Hockey: Grange ready to KO Kelburne with another shock wave

GRANGE hockey coach Colin Clarke believes his team will have benefited from a shock victory over Kelburne last month as the clubs go head-to-head in tomorrow’s Scottish Cup final at Peffermill (4pm).

While the youngsters in his line-up will now believe the newly-crowned Division One champions aren’t invincible, Clarke feels Kelburne will be smarting following the 3-1 defeat at Bellahouston which ended the West of Scotland club’s 16-game unbeaten league run. And he said: “We’ll need to be at our best if we are to beat them on Saturday.”

The West of Scotland side, fresh from reclaiming a place in the European Hockey League after reaching the EuroHockey Club Champions Trophy Final in Lille last weekend, are on a high.

And Clarke warned his full-strength line-up to be ready for a tough battle. “Kelburne are a super team. They didn’t win the cup last year and will want to take the silverware back to Kelburne to add to the Division One title,” he said. “Our younger players, in particular, have benefited from the 3-1 win over Kelburne recently in the league. This proves to them that we can compete with the best.”

Other Edinburgh interest on the day focuses on the men’s and women’s Plate Final. CALA Edinburgh, currently facing a play-off tie to stay in Division One, face Dunfermline-based Alpha Data Carnegie (noon).

In the women’s event (10am) it’s an all-Edinburgh affair between Erskine Stewart’s Melville and Inverleith Ladies.