School hockey: Inverleith rise above row to lift cup

With the Under-18 Girls Indoor Cup in danger of being overshadowed by controversy, Sarah Jamieson stepped in, played her captain’s role to perfection and spearheaded Inverleith to victory over defending champions Hutchesons’ Grammar School in the final at Bell’s Sports Centre.

A member of Scotland’s under-18 squad, the Portobello High School girl scored five goals in the 7-2 win, the others coming from Eilidh Thomson (George Watson’s) and Emma McGregor (Firrhill High School). Iona Scott and Sarah Cooper snatched the consolation goals for Hutchesons’.

Doubt hung over the event due after Scottish Hockey stated the two finalists would meet in the ‘real’ Cup final on National League Gala Day at Bell’s Sports Centre on 11 February. In other words, Saturday’s final was just a showpiece event.

But, after much discussion, a pact was made between the two coaches to overrule the governing body’s original plan.

Before the decision was agreed, Rhona Simpson, the two-time Olympian and Hutchesons’ head coach, said: “This is a huge issue. One problem is that Scottish Hockey has changed the date of the Gala Day and it now falls during school holidays and six of my team cannot make it on the 11th. There is also the extra costs, the time and the fact that many of the girls will be in the middle of exams.”

Bill Robson, the Inverleith coach, made the point that if the final was on 11 February, then Saturday’s event should have concluded at the end of the play-off stage.

Both teams have agreed to play again on the Gala Day – but it will now be an exhibition match. “I am quite happy to send a team on the 11th and we can still showcase girls under-18 hockey,” added Simpson. “But it was only fair that the strongest squads played in the final and that the girls that got the teams through to that stage should play for the Cup.”

Robson said: “We have a strong team at this level. We are currently lying second in Division Two of the National Indoor League and only three from that side are over 18 and so missing from this team.”

In addition to Jamieson, Inverleith’s Currie High School pair of Laura Page and Claire Laverty are in the Scottish under-18 squad, while Thomson is in the under-16s.

For Hutchesons’, one of the stand-out players, notably in the 3-1 semi-final win over Glasgow Academy, was goalkeeper Emma O’Rourke, an under-18 squad member. Jennifer Eadie, another in the Scottish under-18s, scored one of the semi-final goals, while the other two came from the multi-talented Paige Denholm. She plays tennis at national level.

With the girls having set the precedent, it was agreed that the Under-18 Boys Indoor Cup should be decided at the weekend and Strathallan won a close final on Sunday against Watsonians. A second-half goal from Alistair Wood sealed victory for the Midlands school. Jack Burton had given Strathallan the lead in 15 minutes but Watsonians equalised through Danny Kane just before half time.

Wood also scored in Strathallan’s 4-3 semi-final win against VWS Dundee Wanderers. The other goals came from Eric Wand, Tom Elder and Christian Goldkline.

In the other semi-final, Stuart Nickerson scored the winner from the spot to give Watsonians a 4-3 win over Kelburne in a dramatic penalty shoot-out after the sides were deadlocked at 4-4 in normal time.

Kane got two for the Edinburgh side with the others coming from Danny Prentice and Phil Bryans while Jason Cairns scored twice for the Paisley side. Kelburne picked up the bronze medal with a 6-1 play-off win over Dundee Wanderers.

Girls

Results: Pool A: Glasgow Academy 3 Inverleith 3; Inverleith 7 Kelso High School 2; Glasgow Academy 5 Kelso High School 1. Pool B: Hutchesons’ Grammar 3 Strathallan 3; Granite City Wanderrs 3 Strathallan 1; Hutchesons’ Grammar 2 Granite City Wanderers 1. Semi-finals: Inverleith 5 Granite City Wanderers 2; Hutchesons’ Grammar 3 Glasgow Academy 1. Play-offs: 5/6 Strathallan 4 Kelso High School 1; 3/4 Granite City Wanderers 4 Glasgow Academy 3. Final: Inverleith 7 Hutchesons’ Grammar 2.

Winning team: Inverleith: Shona Blent, Lyndsay Cakette, Lucy Clarke, Kirsty Dinwoodie, Sarah Jamieson, Emma McGregor, Bethany Hutton, Claire Laverty, Laura Page, Eilidh Thomson.

Boys

Results: Pool A: Dundee Wanderers 3 CALA Edinburgh 2; CALA Edinburgh 4 Gordononians 1; Kelburne 3 CALA Edinburgh 1; Dundee Wanderers 2 Gordonians 0; Kelburne 2 Gordonians 0; Kelburne 3 Dundee Wanderers 1. Pool B: Watsonians 2 Strathallan 0; Watsonians 4 Aberdeen Grammar 1; Watsonians 3 Greaves Clydesdale 3; Aberdeen Grammar 1 Strathallan 0; Strathallan 2; Greaves Clydesdale 1; Greaves Clydesdale 2 Aberdeen Grammar 0. Semi-finals: Strathallan 4 Dundee Wanderers 3, Watsonians 4 Kelburne 4 (Watsonians won 4-3 on penalties). Play-offs: 7/8 Gordonians 5 CALA Edinburgh 4; 5/6 Greaves Clydesdale 7 Aberdeen Grammar 1; 3/4 Kelburne 6 Dundee Wanderers 1. Final: Strathallan 2 Watsonians 1.

Winning team: Strathallan: Ewan Campbell, Rhys Connah, Christian Goldkuhle, Tom Eller, Alasdair Wood, Rory Wood, Rory Barnes, Javier Uriach Dasca, Eric Wand, Jack Burton, Hamish Mitchell, Nick Farrar.