Zetland and Whalsay share points in hockey shield match

Zetland and Whalsay fought out a draw senior hockey’s Shearer Shield competition while Burra defeated Spurs.

Shearer Shield

Zetland 2, Whalsay 2

Zetland made a very positive start and had the Whalsay defence under pressure from the outset. Shona Moncrieff in the Whalsay goal made a fine save to keep the score level after only one minute.

Zetland remained determined and the signs were good for the young side. Some great midfield passing between Eildhl Coull, Erica Mikolajczak and Hannah Irvine created Zetland’s second chance. A through ball from Mikolajczak put Unsworth in a great position and she smashed the ball into the bottom right corner past an outstretched Moncrieff.

Whalsay, determined and organised as ever, rallied and Zoe Irvine fought hard to find her forwards but was continually closed down by Mikolajcak and Helen Robertson. The forward line of Grant, Gardner and Unsworth continued to pressure the Whalsay defence and won a short corner. A quick pass from Robertson to Abbey Irvine put her in space to rocket her shot through the Whalsay defence putting Zetland two goals ahead.

Maggie Irvine came on for Whalsay and this certainly settled them and they began to win control of the midfield. Angeline Irvine, Deborah Anderson and Nicola Duthie always looked dangerous and Kane in goal for Zetland pulled off some cracking saves from close range.

Vicky Henderson was solid at the back for the reds, clearing off the danger and communicating effectively with Jamieson and Anderson. With three minutes to half time Whalsay eventually won a short corner. A deflected clearance fell to the stick of Deborah Anderson who didn’t hesitate to bury her shot into the left of the Zetland goal.

The second half was fairly even although the Whalsay partnership of Irvine and Irvine won the battle for midfield control. Zetland were pressed further and further back into their own half as Whalsay pushed for the equaliser.

Zetland made a few runs into the Whalsay end with Lindsay Morrison, Gardener and Indyia Bradley featuring in the attacks. Whalsay continued to heap on the pressure and Nicola Duthie finally pounced on Kane’s clearance. Henderson had a dramatic diving save just to see the ball cross the line.

It was all level with 15 minutes to go and both teams were now pushing for the winner. Duthie came closest when she was one on one with the keeper but put her shot just wide.

Players of the match were Vicky Henderson for her cool defencing and Zoe Irvine for her domination of the midfield.

Burra 3, Spurs 1

This game started at a fast pace with both teams attacking right from the start and the defences holding strong.

The breakthrough came when the Spurs defence were caught out after Kayti Jeromson played a defence splitting pass to Stacey Laurenson. This left her one on one with the keeper and she blasted the ball past Elaine Smith in goal.

This encouraged Burra to push forward resulting in a penalty corner which Laurenson pushed to Karen MacKelvie who squared it to Robbo. She found the back board to make it 2-0.

Spurs responded by good link-up play down the left from Fiona Shearer and Kirsten Jeromson playing the ball into the circle, only to be cleared by Georgia Laurenson who dominated the defence.

Burra’s third goal came from another short corner. Laurenson pushed the ball to MacKelvie who squared it to Bethany Laurenson whose shot was saved only to rebound to Laurenson to tap in for her second.

In the second half Spurs pushed Emma Inkster and Gail Johnson up to help apply pressure to the Burra defence. This worked to their advantage when they got a penalty corner and Kirsten Jeromson’s shot left the Burra keeper with no chance.