Mackenzie overcomes bug to help Inverleith go top

By NIGEL DUNCAN
Published on 24/12/2012 12:25

ADAM MACKENZIE got out of his sickbed to help Inverleith claw their way back to the top of Scotland’s indoor hockey league.

The Fife-born Scottish international was suffering from a sickness bug but still made the journey to Perth on Saturday to play in the latest round of matches in the indoor league.

Inverleith hammered newly-promoted Harris 12-2 in their opener before suffering a setback when they were held 2-2 by Edinburgh rivals Grange.

However, they claimed top spot for the Christmas break by finishing the day with a hard-fought 4-3 victory over defending champions Grove Menzieshill.

And it was the ill Mackenzie whose goal paved the way for the vital win. His goal, which saw him pick the ball up near half-way and drive through the Grove defence before slotting home, came at an important time for the visitors after they’d allowed internationalist Gavin Byers to give Grove Menzieshill a first-minute lead.

The decisive goal came from Olympian Graham Moodie, 31, one minute into the second half of what was a tense tussle.

Moodie, who competed at the Athens Olympics in 2004, said: “The Grove win was a fantastic response from the team as we were disappointed after losing points to Grange. Everybody worked so hard to come back from letting in a goal in the first minute against Grove.”

Inverleith, champions two seasons ago, are top by a point, and coach Stuart Neave, said: “What a performance from the guys. They lost points to Grange but came back to beat Grove. It was a fantastic result for us and being top at Christmas is what we wanted.”

Chris Anderson, Grove’s playcaller, said: “This, I hope, is a blip, but Inverleith stuck to their gameplan and it worked for them.”