Whalsay and New Revolution to contest hockey’s George Robertson Cup final

Whalsay and New Revolution made it through to indoor hockey’s George Robertson Cup final, defeating Lobbyless and Hurricanes respectively in the weekend’s semi-finals. Lobbyless were victorious in the league against Crusaders, who also drew with Hurricanes.

George Robertson Cup
(semi-finals)

Whalsay 4, Lobbyless 1

Both teams started strongly with end-to-end play in the first half. Whalsay took the lead with a well-executed pass from Josie Jamieson, which Karl Williamson struck home.

Lobbyless remained strong with some quick and accurate passes between James Aitken and Haydn Thomason. This led to them equalising before the half-time whistle.

Both teams were keen to get an early goal in the second half, but it was Zoe Irvine who found the back of the net for Whalsay. They continued to put pressure on the Lobbyless defence which resulted in another goal from Irvine.

Lobbyless continued to fight back with some good breaks down the wing. However, Whalsay goalkeeper George Abernethy made some key saves and fought off any danger.

Whalsay widened the gap with a goal from Josie Jamieson who made no mistake in finding the net following a short corner.

Players of the match were George Abernethy for Whalsay and James Aitken for Lobbyless.

New Revolution 5, Hurricanes 1

The second semi-final brought together two giants of the indoor league and on a Valentine’s weekend there was no love lost.

The game started in lively fashion with Hurricanes’ Robert Turnbull and debutant Stevie Michael not letting the New Rev defence have any time to think. Both teams started finding the passes and creating chances and the first went to New Rev from good dangerous play by Gayle Henry, Stacey Laurenson and Emma Gray. They won a short corner which was dispatched by Laurenson to make it 1-0.

The goal seemed to set New Rev on a roll and it was not long till Henry had left the Hurricanes defence for dead and lashed the ball past the helpless Neil Pearson in goals for the second.
Hurricanes found a way back into the game after good play by Turnbull and Michael forced a short corner. Jillian Copland was able to continue her great run of goals from short corners with a flick in to the left hand side of the goal past the on-rushing defence.

New Rev’s Bryan Irvine had arrived at Clickimin by now and it wasn’t long before he had made an impact with a strong run, beating Copland and then ghosting past Redfern to flick the ball past the static Pearson to make it 3-1.

New Rev were able to nick one more before the half-time whistle when Laurenson scored her second of the game.

The second half started with Hurricanes stepping up a gear with midfield magician Michelle Stark finding more time on the ball and feeding the front two of Turnbull and Michael.

However, Turnbull, after scoring four goals in one game last week, must have left his shooting stick at home as he was finding very little luck in front of goal with Kate Moncrieff really having him in her back pocket most of the game.

Michael did manage to break free on occasion but wasn’t able to find a way past the on-form Jessica Bradley. New Rev were able to add one more goal to the tally with a good team move and good finish from Irvine for his second.

Players of the match were Kate Moncrieff for New Rev and Jillian Copland for Hurricanes.

Eric Brown Shield

Lobbyless 9, Crusaders 4

The game started with fast play from both teams, both eager to open the scoring. With new goalkeeper Gwen Malcolmson, the Crusaders struggled to find the net as they piled on the attacks.

Lobbyless opened the scoring with a quick pass from defence by Haydn Thomason who found James Aitken in the box, who controlled well to finish for the opener.

Crusaders quickly got one back through Rona Simpson, her brother Lowrie providing the assist.

The Lobbyless attack then got three more goals in quick succession, all by Aitken, getting his fourth of the night with some superb shooting.

With Crusaders heating up and giving away two short corners, Haydn Thomason managed to find the back of the net both times to finish well with powerful shots. The half-time whistle blew with the score 6-1 to Lobbyless.

The second half started much the same as the first with Lobbyless on the back foot and the Crusaders attack too much to handle. They fought back, getting two goals through hitman Lowrie Simpson with great teamwork from Gail Johnson and Lewis Kay.

However, Lobbyless answered back quickly and great attacking play from Brenda Leask and Kristoffer Thomason found James Aitken twice, getting his sixth of the game.

As the game was approaching the end Rona Simpson fired one home for the Crusaders.

With the final whistle looming, Haydn Thomason sealed the win with another short corner, making the final score 9-4.

Players of the match were Rona Simpson for Crusaders and Haydn Thomason for Lobbyless

Hurricanes 2, Crusaders 2

Both keepers were called into action early on but proved more than a capable of keeping this a tight encounter. It was Crusaders who found an opening first with Lowrie Simpson slotting home to make it 1-0.

This spurred Hurricanes into action and Michelle Stark played a fine ball to Stevie Michael on the wing. His neat pass found Jillian Copland who drove the ball across the box for Robert Turnbull to apply the finish through the legs of Darren Thomson.

The second half started with the same end-to-end action and Hurricanes were caught napping after their own short corner resulted in Lowrie Simpson getting clean through. He appeared to play the ball with his feet but no whistle sounded and he managed to beat on-rushing keeper Neil Pearson.

In a real show of character Hurricanes took the decision in their stride and good play from the back saw Andrea Tait play in Kerri Redfern who found Jillian Copland on the edge of the box. She unleashed the fury and her shot came off the keeper to nestle in the top corner for 2-2, Copland showing her finesse in the danger area.

The last action of the game was a short corner to Crusaders. It was struck well and destined for the back of the net but Michael added to a great home debut by putting himself in the firing line and taking a sore one in the face.

Players of the match were Stevie Michael for Hurricanes, going above and beyond the call of duty, and Lowrie Simpson for Crusaders for bossing his front line.