Hockey ladies exit cup

Any hopes East Kilbride Ladies Hockey Club’s first XI had of lifting the District Plate this season were quashed by Clydesdale on Saturday.

The Topek-sponsored side bowed out at the quarter-final stage, despite turning in a good performance.

EK started well and put the pressure on Clydesdale Western IV, but they saw their hard work come undone after 10 minutes when Western won a short corner.

Although keeper Mairi MacDonald saved the shot and the corner was cleared, the visitors soon won another and this time made no mistake, rifling the ball into the bottom corner.

There were some lovely passages of play from EK, with Sonya Andrews and Sheona Hutchison causing their defence some problems.

EK thought they had equalised but the whistle blew for a short corner just as the ball hit the backboard. They failed to convert and ended the half 1-0 down.

A good start after the break put the green shirts in the driving seat. With play down the left, Shona Kinloch, Fiona Bond and Fiona Williamson were in the thick of the play, ably supported by Rosemary Hamilton.

EK had some lovely moves, which saw the ball switched to Julia Whittle and Paula Richmond on the right.

Andrews was clear on goal but was felled by a hard tackle and EK can be a tad aggrieved that some wild stick tackles weren’t penalised in the match.

But the bottom line was that EK couldn’t find the net, despite close calls from Richmond, Andrews and Hutchison.

Western made the game safe 15 minutes from time with a deflection which the keeper could do nothing about.

EK had a final push and Richmond came closest to scoring after some good individual skill got her in a great position, but the ball flashed wide.

It was disappointing result in the end, but East Kilbride can take heart from their performance. They will hope for better fortunes when they face Giffnock tonight on league duty.