Helensburgh Hockey Club teams defeat Kelburne and Hillhead

The first XI went into their match at the National Hockey Centre full of confidence after the previous week’s win over Western 4, and it showed early on, with plenty of possession in the opening stages and some nice, sleek hockey.

An early goal helped boost Burgh’s confidence; Gordon Black started the move with a ball into the middle to Adam Carmichael, who picked out Jamie Caulfield’s great run into the right channel, with Caulfield cutting inside and finding Nick Groves at the back post for a nice finish.

Nick Groves opened the scoring for Helensburgh's first XI away to Kelburne 3. (Image: Helensburgh Hockey Club) Kelburne struggled to break through the Helensburgh line early on, with aimless crash balls easily dealt with by the away defence, and Burgh added their second midway through the half when Daniel Dooley showed neat skill on the left wing after being picked out by captain Rob Heywood and then set up young Logan Hill, whose nice first touch was followed by an even better second as he calmly dispatched the ball into the bottom corner.

But Kelburne steadily gained a foothold in the game and a series of fouls in Helensburgh’s defensive areas began to cause the Burgh side some issues, with the home team pulling a goal back out of nothing after a big hit into the D was controlled well and placed past Mark Findlay in goal.

Helensburgh came out fighting in the second half but the game turned into a gritty battle for possession after the interval, with Kelburne eventually gaining a penalty corner from which Findlay saved the first effort on goal and Brian Kennedy the second – though unfortunately for Helensburgh, Kennedy’s block on the line came off his head, with the home side converting the resulting penalty stroke to draw the game level.

Burgh, though, didn’t allow their heads to drop: in fact they took the game by the scruff of the neck in a bid to regain the lead.

Dooley was tearing up the wings, and his ball into the D was well attacked by Helensburgh – and though the Kelburne keeper was on top form to block the visitors’ first effort, the rebound found Mark Ormsby just outside the D, and he bundled his way into the area before unleashing a lethal reverse stick strike that nestled into the roof of the net to put Burgh back in front.

Mark Ormsby netted Helensburgh's third against Kelburne. (Image: Helensburgh Hockey Club) Helensburgh continued to press, while retaining an important air of calm about the team, and as their opponents tired, Caulfield, Groves and Dooley all had efforts saved by the Kelburne keeper.

The game was finally put to bed by another sweeping Helensburgh move down the right wing; Dooley was involved again as he found Gavin Mackenzie on the base line, and his ball back to Carmichael was calmly dispatched into the bottom corner to give Helensburgh the breathing room they needed to see out the rest of the game relatively comfortably.

Team: Mark Findlay; Mike Jones; Harry Green; Brian Kennedy; Rob Heywood (c); Mark Ormsby (1); Gordon Black; Daniel Dooley (MoM); Nick Groves (1); Jamie Caulfield; Adam Carmichael (1); Gavin Mackenzie; Logan Hill (1); Alex Driver.

Thanks to Andy Richardson for umpiring.

The Helensburgh 3rd XI’s opponents at Balgray were a team full of skilful youngsters, but Helensburgh’s experience proved crucial as they eased to a comprehensive victory.

Young Rory Clarkson earned the Burgh side an early penalty corner which was comfortably converted by Mark Findlay with a reverse stick effort.

A second penalty corner not long after, earned by Callum Court’s efforts in the D, was converted by veteran Barry Cox – though Hillhead did look threatening on occasion, and though Benji Jones had a good game in goal, he couldn’t keep all the home team’s efforts out and Hillhead did eventually pull one back.

Helensburgh, though, regained their two-goal lead just before half-time when James Pettit pounced on a shot that had deflected up over the Hillhead goalkeeper.

And the Burgh team pressed home their advantage in the second half, with Alan Bowman adding a fourth at the back post after Andy Richardson found some space just outside the D and had the guile to pick out his team-mate in the perfect scoring position.

Veteran Barry Cox, left, got among the goals for Helensburgh's third XI away to Hillhead 8. (Image: Helensburgh Hockey Club) Goal number five wasn’t far behind, with Findlay adding his second courtesy of a low drive into the corner; man of the match Alex Driver, who had an excellent game on the wing, then got in on the act, though his goal wasn’t intentional, with his ball across the D, aiming for the back post, getting a fortunate touch off the oncoming Hillhead keeper to send it into the net.

Helensburgh’s final goal also had a touch of luck about it; James Pettit did all the hard work, beating a couple of defenders before setting up Findlay for his hat-trick; the keeper-turned-striker got a fortunate touch off the oncoming goalkeeper, which saw the ball trickle through and left Findlay with the simplest of tasks to tap into the empty net.

Team: Benji Jones (c); Andy Richardson; Richard Park; Duncan Lemay; Craig Keith; Barry Cox (1); Mark Findlay (3); James Pettit (1); Alex Driver (MoM)(1); Alan Bowman (1); Rory Clarkson; Callum Court; David O’Donnell; Daniel Robbie.

Thanks to Logan Hill for umpiring.

This Saturday, September 28, Helensburgh’s second XI take on Kelburne 4, while the third XI are away in Dumfries.

If you’d like to get involved with hockey in Helensburgh, check out helensburghhockey.co.uk or see the ‘Helensburgh Hockey Club’ page on Facebook.