score to 3-1.

Working tirelessly, Maggie Kay Irvine continued to do battle with Brenda Leask to break into the circle and Whalsay missed out on several short corners given.

With the Delting spirits lifted, Megan Hibbert was next to score as the Whalsay defence were unable to clear the ball.

In the dying moments Jill Hibbert found the back of the net again to make the final score 5-1 to Delting.

Player of the match was Delting’s Jill Hibbert for her excellent positioning, strike rate and vocal support, while for Whalsay Maggie Kay Irvine showed continued determination in midfield.