Hockey: Brilliant Barr to the fore as Grange hit Watsonians for six

Watsonians were on the receiving end as Grange claimed a 6-1 victory at Peffermill, with Adam Fallis and Cammy Fraser scoring the others.

Grange coach Colin Clarke focused on Saturday’s key clash with Division One title rivals Kelburne in Glasgow in his team talk immediately after the game. Grange have their noses in front, having moved back into pole position as champions Kelburne, who previously  occupied top spot, had their home clash with Glasgow rivals Hillhead postponed.

Clarke said: “We were lethargic in the first-half (against Watsonians) and only lead 1-0, but we gained momentum after the break. We can’t afford to start slowly against Kelburne. They are the best club in Scotland but if we want to win the title then we have to beat them.”

Medical student Andrew Campbell claimed a treble as Edinburgh University shocked city rivals Inverleith 6-3 also at Peffermill.

Edinburgh led 3-0 after 11 hectic minutes but were pegged back to 3-3 four minutes into the second-half.

The hard-working students, minus inspirational former Olympic midfielder, Graham Moodie, their player/coach, dug deep and claimed three  unanswered goals to lift the pressure. Campbell, now in his sixth year, said: “A win was just what we needed. We’ve been unlucky so far with games lost late-on, but we certainly showed some character and finished the job off this time.”

The welcome three points from their second victory of the campaign lifts the students into seventh place in the ten-strong table.

That’s five clear of fellow strugglers Watsonians and  Aberdeen, whose game at  Western was abandoned.