Hockey: Inverleith ready for crunch title clash, insists Neave

The Edinburgh-based title pretenders stayed on the coat-tails of the Dundee club with back-to-back wins at Perth on Saturday.

Grove Menzieshill consolidated their position at the top of Division One with two crushing victories. The Dundee side, the current holders of the title, top the eight-strong table with 12 points from four matches.

Inverleith and Kelburne also have 12 points but Menzieshill have a plus 51 goal difference while Inverleith have plus 27 and Kelburne, who have played five games, are at plus ten.

Ross McPherson and Allan Law both claimed four goals in Grove’s 18-1 demolition of Dundee rivals Harris in their opener at Perth.

And it was Scottish internationalist Chris Wilson who top scored with a treble in the 9-3 win over a young Grange side.

Inverleith’s former Olympian Graham Moodie hit a double in a 9-2 win over outdoor champions Kelburne and another three in the club’s 6-1 victory over Dundee Wanderers. Neave has one training session on Wednesday to get into gear but said: “You have to be happy with two wins and we’re level on points with Grove.

“I feel we still have to up our game before we play them but we’re taking nothing for granted. We have two games to play at Perth before we face Grove. Our first game is against Harris who are at the bottom of the  table and the second one on Saturday is against Grange. Both have good players.”