After a week`s grace the university sides are plunged directly into a Premiership double header weekend, and that also applies to Hillhead`s men and women who now also make a start to this season`s campaign.
Edinburgh University`s women only lost out on last season`s Premiership on goal difference, but start this campaign six players light as relayed by coach Sam Judge.
The most notable loss is that of Katie Robertson who now has a Great Britain contract and will turn out for top English side Reading. Fellow Scotland player Eve Pearson has also left for Germany, as well as Georgia Jones and keeper Amber Murray.
But is Sam Judge downhearted? Well not at all.
Sam said:” We have a lot of good 1st years in and they are settling in well. Ruth Blaikie has also joined which is good. I want the girls to enjoy playing good, fast and direct hockey and to build on each week.”
Sam`s new squad will need to be able to hit the ground running, they can test their skills against an Uddingston side that won at Gordonians last weekend, and then it is the big one against champions Watsonians on the Sunday. While certainly not a championship decider by any means at this early stage, the outcome could give an early indication where the strength lies this season.
On Sunday`s encounter, Sam said: “Watsonians will still be a strong experienced side so it will be a tough match for the girls, but they will be up for it.” It is worth noting that the Edinburgh students were the only side to beat Watsonians last season.
The champions will begin their build up for the big game with a home match against Gordonians. Watsonians` head coach Keith Smith indicated that he was several regulars short last weekend against Clydesdale Western, so the squad may fill up for this weekend`s double header.
So what about newly promoted St Andrews University – their baptism in the Premiership. They earned the right to top flight status by winning last season`s second tier.
St Andrews, under coach Jamie Carnegie, have attracted a host of new players from Polar Bears Vancouver to Leeds, Bowdon and Ben Rhydding along with some Scottish clubs.
Jamie said: “Great to be promoted to the Premiership last year so hopefully we can get some decent performances in our 1st ever year up there!”
St Andrews take the plunge against fellow students at Glasgow and then at home to Uddingston – a chance to show what they`re made of.
Not much information on the present Glasgow University line-up but they did reach the top six last season for the first time in their history. Their Sunday game is against Hillhead.
Edinburgh University men, third last year, start their campaign against Grove Menzieshill (Saturday) and Dundee Wanderers (Sunday) – a double Tayside delight! Six points are required if the students are to fulfil the ambitions of coach Hamish Imrie. “Our team goal is to win the league and gain a European spot and get promoted back to BUCS National Premier League.”
Hamish announced a big turnover of players, twelve players have come into the squad and five left, including Robbie Croll to Grange and Jack Calahin to Watsonians.
“It`s a big turnover this year which has it`s challenges but there is a real excitement around our team this year. The focus is on the developing of our athletes and given them the support they need to thrive. But our team goal is to win the league and gain a European spot and get promoted back into BUCS National Premier League.”
This weekend`s results and performance could give an early indication of the Edinburgh student`s potential.
So what about the rest of the weekend card – form guides are not possible after only one outing. But there are still some potentially intriguing scenarios out there.
Kaz Cuthbert`s Wildcats could stake a claim to pole position if they can take full points from a home win over Hillhead and then another three away to Inverleith – that would be a good solid start.
Perhaps the most intriguing fixture is Saturday`s clash between Grange and Clydesdale Western in Edinburgh. Grange were last weekend`s highest winners and Heather Croll hit the heights with four goals – so that might give Clydesdale coach Mark Ralph some food for thought. But then again the Titwood side restricted Watsonians` win to a single goal – so this could be really interesting!
So what of Uddingston who also won on day one? New coach Gareth Ikin was pleased with a win on his debut, and said: “It shows that the work we are doing so far is working ad we look to build on this in the coming weeks and months ahead.”
So this weekend the Lanarkshire club have two contrasting fixtures. On Saturday`s clash with Edinburgh University, Gareth remarked: “Edinburgh Uni will provide us with a very strong challenge, taking on a team that consistently finishes in the top two or three in the league, having a number of junior and senior Scotland internationals in their ranks and coached by the experienced Sam Judge. It will be good to see how we compete against them while our programme is still in its infancy.”
On Sunday`s encounter, Gareth continued: “St Andrews will provide us with a different challenge, newly promoted to the league, at their place for the first double header of the season. After winning away at Gordonians, we are confident we can go to St Andrews and perform as well as we did in Aberdeen.”
What about the men`s early winners in the opening fixtures?
Sunday`s local derby between Grange and Watsonians stands out. If the latter are to make their mark this season then they must look to take something from this game. Whatever the outcome, it will be interesting for Duncan Riddell, in the close season he moved from Grange to Watsonians – a bittersweet occasion. On Saturday Grange are away to Uddingston who narrowly lost to Clydesdale last week.
Perhaps a testing weekend for Watsonians as they host Clydesdale on Saturday. Both sides had narrow wins last weekend and were close rivals in the top six last year, and both have had an influx of new players this season – so this could be an intriguing clash.
Western Wildcats do not seem to be missing striker Andrew McConnell as they put six past Inverleith. On Saturday, it will be ESM`s turn to stem the Auchenhowie goal machine.
Despite losing to Western last weekend, Inverleith captain Kyle Taylor was optimistic about this weekend if his young squad can iron out some of their mistakes and learn from the experience – the Edinburgh side take on Kelburne and Grove Menzieshill.
Menzieshill coach Gav Byers regarded last Saturday`s game against Kelburne as “a good competitive game with lots of quality from two very young teams”, so the former Scotland stalwart will be keen to build on this progress against Edinburgh University and Inverleith.
