This season’s U15 Indoor Cup Finals have given over 100 young players the chance to enjoy all the thrills of indoor hockey. Five boys’ teams and five girls’ teams qualified from regional qualifying events for the finals on 14 January at The Peak in Stirling.
All the teams played each other in a round-robin tournament, before the top two qualified for the finals. After 22 exciting matches, Dundee Wanderers came out on top in the boys’ competition, and Grange won the girls’ event. But only after some very competitive games!
U15 Boys
Perthshire started the day with an impressive 3-0 win against Stewart’s Melville, including two penalty corners from Joe Collins and a goal from Charlie Porter. Dundee Wanderers kicked off their campaign with an impressive 4-0 win against Watsonians, with captain Gillies Law scoring two penalty corners, plus one each from Thomas Kirkwood and Loghan Steven.
Game 3 saw Clydesdale’s Cameron Mitchell score the only goal in a 1-0 win against Stewart’s Melville. This was followed by another double from Gillies Law in Dundee Wanderers’ 3-1 win over Perthshire, for whom Toby Chapman scored.
Watsonians and Clydesdale played out a 0-0 draw, before Dundee Wanderers continued their strong form with yet another double from Gillies Law in a 3-0 win against Stewart’s Melville.
Clydesdale beat Perthshire 3-2 in a thriller, with Michael Cox and Henry Steel each scoring twice for their respective teams, before Cameron Mitchell grabbed the winner. Rory Robb put Stewart’s Melville ahead in the Edinburgh derby against Watsonians, but Owen Ellis equalised to make it 1-1.
Harris Baber scored the only goal in Game 9, as Clydesdale inflicted a first defeat for Dundee Wanderers. However, both teams qualified for the final. In the last Pool match, Angus McKenzie’s goal earned Watsonians third place overall with a 1-0 win against Perthshire, who finished fourth.
The final was an exciting, tight contest, with both defences on top form. However, just before half time, Christopher King slotted the ball home for Dundee Wanderers from a tight angle. The game continued to flow from end-to-end, but the Glasgow boys couldn’t find a way past the Tayside ‘keeper, Douglas Brook, who only conceded two goals all day.
Congratulations to Dundee Wanderers, this season’s U15 Boys Indoor champions, and to all teams for their contribution to a great tournament.
U15 Girls
The girls’ competition started with Inverleith recording a 3-0 win over Dundee Wanderers thanks to goals from Amelia Wilson, Emily Jamieson and Tamzin Ralph. An equally impressive performance by Grange gave them a 2-0 win against Dollar Academy, with goals from Emily Lang and Georgie Gordon.
Olivia D’Ambrosio gave Dundee Wanderers an early lead in their next game, but Edinburgh HC equalised soon after and the game ended 1-1. Inverleith and Grange then played out a 0-0 draw, with both defences being well organised and difficult to break down.
Edinburgh HC won game 5 with a strong 3-0 win against Dollar, thanks to goals from Emily McLean, Julia Muyo and Ellie O’Connor. Grange followed this with a 2-0 win against Wanderers, with goals by Katie Methven and Larissa Hogg.
Edinburgh HC and Inverleith shared an exciting 1-1 draw, Ruby Keys putting EHC ahead before Amelia Wilson equalised. Dollar Academy then hit top form with a 5-0 win over Dundee Wanderers. Maisie Chapman and Jasmine Muir both scored doubles, with Millie Cassels adding the other.
Grange qualified for the final with a strong 3-0 win against EHC thanks to a double from Freya Hook and one from Emily Lang. In the last Pool match, Inverleith followed them into the final with Amelia Wilson’s goal earning a 1-0 win against Dollar. EHC finished 3rd, Dollar 4th and Wanderers 5th.
Grange got off to a flier in the final, with Freya Hook scoring in the first minute, and Bella Lockwood’s penalty corner making it 2-0 after 3 minutes. A shell-shocked Inverleith started to threaten but couldn’t find a way past goalie Daisy Mitchell, who didn’t concede a goal all day. One minute after half-time, Emily Lang put Grange 3-0 ahead and that’s the way it stayed, although Inverleith fought to the end.
Well done to Grange on becoming our U15 Girls Indoor champions, and to all teams for their excellent performances all afternoon.
The event ran like clockwork thanks to the hard work of all our technical officials: Iain Cowe, Logan Forbes, Chris Macdonald, Rachel Meredith and Caitlin Wilson. And the umpiring throughout the day was of a consistently very high standard.
Our next youth indoor finals are the U18s at The Peak on Sunday 4 February.
