Shetland have ‘turned the corner’ in inter-county as blues win third cup in four years
Coach Derek Leask praises mentality of side in 1-0 victory
SHETLAND banished another unwanted record this weekend by winning their first hockey match in Kirkwall in normal time since 1982.
Despite winning the Lady Hamilton Cup on penalty flicks two years ago, the blues had never triumphed away from home without penalty flicks for a whole 44 years.
That was until Rhea Nicolson scored the solitary goal on Saturday to secure a 1-0 win in Kirkwall, and to make it back-to-back victories on away soil for Shetland.
Ladies hockey coach Derek Leask was delighted after his team “weathered the storm” in Orkney – both literally and figuratively – to win their third inter-county in four years.
“Orkney were really good, they had a lot of younger players that really stepped up this year,” he said.
“It felt like two tough teams who nullified each other a wee bit. We kind of smothered Orkney, they never really created a lot of chances.”
Shetland went ahead at the end of the first quarter and Leask said Orkney “had to come out at us” after that.
The reds missed a gilt-edged opportunity from the penalty spot, talisman Hannah Cromarty’s flick sailing past the post towards the end of the match.
And despite a few nervy moments in the final quarter, Leask said he felt his team had stood up to everything thrown at them superbly.
“It wasn’t the best game for the spectators but it was a different type of hockey,” he told Shetland News.
“We’re good at that defensive side now, we don’t concede very many goals. There’s not many teams that score against us.
“They were the home side, playing with a strong gale at their back, so we totally expected them to come at us. But Megan [Nicholson] didn’t have to pull off any tremendous acrobatic saves.
“I was really impressed that we weathered that storm and then we went at them again, and we looked the team more likely to score at the end.”
Leask feels Shetland have “definitely turned the corner” in the inter-county. Having waited over a decade for a win in the fixture, the blues have now won three out of four – and only lost that one on penalties.
“The last time Shetland won in regulation time in Orkney was in 1982. None of the lasses were born then so shows how long we have had to wait for that result,” he said.
“We have high standards to maintain now.”
He was full of praise for the team Shetland spirit in Orkney throughout the weekend, with the men’s football team coming along to the Pickaquoy Centre to roar the hockey team on before they returned the favour a few hours later.
Leask said it felt that Shetland supporters outnumbered their county rivals on the day.
“It was a big boost for the lasses to have the boys cheering them on from the side.
“Credit to the football boys, they enjoyed the whole occasion together. The lasses and boys were having a great time, so it was great to see that.”
Attentions now turn to Shetland’s first ever participation in the North district league, starting in September, as reported by Shetland News last week.
Leask said they would “just see how it goes” as they step into the unknown, with no specific goals set down for the competition.
He hopes however that Shetland’s participation in the league will be a “conduit” to get more people playing hockey.
“We need to get more younger players coming through,” he said.
“We’re trying to get more folk involved in hockey. We know that travel to Brae is a bit of a disincentive for a lot of folk.
“There’s loads of opportunities for folk to play in Orkney, and in Kirkwall.”
He added that Shetland Hockey hopes a new pitch in Lerwick can go ahead “sooner rather than later” so that they can develop more new players.
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