Back-to-back triumphs for on-form Buddies
11-goal weekend for sharpshooter Christie
Kelburne Hockey Club continued their title tilt with another successful weekend in the indoor championship.
And they remain in pole position following back-to-back wins over Grange and Uddingston at the weekend.
The evergreen Johnny Christie was again the man of the moment with another 11 goals over the course of the action.
And his goals proved to be pivotal as he scored the equalising goal in the first match of the weekend against Grange before going on to claim another hat-trick. This takes his total for the indoor season to 32 goals in just eight matches.
Kelburne found themselves 3-1 up at the break thanks to a double from Scotland man Michael Bremner, to add to Christie’s earlier strike.
Grange would go on to add another two strikes in the second half, but the Edinburgh outfit were unable to halt the Paisley side, with Bremner also managing to notch a hat-trick for the Paisley men.
Into the second game, Christie fired eight goals in a 13-4 victory over Uddingston. Five of Christie’s strikes came in the first half, including a hat-trick in as many minutes just prior to the interval.
German Jonas Nommensen and Adam Bain also scored twice, while Jackey Tran also did the same for Uddingston.
Elsewhere, Grange recovered their composure to beat Hillhead 6-4 to consolidate second spot in the pool.
A first-half hat-trick by Ryan was the foundation of the Edinburgh side’s 5- 2 interval lead. Callum Milne and Todd Mills got the others and Callum Duke got Hillhead`s two goals.
In the other pool, champions Inverleith took a giant stride to claiming top spot with a comfortable 5- 3 win over their great rivals Grove Menzieshill in their opening match.
Inverleith went on to consolidate their pole position in the pool with a comfortable 10- 4 mauling of Western Wildcats in their second outing.
Grove Menzieshill went on to stake their claim to second spot in the pool with a 7- 3 win over Clydesdale. The underdogs took the lead through Andrew Allan in only four minutes, but normal service had been resumed by the interval with Gavin Byers, Euan Cuthill and Ben Cosgrove giving the Taysiders a 3-1 lead.
And, Hillhead took a massive step towards avoiding the relegation play-offs by seeing off Uddingston in a tense 3-2 victory.
With the scores tied at 2-2 and only four minutes left, a Callum Duke penalty strike claimed the three points and the route to safety.