Last season, Western Wildcats saw the Premiership title of the men and Watsonians the women, along with the best European places – but the Scottish Cup avoided them, who went to both sides of the University of Edinburgh. So the question is, will these two talented parties continue to dominate the procedure this coming season?
There have been some shifts in the pecking order.
In the scene of the women, for example, GHK continued their rise by finishing in third place and claiming a place in the European play-offs. And there is also Glasgow University that has achieved a top six.
Watsonians, under coach Dan Coultas, continued their development by finishing third in the men’s table and claiming their first European place with a 2-0 win over Grange in the Play-Off Semi-Final. Another rising star from Edinburgh is ESM Lions who for the first time in the top six competition.
So will these challenges continue to bloom this season?
GHK seems to be a progressive success story, but to find out the mood in the camp, we caught up with Lucy Williamson, their top striker last season. At first she thought about the progress made to date:
“We had our most successful season ever last year, so we definitely achieved our goals. We were pleased to be second in the split and finished third in general. GHK worked so hard to climb the table and for us to be a challenge for a top four finish and European places is proof of the hard work of all those involved in the last years.”
And so for the upcoming conflict, Lucy has resigned the plan:
“This year we will continue to continue as a club, always aimed at building on the progress we made last season. It was another mentality to adapt, to be in the chasing pack, to be second in the Christmas competition, and therefore chased by the top six of the restart and we want to get our excellent half-predictions in the Predestations play-offs in May. ”
GHK has a test start to their campaign – on Titwood on Saturday to Clydesdale Western, immediately followed by Watsonians and Edinburgh University. That will challenge their determination.
In recent years, Watsonians men can brag on a similar success story, although they are demonstrably a step forward after they won the Scottish Cup more than a year ago and recently received their first European involvement.
Luke Campbell, Captain of Watsonians, gave his assessment of last season’s campaign: “We were really happy with our progression last season and felt qualification for Europe as a big reward for that, so that certainly brings a special excitement for the coming season.”
So what about the coming season? Luke gave his opinion about this: “We saw some changes in the team in the summer, with potential to bring in one or two, so I think we are in a strong position to strive to make further progress. We will want to take it for the time being and see where we are in the second half of the season.
“We want to place ourselves in a position where we can contest important games in April and May, as we did last season. If we can reach those games, we hope that the experience we have gained in recent years will help us get over the line.”
That rhetoric shows that Watsonians will strive to be in the mix for honor in the ending of the season – so look from Western Wildcats, Grange, Edinburgh University and other aspirants.
Another interesting development is the rise of university hockey. Their figures are swollen from four to six in the premiership of this season with the promotion of St Andrews Men and Aberdeen women. However, the students are not in action this weekend – they have a sabbatical week.
In the men’s competition, Western Wildcats is confronted with their first obstacle at home at Uddingston. The side of Auchenhowie has lost a number of influential players – striker Jamie Golden went to rivals Edinburgh University, colleague Scotland internationalist Tommy Austin goes to English side Surbiton, while Simon Wells returns to Australia. To be in balance, SET-SET expert Iain McFadden Re-Joins after a year at Edinburgh University together with young people Julius Bosman and Julius van Maanen from the Netherlands, both at Stirling University.
Uddingston seems to be negotiating a substantial inflow of Aussie support in the narrow season – it will be interesting to see how that affects performance and results.
However, the direct challengers can have a little work on Saturday – Watsonians and Grange are his way to Grove Menzieshill and Clydesdale respectively. Both home side certainly ended in the bottom six last season, but a home game with the freshness of the opening match in their nostrils – who knows then?
Grange has also lost a number of important players of the last campaign – Dylan Bean returns to OZ, Alan Johnston goes to London and Jamie Green to one of the Alster in Germany. Further Aidan McQuade takes the role of player/coach at Dunfermline Carnegie. However, Ritchie Mccluskey returns from Edinburg Uni and manager Martin Shepherdson stated that they had a “good harvest of young people who pushed to places in the team.” The proof of the pudding will be clear on Saturday in Titwood.
There have been a few changes in Clydesdale, firstly Harry Dunlop takes over as a coach of the old Ciaran Crawford. At stake they have attracted young people Lewis McGuess, Thomas Mcinroy and Andrew McGrane, all in the Scotland Under-18 Team in the recent euros, together with Charlie Feeney from Kelburne.
Both Clydesdale and Grove Menzieshill will want to show that they have the plans to challenge a top six place at the end of the year – on Saturday could give an early indication.
ESM Lions have developed into a solid Premiership side with some promise after ending in the top six, but a trip to Hillhead can be a banana skin experience.
The last game on the map brings Dundee Wanderers to Inverleith – a Bottom Six -Meeting last season, but both parties will gladly take away the pressure with an early three points. The good news for Inverleith captain Kyle Taylor is that it is rumor that freely scoring Bobby Ralph has been withdrawn from the line-up of the Wanderers.
The collision of the day in the Women’s Card is GHK’s visit to Clydesdale Western-one repetition of the last match of last season that ended in a 1-1 draw and effectively ended the ambitions of the last title of the last. However, Clydesdale has taken revenge in the semi-final of the play-offs with a 2-0 win, Millie Steiger and Ava Graham on Target.
Clydesdale has a new coach in Fiona Bruce who takes over from Mark Ralph. Also return to the folds are Fran Lonergan from Wildcats and Bronwyn Shields from Wimbledon – they have to add fire to the striking department. Although last year’s captain Laura Paul and Ali Howie will not perform, the Titwood -side Jika Nyienda, Sophie Hinds and Neave Halliday from the University of Edinburgh attracted, together with goalkeepers Becky Hague and Morven Begg of Wildcats and Gordonians respectively.
In the coming season, Fiona Bruce noted: “There is a pretty important change in the group, so we want to ensure that we connect as a team as quickly as possible. We are aimed at winning as many games as possible and enjoying our hockey together.”
Now Clydesdale Millie Steiger has mentioned as captain, Fiona’s charges are ready for the off on Saturday.
Wildcats had a bit of an up and down time in the past term and ended outside the top four. The Auchenhowie side has the chance to start this campaign with three points at home on Inverleith.
Hillhead struggled last season with relegation and only survived with a play-off victory over Dundee Wanderers, but they could start this season with a positive note with three points at home to Grange. The finish positions of last season will probably be of little value, because both parties have noticed on different team changes. Hillhead has lost Alex Burdon and Oria Parsons of Glasgow Uni, together with Emma Blackstock and Rachel Osborne on Wildcats that allows young people to step into their shoes.
Grange captain Heather Croll reported the loss of about five players at the University of Edinburgh, but also mentioned the return of Annie Steingold and Imogen Aitken together with the addition of various new recruits and promising young people.
It will be interesting who comes at the top.
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