Whalsay’s hockey players win Grutness Shield and Town Hall Sevens

Whalsay’s senior hockey team enjoyed a double success over the past week, securing the Grutness Shield despite losing their last game and also winning the Town Hall Sevens Shield.

Grutness Shield

Whalsay 2, Delting 4

Whalsay took to the field ready to defend their unbeaten record for the season and the Delting players were ready to pile the pressure on to take a first victory from the Bonnie Isle.

With a cameo appearance from stalwart Jill Hibbert, Delting were quick to capitalise on the high positioning of their forwards and Hibbert linked well to pass on to Kerry Burgess to take the lead within the first eight minutes.

Whalsay managed to find their feet and took most of the possession over the following quarter, and were denied several chances in the goalmouth with good defending from Jillian Copland and goalie Toni Sidgwick for Delting.

After sustained pressure from Whalsay forwards Deborah Mowat and Angelina Jamieson, it was Victoria Duthie who sealed the equaliser with an unstoppable lifted strike into the goal.

Brenda Leask quickly rallied in midfield for Delting and worked up play well between her team mates. They forced a short corner which resulted in a beautifully-executed strike into the bottom corner by Jill Hibbert. Defending on the post, returning player Fiona Dally had no chance in assisting the keeper to stop the fast strike.

With Delting now on a roll, within the next three minutes it was Lorraine Johnson’s turn to make a good run up the wing. From a very tight angle she managed to sneak the ball past the Whalsay keeper to take the score to 3-1 by half time to Delting.

In the second half Whalsay’s bad luck was set to continue in the opening minutes. A poor pass out from defence was quickly pounced on by Donna Murray and converted to take Delting’s lead to 4-1.

For most of the remainder of the second half Whalsay pulled up their socks – in the rain now – and Maggie Kay Irvine ran tirelessly in midfield to try and pull back on Delting’s strong first-half performance and deserved lead.

Several good runs were made by Whalsay up the wings but some golden opportunities were missed or blocked by Sidgwick.

In the final minute Whalsay managed to secure another short corner which was converted by a lovely strike from defender Dianne Shearer to take the final score to 4-2.

Players of the match were Jill Hibbert for Delting and Maggie Kay Irvine for Whalsay.

Scalloway 0, Burra 6

The home side found themselves short with only nine players able to make this fixture. However, that did not deter the brave Scalloway team.

The game started brightly with both teams playing some very attacking hockey. Scalloway did have to defend well and Michaela Johnson, Mel Inkster and Naomi Johnson were working their socks off at the back to keep the Burra forwards at bay.

When Scalloway could break, Mhari Moncrieff was having great success down the left wing, beating players and feeding the ball in to the young forward line of Karis Irvine and Rheo Laurenson, who were unlucky not to hit the net. Then just before half-time Burra got in front when Stacey Laurenson’s dangerously-struck ball found the target.

In the second half Burra’s confidence lifted after scoring, which led to Laurenson grabbing her second within the first few minutes. This was followed by Kristan Robertson scoring another and Laurenson, on form once again, completing her hat trick.

Scalloway continued to keep some pressure on the other side but this was not enough to stop Burra from adding to their lead when Vicky Anderson scored two goals, one of which was a snap shot before the final whistle.

Players of the match were Michaela Johnson for Scalloway and Kristan Robertson for Burra.

Town Hall Sevens Shield

Six teams turned out at Brae last Thursday to compete for the annual Town Hall Sevens competition. The games were seven-a-side, full pitch and 15 minutes long.

The first two matches saw Whalsay defeat Scalloway 1-0 with a goal from Maree Simpson, while Juniors won 2-0 on penalties against Zetland after a 0-0 draw, goals being scored by Ashley Burgess and Lynsey Morrison.

In the first semi-final penalties were again necessary to separate Spurs and Burra after the game finished goal-less. Gayle Johnson and Rona Simpson were successful for Spurs with Karen MacKelvie scoring for Burra.

The second semi-final saw Whalsay beat Juniors 3-0 with goals from Deborah Mowat, Angelina Sandison and Nicola Duthie.

The final between Whalsay and Spurs saw a hard-fought first half, a lot of quick passing keeping the pace up throughout. There were chances for both sides but just before the break Whalsay’s Deborah Mowat pounced on her chance to break the deadlock.

Spurs and their new recruits regrouped at half time, determined not to give up. The quick pace continued in the second half  but calm defending from both Emma Inkster of Spurs and Diane Shearer of Whalsay swept away any chance of another goal.

Shetland Ladies Hockey Association chairwomen Gayle Johnson and Rona Simpson presented the Town Hall Sevens Shield to Whalsay captain Emily Henderson and also thanked umpires for the night Janice Johnston and Jillian Copland.