Men's 3s vs Grange 5s

Men's 3s fulfill potential.

Saturday 28th November had finally arrived and Watsonians met at Fettes College in anticipation of some high intensity hockey after the frustration of the game having been cancelled the previous week. Brimming with confidence after coming off the back of two wins, the stage was set for an epic battle between an underperforming 3s team and Grange, currently sitting second in the table.

The return of Captain Bell was highly anticipated, a number of questions needed to be answered; had Bell ‘found himself’ in South America during the past two weeks, and could the returning captain add any more thoughts of wisdom to the immortal words of interim leader Tony ‘keep your shape’ Allan. Nearing the halfway point in the season, Watsonians 3s needed to start capitalising on the individual brilliance of each of the players.

At least half the team hadn’t indulged in pre-match celebrations the night before, so not a bad start to the day.

From the off, an extended period of pressure from Watsonians led to a number of good opportunities on goal, midfield players Bell, Long and Stewart linking well with the forwards. The home team seemed surprised by the intensity of the opposition attack in this opening spell of play, however the inability to convert this into numbers on the scoreboard afforded Grange the opportunity to get back into the game. Despite the men in maroon having the run of play, the opposition were counter attacking well and were rewarded with a number of short corners towards the end of the half. This lead to some admirable defending from the back four, Swanson marshalled his troops as they weathered the storm. Gray expertly managed to clear the ball from the D, ushering in the half time whistle.

The second half started as the first did, Watsonians carving though the Grange defence with attacks from Booth and Littlejohn. It seemed all momentum was with the away team; this was abruptly brought to a halt by the whistle of the opposition umpire. Some ill-advised words of wisdom from the Watsonians bench (Littlejohn?) led to Bell getting carded.

In spite of this setback, credit has to go to the men in maroon who continued to press, looking for that winning goal.

With minutes left to play, the game seemed destined to end in a draw, a result Watsonians could be contented with against a team sitting near the top of the table who had been beaten only once this season. In a dramatic final turn of events a short corner was awarded to the away team; up steps Hogarth with his patented strike from the top of the D. A welcome ricochet off a Grange stick was followed immediately by the sound of the backboard. Watsonians 1; Grange nil, onwards and upwards for the men in maroon.

Big thanks goes to Zoe Pearson for umpiring.

By Chris Sholdis