Loch Lomond Hockey Club secure league title

Mar 23 2012 by Andy Galloway, Lennox Herald (main ed)

LOCH Lomond clinched the West District Third Division title with victory over Western Wildcats on Monday night.

It was their third match in three days and they had to dig deep to try to secure the championship.

And although the weather was wild, there could be no excuses for throwing away the honours.

Lomond started well and pushed into attack straight away.

Wildcats were pinned mostly in their own half but Lomond just could not break the deadlock before half time.

Try as they might, with good runs and passing, the elusive goal just didn’t come.

The second half saw Lomond push more players forward and the first goal of the match came from a penalty corner conversion.

A sigh of relief could be heard from the visitors but they knew that one goal wouldn’t take the pressure off and a second followed shortly afterwards.

The strike came from a lovely move from defence to midfield straight into the D, where Rachel Mansley followed up a shot and pushed the ball home. Wildcats came back into the match as Lomond began to tire, but the visitors did not concede any penalty corners.

And one final push for goal was rewarded with a lovely back-stick flick which flew past the keeper. The three points were in the bag and the league title was secured.

Some great pick-ups and running in midfield earned Emily Carroll the player of the match award, while Eliza Ritchie was runner-up. The team would like to thank umpire Martin Robertson, who was also in action for the third time in three days.

Lomond lost their previous league match 2-1 at home to Broomhill at the weekend.

Rachel Mansley equalised after the visitors took the lead, but a second goal after the restart meant Broomhill took the points.

However, Lomond made up for it by reaching the West District Plate final on Sunday with a 4-0 victory over Hillhead thirds.

After a positive start they took the lead on 10 minutes through Rebecca Holland and the same player doubled the scoreline before half time.

Lomond worked hard in midfield and shut down most attacks, before adding two more goals in the second half.

Evie Harkins made it three from an almost impossible angle and Holland sealed her hat-trick when she cashed in on a rebound from the keeper.

The plate final will take place on Saturday, March 31, with the opposition still unknown.

Loch Lomond: McGregor; Lyall, McIlroy, Hastings, Kelly, Braid, Carroll, Ritchie, Harkins, Hillis, Reid, Mansley, Wylie.