Hockey: Kelburne clinch title as Grange are held

With Grange held to a 3-3 draw by Grove Menzieshill at Peffermill, the Subway national league title was surrendered to Glynhill Kelburne who polished off VWS Dundee Wanderers 4-1 to claim their seventh consecutive championship.

The Edinburgh side went one behind midway through the first half to a Gavin Byers goal, but an error in the Tayside defence allowed Cammie Fraser to deflect home the equaliser. Duncan Riddell put Grange 2-1 up and they looked to have the points secured when Craig Harper made it 3-1, but Ross McPherson and Byres earned a share of the points.

At Bellahouston, Wanderers keeper Paul Johnston was in superb form, but Kelburne finally broke their duck in 53 minutes as the Christie brothers took control. A Willie Marshall penalty corner flick was touched home by Michael Christie for the opener and couple of minutes later Michael was the provider for a smart finish from Jonny Christie. Frank Mulgrew pulled one back but Jonny Christie again and Ian Horsfield ensured a comfortable win in the end.

Yesterday, the newly-crowned champions continued their winning way with a 6-3 victory over Menzieshill, but the main focus shifted to the relegation struggle. It was Dundee Wanderers who maintained their top-flight status despite losing by a single goal to Inverleith and Edinburgh University who fell into the relegation play-off spot by the slender margin of three goals.

CALA Edinburgh took the initiative in the second division with a 5-1 win over Stepps on Saturday and a 4-1 triumph over Granite City Wanderers 4-1 yesterday.

The race for the runners-up spot and a place in Europe in the women's league maintained its momentum as both Giffnock and VWS Dundee continued their winning sequence.

Giffnock were two up against CALA Edinburgh at the interval, with Rhona Simpson and Cath Stirling were on target. Elaine Brierley, Stevie McInally and Kareena Marshall added further goals in a 6-1 win.

Dundee Wanderers thumped Western Wildcats 8-1 with Vikki Bunce scoring a hat-trick and there were two each for Julie Bryce and Heather Elder.

Grove celebrated their midweek title-winning exploits by beating Grange 6-0 on Saturday in Edinburgh. Nikki Kidd scored twice from penalty corners, Danni Johnstone got a couple and the other goals came from Jen Wright and Louise Carroll.