Grange miss opportunity to go level at the summit

GRANGE lost the chance of sharing top spot in the first division with Hillhead when they went down 2-1 to Edinburgh University in a feisty contest at Peffermill yesterday.

The students took the lead in 20 minutes when Dan Coultas converted their first penalty corner. Lady luck seemed to desert Grange, as they failed to take advantage of three penalty corners and were then awarded a penalty, but the award was subsequently disallowed by the disengaged umpire.

However, Grange were back on level terms with 12 minutes left. Ryan Holding’s shot was blocked but Joe Waterston pounced on the loose ball and flicked it over the goalkeeper.

In a tense final few minutes, a smashed ball seemed to be harmlessly going out but it was deflected into the circle to Stephen Dick, who calmly put it into the net.

Grange’s misfortune continued when Arin Doig seemed to grab the equaliser but his strike was disallowed by the umpire.

On Saturday, Grange showed little mercy to PSL Team Sport Clydesdale and the winning margin of 4-0 barely reflected the Edinburgh side’s dominance.

Edinburgh University were held to a 2-2 draw by Western Wildcats at Peffermill on Saturday. In the first half, Jack Henderson gave the students the lead only for Scott Mccartney to level from the spot. The second period took on a similar vein. Jamie Wong put Edinburgh 2-1 ahead only for Niall Sommerville to equalise with five minutes left.

Hillhead are in pole position in the first division. On Saturday they beat Uddingston 6-0 and the Glasgow side completed the weekend double with a 6-2 win over Gordonians yesterday.

There was speculation that 11-times league winners Bromac Kelburne were on the slide, but the Paisley side answered their critics with 13 goals without reply in this weekend’s double header. The potential banana skin fixture with Gordonians in the north-east on Saturday proved an anti-climax as the Paisley side cruised to a six goal victory. Yesterday, Kelburne put seven past newly-promoted Uddingston.

In the women’s league, champions Edinburgh University are still at the top but were held to a 1-1 draw by Grove Menzieshill yesterday at Peffermill. On Saturday, the Edinburgh students only managed a single-goal win over Kelburne.

Newly promoted Erskine Stewart’s Melville lost their unbeaten record when they went down 4-2 to Milne Craig Western.

Dundee Wanderers moved into second spot after crushing Watsonians 6-0, while CALA Edinburgh picked up their first points of the season with a narrow 3-2 win over Wildcats.