Hockey: Grange head to Aberdeen brimming with confidence

Apart from the blip of drifting out of the Scottish Cup on a penalty shoot-out at the hands of second division CALA Edinburgh, Grange captain Rob Barr will see the league record as almost mission accomplished to date. With five victories under the belt, the 3-3 draw with Western Wildcats being the only blemish, Grange have made their best start in several years to the league campaign.

Barr commented: "When you are at the top of the table you can expect the opposition to work harder to disrupt your game so we will need to be at our best this weekend. The pressure is on us to perform but I'm confident we can get a result. We learned a valuable lesson in the Cup so we have to approach all games with the same mentality irrespective of form or league position. We'll be 100 per cent focused on Saturday."

Another interesting fixture is the unpredictable Tayside derby between Grove Menzieshill and Dundee Wanderers. Of the two Menzieshill have perhaps made the more solid start with set-piece expert Gavin Tomlinson scoring nine times in five outings. Last season`s only fixture confirmed Menzieshill's favourite tag with a 4-0 victory, Tomlinson again scored along with Chris Wilson, Gavin Byers and Paul Martin.

Glynhill Kelburne start the campaign for their seventh successive Subway National League title with a double-header home weekend against Inverleith today and Greaves Clydesdale tomorrow. The champions have lost the services of striker Kenny Bain to Dutch side HDM and Ross Stott to Bowdon in the English Premier League. However, the Paisley outfit are still clear favourites for this year`s championship. The 2-2 draw with Spanish champions Polo de Barcelona in Terrassa is a clear indicator of Kelburne`s potential when they are on form.

Tomorrow, Inverleith get the chance to edge away from the relegation zone with a home game against Aberdeen. AMN Hillhead may be in mid-table and already out of the Scottish Cup, but coach Keith Joss still believes his charges can cause Western Wildcats some distress, especially after the Wildcats were beaten by VWS Dundee Wanderers last weekend. "We will certainly be looking to set Western some tactical challenges in terms of how we set the team up and play," said Joss.

The women's competition sees league leaders Kelburne face the stiff challenge of entertaining reigning champions Grove Menzieshill at Bellahouston today.

CALA Edinburgh have the weekend off while Giffnock face bottom club Hillhead at home today before facing the tough prospect of a visit to VWS Dundee Wanderers the following day. The Grange v Edinburgh University has been switched to 17 November due to Peffermill being fully utilised this weekend by the Inter District competition.