Indoor hockey: Inverleith begin title defence with three straight wins

INVERLEITH began the defence of their indoor hockey title with three straight victories at Bell's Sports Centre in Perth.

The Edinburgh club edged Capital rivals Grange 2-1 despite dominating a large proportion of the game with Scottish internationalist Patrick Christie netting both goals.

Inverleith coach Stuart Neave said: “I was really pleased with our progress throughout the day, however, there is a long way to go.”

Grange deserve real credit for the way they worked to close Inverleith down as they entered their half of the court.

That result acted as a springboard and Inverleith came out flying in the second game to lead Glasgow-based Clydesdale 7-2 at the break. They then cruised to an 8-3 victory with Christie and former Olympian Stephen Dick both netting hat-tricks.

Inverleith then demolished Paisley side Kelburne 16-0 in their final outing with Christie and Stuart Hatton both scoring five each and Dick netting four goals.

There was a major early shock when Glasgow side Western Wildcats edged indoor specialists Grove Menzieshill 7-5 in their opening game.