Wet and wintry weather returned last Saturday as Arran Ladies faced Uddingston Clinetix Ladies 2s, league leaders in the West District women’s hockey league division three, in their last home match of the season. The Arran ladies knew this was going to be a tough match. In preparation, vicecaptain and acting club coach Lorraine Hewie had devised a series of drills to establish a new defensive formation which the team had practised at training.
During the match, this formation proved invaluable as the Uddingston forward line battled relentlessly, but without success, to gain access to the Arran shooting zone, their efforts thwarted by Arran’s defensive line of Ellie Wood, Mia Walker, Jenny Stark, Cat Galbraith, Freya McNicol, Elyse Aitken and Ninja McKie. Elyse Aitken’s clearance from the ‘D’ saw the ball travel from the back line to the mid’s, thus enabling Arran’s Lorraine Hewie to begin her run into the opposition’s ‘D’. Despite immense pressure from Uddingston’s defence, Lorraine was able to execute a stunning aerial shot on target, forcing the keeper to leap into the air to prevent it entering the goal. However, Helen Thomson was waiting in the wings for the rebound and her signature ‘rocket shot’ resulted in the first goal of the match, putting Arran ahead.
Arran Ladies knuckled down and, for the next 20 minutes, the midfield line of Hazel Malakoty, Judith Ross, Hannah McCartney and Megan McNicol held fast in the face of the opposition’s determination to even the score. At the half time whistle the score was Arran 1, Uddingston 0.