New Revolution maintain lead in battle for hockey shield despite defeat against Whalsay

The latest round of indoor hockey matches saw two wins for Whalsay, one of them against leaders New Revolution, along with victories for Zetland and Lobbyless.

Eric Brown Shield

Reckless 2, Zetland 4

Zetland started well, pushing forward through Indiya Bradley and Stacey Gardner linking well. It was always going to be a tough match for Reckless who were a player down and opted to play with no keeper at all.

Against the odds it was Reckless who scored first through a good move by Michael Johnson, who passed through to John Magnus Scollay, who finished clinically.

The lack of goalie for Reckless led to an easy equaliser for Zetland when they were awarded a penalty flick which Dawn Anderson converted. Zetland then drew ahead through a well-placed shot by Stacey.

Zetland pushed on the rest of the half with the Reckless defence of Georgia Laurenson and Scollay doing well to hold them out until Liam Graham found the net with Zetland’s third goal.

Unfortunately for Reckless, Zetland came out all the stronger in the second half and managed to score another quick goal from Nathan Coote.

Reckless forwards Joyce Adamson and Joshua Morrison linked well and this enabled Johnson to slip past the defence skilfully, but unfortunately his shot came back off the post.

Scollay and Morrison then used their speed to cut through the Zetland defence, putting Johnson in on goal and he made no mistake in hammering his shot home.

Players of the match were Michael Johnson for Reckless and Nathan Coote for Zetland.

Whalsay 3, New Revolution 0

This was a fast and furious fixture from the outset, a physical but friendly affair.

Whalsay made their move early through some fantastic play by Zoe Irvine to open the scoring despite some gritty defending by Peter Sharp.

New Revolution were quick to regroup, Kevin Gifford making good passes in to Stacey Laurenson and Bryan Irvine who were unlucky not to convert any chances with George Aberenthy on form in the Whalsay goal. Strong play from Karl Williamson and Josie Jamieson created a short corner opportunity, followed by a penalty flick which was smoothly converted by Josie Jamieson to take Whalsay’s lead to 2-0 by half-time.

The stakes were raised in the second half with New Revolution pressing for short corners. However, Donald Wilmore and Karl Williamson’s fast defensive work kept them at bay.

Whalsay on two ocassions went down to five players but with steely determination adapted their play accordingly. Jamieson rounded off the scoring with a third goal from open play.

Players of the match were  Zoe Irvine for Whalsay and Kevin Gifford for New Revolution.

Lobbyless 11, Reckless 4

The game started off with quick attacks from both sides and it wasn’t long before James Aitken got his first of the night, finishing off a great worked attack.

Brenda Leask and Karen McKelvie showed great attacking skill and found Haydn Thomason who finished well to make it 2-0.

Solid defending from Ashley Burgess and Gwen Malcolmson kept Reckless at bay and allowed Lobbyless to increase their lead to 4-0 through Aitken and Thomason. Reckless fought back and scored through Joshua Morrison.

After the half-time break Lobbyless continued to press, increasing their lead further to 5-1 through Haydn Thomason’s short corner. Kristoffer Thomason displayed some magnificent saves, keeping the game alive. Aitken then got his hat trick through a well-worked counter attack.

Reckless fought back, getting more goals from Morrison. However, Lobbyless showed the determination to win and further added goals through Thomason and Aitken.

Players of the match were Gwen Malcolmson for Lobbyless and Joshua Morrison for Reckless.

Crusaders 0, Whalsay 7

Whalsay made a confident start, dominating most of the possession with Karl Williamson and Josie Jamieson immediately putting pressure on the Crusaders defence.

Crusaders, fielding only five players, coped well, with Kelly Thomson and Rona Simpson making timely interceptions and preventing Whalsay from breaking the deadlock.

Karl Williamson eventually opened the scoring with a terrific finish, after some great link-up play between Maggie Kay Irvine and Donald Wilmore.

Crusaders regrouped well and pushed for an equaliser. Lowrie Simpson and Brett Haining were beginning to trouble the Whalsay defence, but failed to capitalise on their chances, with Maree Simpson defending resolutely and George Abernethy making a couple of point-blank saves from Lowrie Simpson.

As Crusaders pushed forward looking for that all important equaliser Whalsay hit them on the break, making the most of the one player advantage. Wilmore fed the ball to Karl Williamson who made no mistake with another clinical finish.

The second half started with Whalsay making a couple of changes, which saw Zoe Irvine coming on for Jamieson and Simpson moving from defence into attack. Irvine made an immediate impact, scoring two goals in quick succession.

Crusaders worked tirelessly with Darren Thomson pulling off some terrific blocks to thwart the Whalsay attack. Rona Simpson came close from a short corner with one of her trademark flicks, which brought out the best in Whalsay keeper Abernethy.

Strong forward running from Brett Haining almost led to a goal for Crusaders. However, Whalsay substitute Fiona Dally defended well.

Williamson completed his hat trick and Maree Simpson scored a couple of well-taken goals as Whalsay ran out worthy winners with a great all-round team performance.

Players of the match were Karl Williamson for Whalsay and Lowrie Simpson for Crusaders.