LOCH Lomond Hockey Club went from one extreme to the other in their first two matches of the new season – beating Western Wildcats IV by a remarkable margin of 18-0 before a threadbare squad fell to a 9-0 loss at the hands of Rottenrow Blue Sox II.

Loch Lomond have opted to field just one team this season, in West District Division 4, after losing a number of players for various reasons; though some players have been welcomed back to the club, numbers currently aren’t enough to allow the club to field two teams.

No-one could have predicted such an emphatic win for the new-look squad in the season opener, but the young Wildcats couldn’t handle a home side filled with a mixture of youth and experience.

Loch Lomond were sharp and hungry and closed down almost every ball, keeping the Wildcats defence very busy and forcing their goalkeeper to make save after save. The home side were relentless in their attacks and with Chloe Scherius and Eliza Ritchie dominating the centre ground, the strikers were given great service and all managed to get on the score sheet, some multiple times.

Loch Lomond played some wonderful flowing hockey that was a joy to watch and certainly gave their spectators plenty to cheer about. Slick passing, quick give-and-go play, and great running into space and off the ball had the visitors working hard to try and gain any possession.

Strikers Gillian Finch and Paige Scherius held their own with regards to some fabulous off the ball work and striking prowess, giving Loch Lomond one of their best victories in terms of goals scored.

Although the back line didn’t have too much to do, they broke down every attempt at an attacking foray by Wildcats, denying them any opportunity of getting on the score sheet even when the home side played without a goal keeper in the last two quarters. This was a match that Loch Lomond totally dominated and controlled having 80 per cent of the possession.

The goal tally was split between midfielder Chloe Scherius and all of the home strikers – Paige Scherius, Gillian Finch, Niamh Barrie and young debutante Alex Stewart, playing in her first competitive match.

Paige Scherius was named Loch Lomond’s player of the match after an unplayable performance in which she ran the opposition ragged, with Florence Saunders runner-up; the Wildcats gave their Loch Lomond player of the match to Caroline Lyall, who was solid in defence as ever.

A special thanks to Richard Schooling for umpiring and to Ozaki Custom Conversions for kit sponsorship.

Squad: Anne McGregor, Eve Howard, Caroline Lyall, Sue Aikman, Anna Currie (capt), Chloe Scherius, Eliza Ritchie, Jenny Tripney, Paige Scherius, Ava Currie, Gillian Finch, Niamh Barrie, Florence Saunders, Alex Stewart.

Sadly it was a different story in Saturday’s second match of the league campaign, as school holidays and injuries left Loch Lomond struggling to put out a team and leaving them outplayed by a strong and experienced home side.

Having only 10 players was always going to be a challenge against an organised and well-drilled Blue Sox team who came out of the traps quickly and scored their first goal within the first 2 minutes.

Thereafter they came at Loch Lomond in waves of attacking play, forcing keeper Anne McGregor into making save after save.

An injury to Alexandra Smith early on forced her to drop back into defence, with Sophia McDermott moving into midfield, and though some stalwart last-ditch defending kept the home side at bay for a little while, particularly after a series of penalty corners, Blue Sox soon made the most of their extra player, adding three more goals to go into half-time 4-0 ahead.

Sadly for Loch Lomond, another injury saw the team depleted to just nine players, with Lucy Macrae forced on to the sidelines.

Though Blue Sox made it 5-0 with a penalty flick which seemed a rather harsh award, Loch Lomond kept plugging away and forced a couple of saves from the Blue Sox keeper before nearly finding the net from a penalty corner.

The visitors played some good flowing hockey at times, putting together some nice one-twos to set up shots on goal, but the Blue Sox keeper played well to keep all Loch Lomond’s attempts at bay.

Loch Lomond tried to retain possession to limit the damage, but tiring legs and the extra two Blue Sox players took their toll in the last quarter of the match, and despite a valiant effort from the whole squad, they were unable to stop the onslaugh, and the home side notched up another four goals before the full-time whistle to complete their 9-0 victory.

Loch Lomond gave their player of the match award jointly to Lucy Macrae and Sophia McDermott, with Sophia also winning the opposition player of the match vote. The rest of the squad were runners-up!

Squad – A. McGregor (capt), E. Wotherspoon, C. Lyall, S. McDermott, A. Daveney, A. Smith, M. Glover, G. Finch, N. Barrie & L. Macrae.

Any females 12 years and upwards who fancy giving hockey a try are encouraged to come along to training sessions, which take place every Tuesday evening from 7-9pm at Our Lady and St Patrick’s High School in Dumbarton.

Whether you have played before or are a complete beginner, you will be made most welcome. Please do come along and give it a try – hockey is a great team sport and could help your mental and physical health.