The Men's 1s got their season off to a winning start with a 6-1 defeat of Hillhead. Western started well and were 3-0 up at the quarter but their good play stalled and it wasn't until the closing moments when they put things properly to bed. Andrew McConnell's excellent hat-trick and the midfield displays of Calum Duke and Fraser Moran (who scored) were the most noteworthy things about this encounter alongside Fraser Calder's double.
Elsewhere, the 2s saw off Uddingston 2s with a hat-trick from Cammy Moran and singles from Luke Bannerman and Matt O'Toole from a penalty corner. The 3s beat Uddingston 3s 4-3 in a ding-dong affair. Uddingston missed a penalty at 3-3 before Roddy MacCallum snatched victory for Western at the death with his second of the game.
The Women's 1s played some decent hockey on Friday night but just couldn't find a way to goal. They drew 0-0 with Hillhead in their opener.
Finally, the Women's 2s set their season running with an excellent 6-2 victory away to Ayr. Anna Murray scored a debut goal in first two minutes sniping at the back post after Nataly Chase’s initial strike on goal. Things settled down with Ayr playing a direct game and the Cats struggling on a slow sand based pitch. Eventually the girls went 2-0 through Natalya Chase.The game lacked fluidity and Ayr came back into things, most notably with goals from former internationalist Amy Hyslop. After some words of encouragement before the final quarter, the ‘Cats took control again and, even after losing Lucy Mcmillan through injury, dominated the final moments.