Hockey: Neave not so naive as to get carried away

INVERLEITH manager Stuart Neave today warned his high-flyers not to become complacent after a perfect start in their bid for the Scottish indoor hockey title.

Three straight wins scoring 27 goals and conceding 13 sees the success-hungry Edinburgh outfit on top of the eight-strong table with nine points.

On Saturday, Inverleith square-up to fourth-placed Clydesdale and bottom club Hillhead at Perth in the second round of Division One fixtures.

And the star-studded side could welcome back Scottish international goalkeeper Allan Dick (Surbiton) who missed last weekend because of flu.

The experienced Graham Stuart proved an admirable stand-in with some fine stops in beating Western 10-4, Grange 6-3, and Kelburne 11-6.

Neave also expects his Anglo trio of Olympian Stephen Dick (Reading), Chris Grassick (Surbiton) and Andrew Sinclair (Wimbledon) to make the trip as the Edinburgh side aim to end Menzieshill's recent dominance of the indoor game north of the Border.

The Fife-based coach said: "I'm really happy with the squad and the way they started the campaign but we'll be guarding against complacency. We need to keep our feet on the ground as we could undo all the good work of last week by slipping up here.

"We're hoping to get two wins this week and move on, but we're not talking about winning things. Speak to me in late January and I'll have a better idea but we have a full squad available, as far as I know, for this weekend.

"The first weekend was called off because of the snow and that was a bonus as we got in some much-needed practice sessions.

"We're due in Dundee this week for the Midlands League and court time is important at this stage of the season."