Watsonians men continued their early season good form with a convincing 4-0 win over Clydesdale. The Edinburgh side laid the foundation with two goals in the first quarter through Jack Cahalin from open play and a penalty corner conversion by Danny Cain. And that is how the score stood until near the end when Duncan Riddell and Cahalin again consolidated the victory.
The result keeps Watsonians in second spot in the table, they are three points behind Western Wildcats who have played a game more.
Last season`s top sides were in fine scoring form.
Let`s start with Premiership winners Grange – they saw off Grove Menzieshill 5-1 at Fettes. The scoring started in only four minutes with a penalty corner strike from 19-year-old Zach Talbot, and that was followed by an open play goal from David Nairn. However, the Taysiders struck back with a penalty corner conversion from John Donald to reduce the score to 2-1. But before the interval Andrew Duke had restored Grange`s two goal advantage when he followed up the rebound from a penalty corner block.
The second half only produced a couple more Grange goals from Aussies Dylan Bean and Ola Marshall for a convincing win in the end.
Grove Menzieshill coach Gav Byers admitted, “We weren`t at our best today which was disappointing after finishing with a strong performance last week. Grange were the better team.”
There`s nothing like a 9-0 win to give Western Wildcats a good send off to the EHL next weekend and that was the fate of a young Inverleith side at Auchenhowie. It was six at the interval with two goals each for Jamie Golden and Adam Mackenzie with Fraser Calder and Cammy Moran also pitching in. The goal rush abated a little in the second half but Rob Harwood, Fraser Moran at a penalty corner and Golden again for his hat-trick were on target.
Edinburgh University progressed up the table with a 5-0 win over bottom side Dundee Wanderers at Peffermill. Iain McFadden scored twice while Sam Hunt, Tom Cahalin and Declan Bradley also contributed.
Elsewhere Uddingston moved up to fifth in the table after a 5-2 win over Hillhead. Uddy`s goals came from Amirul Hanif, Ben Young, Fahmi Khalid and a double by Finn Halliday. Hillhead were always behind in the contest but Andrew Black managed to bundle the ball into the net at the far post while Andrew Sinclair finished off a penalty corner.
ESM Lions finally threw off their frustration with three points from a 3-2 win over Dunfermline Carnegie, a result that lifts them to eighth in the table. Cammy Ede gave the Edinburgh side the lead in the first quarter but by the start of the final quarter they were 2-1 behind – Carnegie`s first came from Theo Wood who got the final touch at a penalty corner and then Sam Eadie sunk a rebound from another set piece. However, the Lions roared back with Ede again getting the final touch at a penalty corner for the equaliser followed by a late strike by James Stables. This time it was ESM who grabbed a late winner reversing the trend of their earlier two games.
