First up was the 3s with a 10am pushback on pitch one against a hungry Grange 4s. Grange have recently won East 1 and were looking to challenge Watsonians for the cup. Our boys had also just won their league, Regional 2, and are excited for promotion to play against the likes of our men’s 2s and Grange 2s next season in Regional 1.

The Reserve Cup was previously held by Edinburgh University 3s, with Watsonians 3s being the runners up in 2022. Could they go one further and ‘do the double’ with a league and cup win? We asked their captain, Elliot Bayley, how they boys were feeling in the lead up to the match:

“The lads are really up for this today. We’ve been performing extremely well recently with 11 wins, 3 draws and only 2 losses in the league. We’ve been unbeaten in 2023, and coming off the back of a league win, we’re looking at winning the Reserve Cup for the first time in history. There’s no better year to do it than this one”

Also speaking to George Thornton earlier today, he tells us that exactly 20 years ago, the Men’s 3s at the time (which included George as a player), won the league. That same year, they went on to win the Reserve Plate!

Rory Saunders kicked off the scoring during Saturdays game, with a well executed PCA into the bottom right hand corner of the Grange backboard. Harry Yarr got the second just before the half time whistle, with a huge solo run leading to a reverse shot pinging into the net. Grange reacted well with a huge attacking push, winning a few consecutive penalty corners in quarter 3. Ross Millar, our goalkeeper made some incredible stick saves here, denying Grange of any chance on the scoresheet.

Seconds before the end of quarter 3, another goal was bagged by Watsonians. Rory got his second of the game, again from a penalty corner. This time he was allowed a reverse sweep, and fired it straight into the bottom right. Quarter 4 was a tough fight for the boys. The game in total had 17 penalty corners for Watsonians to defend, with the majority of these found in the last 17.5 minutes.

Grange won a penalty stroke with a foot on the line with around 10 minutes left on the clock. Ross Millar placed himself on the edge of the goal line with the sole aim of saving the ball. And he did! A shot into the left hand corner ricocheted off his pads and the crowd went wild. Millar has been up against 3 strokes this season and has saved all. But moments later, a second penalty stroke was awarded. This time it was too much, and Grange clawed back a goal to make it 3-1.

The boys persisted for the remainder of the match, and ended by successfully defending a penalty corner. The Men’s 3s are the 2023 Reserve Cup Champions!

The Men’s 4s were also in action at Glasgow Green, playing Clydesdale 3s in the Reserve Plate. An early goal in Q1 by Chris Robson, and assisted by David Hogarth put the 4s in a 1-0 lead. Unfortunately, the Glasgow side were ultimately stronger, and the game ended in a 5-1 loss. Congratulations to Iain Bishop-Miller for captaining the side and getting the team to the final - that is a huge achievement in itself.

A huge congratulations to the Watsonians Men’s side today. Every member of the club; players, and coaching staff, should be very proud of the work they have put in over the season. We’re off on a well deserved summer break now, and will come back for the 2023/24 season stronger than ever.

Keep an eye out over the summer for the Scottish Hockey Masters tournaments as we have a strong Watsonians cohort representing throughout many of the age categories! Good luck to those involved when it comes!