Western Wildcats Hockey Club

The Men’s 1st Team finally return to competitive outdoor action on Saturday when Clydesdale are the visitors to Auchenhowie (1300). Harry Dunlop has the luxury of a full squad for the first time since he returned to Western and is confident that he has a group who are capable of achieving their aims for the second half of the season.

“We want to take second place in the league and have a right go at the Scottish Cup,” he said. “We have been working hard in training and the players are very focused on Saturday’s game. I watched Clydesdale last weekend when they lost to Grange and, although they did not play well, I know that they can be dangerous. It’s one we are determined to win and we’d love a big crowd down to cheer us on. The boys always enjoy a vocal support.”

Certainly, Clydesdale will be as keen to get the points in this encounter as Western. They have been something of a surprise package this season and see themselves as a coming force in the Scottish game. Balance this with the home side’s determination to take a European place and an undoubted feeling of unfinished business after two poor results against Titwood’s finest and we could have a cracker on our hands. Like Harry says, get down to the club and lend your support.

Another team who always appreciate a big crowd and plenty of vocal backing are the Women’s 1s. They were on a high last Sunday after picking up the first points of their Division 1b campaign and will look to take that confidence into their home fixture against GHK (1430). However, they were well beaten at Old Anniesland a few weeks ago and are under no illusions about the task they face on Saturday.”

“We’re actually on a bit of a comedown from the win on Sunday,” explained Murray Laing. “We’ve a few injuries and I think the girls are now beginning to realise how tough a division we’re in. That said, we’ve a terrific group and maybe being underdog suits us.”

“It’s really important to remember how far we’ve come and what an inexperienced squad we have,” Laing went on. “Six of the girls are 18 or younger! We’re asking a huge amount of them to start in a Division 1 side when they’re still learning the basics.”

Learning the basics or not, the girls are in the mix to stay up and points on Saturday would add plenty of grist to the survival mill. They are on directly after the Men so let’s make sure we stay on and give them the encouragement they deserve.

Our increasingly healthy Men’s 1s benefits one team fairly directly: The Men’s 2s. They have picked up a few returning heroes from last year’s District Cup triumph already and, with the return to 1st team action of the likes of Ian Moodie, Calum Grant and Joe Simpson, are enjoying a trickle-down effect with Niall Sommerville, Dan Prior and Charlie Hibbert all rejoining the 2nd Team fray. They go to Stirling University this Saturday before facing Uddingston away in the cup on Sunday and must get two wins to keep their season alive.

The 3s and 4s face-off tonight in a match brought forward from Saturday to ease pitch congestion. Both teams suffered horrific weekends, only getting a point between them from three games, and tonight will go a long way to deciding the title. If the 3s win they must be favourites but, should the 4s pull off a shock, they not only haul themselves back into contention but do Kelburne 3s a huge favour and push them into pole-position. The game begins at 7pm and both teams would appreciate your support.

On Sunday the 3s are at home to Grange 3s in the Reserve Cup (1300) while the 4s travel to Dundee to play last year’s runners-up, Wanderers. Neither will be easy but both are winnable and it would be fantastic to see two Western teams in the Quarter Finals. Good luck to each team.

The 5s are first up on Saturday at Auchenhowie (1200) and will be hoping to shake off their dismal recent form and record a win for the first time in weeks. They play Hillhead 7s and should be in with a shout of turning things around.

The 6s are at Garscube against Glasgow University having finally got the losing monkey off their back with a win against clubmates the 5s two weeks ago. Uni are a decent side, though, and this will be a tough game for Richard Biggins’ men.

The Women’s 2s promotion bid has wobbled a little in recent weeks and they were well beaten last Saturday by table-topping Caledonian University. They will be very keen for three points away to Greenock while the 3s will look to get another win under their belts at home to another university side: Strathclyde.

Two 6th team stalwarts, Ally Trainor and Gerry McBride, have survived the dreaded cut and been selected for this year’s Scotland Over 55 team.

They have a rigorous training regime to compete to ensure that they are at peak fitness for the various tournaments during the summer. The Home Internationals are in Swansea in June and the organisers are awaiting confirmation that Germany may appear as a guest team as a forerunner to a European Championship next year.

Unfortunately, Allan Murray didn’t survive the cut.

The total number of squares sold for our new pitch is now 1265 out of 5000. There are still one or two pledged contributions to come in plus the money raised by the Fantasy League and the Eco Bags designed by Graham Lister. Things are going well and we are, of course, awaiting news from our various funding applications so we hope to bring you further positive news soon.

Despite the fantastic efforts of many members and Friends of Western, a substantial number of you have done little or nothing to contribute to the drive for a new surface. This pitch will be used by all of you and it would be both helpful and fair if more current, playing members of Western made an effort to fundraise or donate to the cause. Please reflect on what you have done so far and whether this represents a reasonable contribution of your time and/or money. If it doesn't, please take steps to remedy matters.

Minutes from last Thursday's meeting of the Milngavie and Bearsden Sports Club committee will be posted in the bar from tonight. Please take the time to read them and, should you have any comments or questions, address them to your section reps, Roger Jamieson and Stuart Dick.

Our Women's 1s have garnered their first 3 points of their Division 1b campaign with a 2-1 home win over Hillhead yesterday with a Mairi Bowie wondergoal the difference between the teams. This was a vital victory and shows that they are finding their feet at the higher level. On Saturday they lost 2-0 away to Edinburgh University in what is probably the hardest fixture of their season.

The Men's 2s got back on track after the disappointment of last week's defeat with a 5-2 win at Watsonians. Dan Prior and Charlie Hibbert each got two with Dave Polley notching a single.

A gruesome set of results for our title chasing Men's 3s and 4s in West District Division 1. The 4s dropped points at Linwood on Saturday drawing 3-3 with Anchor before capitulating 3-1 at home to Kelburne 3s yesterday while the 3s lost their Sunday fixture 4-2 to Strathclyde University at Millerston.

With so many fixtures postponed the current league table doesn't really tell the full story. Suffice to say that Western 3 and Kelburne 3 have now both lost 3 games and won the rest with Western enjoying a vastly superior goal difference. The 4s trail but could relight their campaign if they manage a second club derby win of the season this week. Still a lot to play for but, as usual, we don't make it easy for ourselves.

The 5s drew 0-0 with Clydesdale 5s on Saturday. We have nothing more to add on this matter.

Finally, the Women's 2s endured a 4-0 defeat at the hands of Caledonian University. Their promotion push seems to be wobbling a little with the Spring. We hope to see them back on track as soon as possible.