Stepps 10 - 3 East Kilbride (NL Dvision 3 6th February 2010)

Stepps 9 - 4 Waverley Inveresk Trinity (NL Division 3 6th February 2010)

 

Stepps Indoor team after completing a 'perfect' season.

Stepps played out the final to games of the Indoor Season last Saturday safe in the knowledge that the league was already in the bag.

With 12 wins already in Division 3 of the National League, the 100% record was all Stepps had to play for, and under unbeaten captain Robin Gibb, this record was not something they were going to give up easily, and they stormed into the lead in their opening match against East Kilbride. Alister MacDougall and David Hitchon both bagged a brace before half-time, as the men in lack went to the break 5-0 ahead.
Complacency was the Stepps sides main problem as the second half began, and East Kilbride clawed back three goals in quick succesion. The first looked more of a hit than might be allowed indoors, but the EK short corner routines managed to bring them back into the game.
Stepps lifted the tempo with ten minutes remaining, and the EK side couldn't match them for pace. Kenny Miller and Robin Gibb both scored, while MacDougall and Hitchon added to their tallies, before David Norris made it a perfect ten for the league champions.

The second match of the day saw the Stepps men face a Waverly Inveresk Trinity side determined to ruin the party. Both sides started cagily, neither wanting to overcommit in attack. Murray Barr was first on the score sheet for Stepps, followed by David Hitchon, but lapses in concentration at the back gifted a trio of goals to the Edinburgh side. A couple for MacDougall, either side of rattling the crossbar, gave Stepps a commanding lead going into the break.
Tiredness seemed to creep into the Edinburgh sides performance as the second half progressed, though not enough to prevent them scoring a fourth.
Though they missed a fair number of chances, the Stepps trio of Hitchon, Norris and MacDougall stretched the tally to nine, efore the final whistle, thus completing a quite astonishing season where the team has won all 14 games, scored 145 goals and finished with a goal difference of +108.

Congratulations go to all of the players involved and especially Captain and Coach Robin Gibb who now has a record in charge of indoor or 28 wins from 28 games!

 

Stepps 6 - 0 Tinto GC Wanderers (NL Division 3 30th January 2010)

Stepps 8 - 1 Quasar (NL Division 3 30th January 2010)

Stepps went into the games feeling confident that two more wins would secure the Division 3 title, and that is exactly how it played out.

The team welcomed back Alister MacDougal and Andrew Ross with Simon and Barry dropping out from the squad that had played in the previous weekend. It was a strong squad and captain and coach Robin Gibb was expecting the team to see it home.

Stepps started well against Granite City, keeping things tight at the back and gradually making inroads up front. 10 minutes into the game, Stepps got the opener through Alister. The outdoor coach was clearly keen to make an impression in his first indoor game of the seaon, and after the team made it 2-0 Alister rounded the goalkeeper and fired high into the net from a seemingly impossible angle. With Allan keeping things tight at the back, it was a comfortable feeling at 3-0 at half time.

The rest of the game went well, and despite a yellow card for a clearly frustrated Andy McDonald, the team comfortably pushed for a 6-0 victory.

With Quasar losing their first game to Garscadden, Stepps only needed 1 point from the final game to seal the title.

Similarly to the game against GC, Stepps started well and again manufactured a 3-0 lead by half time which included a simply fantastic goal from Alister MacDougal which featured passes from every player in the team barring keeper McCall.

The game was finished by this point, so the only goal outstanding was to try and make the teams goal difference up to a simply incredible +100. Stepps piled on the pressure while remaining firm at the back and got to 8-0 ahead. The team will be disappointed to have lost a goal in the final 5 seconds, denying McCall a clean sheet to equal Allan's in the earlier game, but it has been a fantastic season and every single player that has been involved should be immensly proud of their contribution.

I'm sure all of the players will join me in offering our thanks to Murray Barr as Vice Captain for organising the team.

Captain and Coach Robin Gibb (who stepped in at the last minute to take the team) deserves huge credit. He has put a lot of work into preparing the guys for the games and it is no small co-incidence that his record as indoor captain now reads played 26, won 26!

Well done guys - let's make it a 100% season by taking it to E.K. and Waverley at paisley next week.

Stepps 7 - 7 Monklands (WD Indoor League 24th January 2010)

The honours ended up even after a hard fought game at the school of sport. Stepps recovered from 7-3 down in the second half.

Craig Cathie was delighted to have Simon Breslin and Alister MacDougal.in the squad for the game, and Stepps started well quickly moving 1-0 ahead in the opening stages. Monklands were clearly up for the game however and started to create several chances. Stepps were giving the ball away too cheaply, and that was allowing the quick young Monklands forwards to have 2 or 3 on ones throughout the half. Monklands were playing well, and thoroughly deserved the 5-2 lead that they had built by half time.

After a re-shuffle, Stepps got into their stride quickly. Throughout the half, Stepps created numerous chances and despite a couple of blips at the back managed to get the scores level at 7-7. Chances followed for both sides with Monklands missing out on a short corner opportunity and Stepps missing both a short corner and a penalty flick.

Overall it was a fair result, Monklands clearly benefit from training indoors constantly  as they were quite a good indoor side, but Stepps were happy just to have a good workout to keep guys fit as we approach the outdoor season.

Stepps 5 - 3 Kelburne (WD Indoor League 17th January 2010)

Stepps went into this game knowing that it would be a difficult game against an experienced Kelburne side if they were to keep up their impressive form of late. The team had a few late call-offs and ended up playing with no subs!

The game started brightly as Stepps harried the Kelburne defence and got a shot off early in the game only for it to narrowly miss the target. Kelburne then had a spell of pressure and an attack led to the ball hitting a Stepps foot in the 'D', the resulting short corner was fired into the roof of the net giving keeper Allan MacLeod no chance. This seemed to spur Stepps on, straight from the restart Craig Leggatt, returning from injury, beat his man and found Craig Cathie at the top of the 'D' who looked certain to pass to Andrew McKean only to fool the keeper and slot home the equaliser.

A great piece of play from defender Murray Barr found him in space to pick out Craig Cathie, who then squared the ball back to Murray who had continued his run to pick up the ball and beat the keeper with a great finish from a tight angle. Murray was on the rampage again soon after and linking up well with Craig Leggatt and finding time and space inside the 'D' to coolly slide home his second of the game.

Stepps continued their dominance when young forwards Craig and Andrew made good runs, confusing the opposing defenders for Craig Leggat to pick out Andrew McKean who calmly dived forward to put the ball in the net, only to have it disallowed for an earlier foul. Andrew then had a similar chance later in the half, Barry Fletchers good distribution from the back finding Craig Cathie who squared it to Andrew, the ball looked to be slightly out of his reach, but Andrew took a dive toward the ball and swept it home, this time it counted and Stepps went into half time 4-1 up.

After the break it was an end to end game, if an attack broke down at one end it was straight up to the other. Chances came and went in front of the Kelburne goal, Craig Cathie and Andrew McKean couldn't seem to turn the ball in. Good skill and vision from Andrew found Craig in the 'D' with an open goal, who held on to it to long and let the keeper back in the goal, who then made a save. Craig Leggatt then got the elusive 5^th goal that his play deserved. Twisting and turning he found space, then playing a one-two with Andrew for Craig to fire home the 5^th from top 'D'.

The Stepps boys were getting tired, most of them having played the day before as well, and Kelburne exploited this, earning themselves short corner after short corner, some decisions more questionable than others. Two of these corners were converted, leaving the score at 5-3. Stepps managed to see the game out, and the Kelburne players were getting frustrated with not being able to get the ball, players like Craig Leggatt turning them inside and out, not giving them a chance to steal the ball.

Next up for the Stepps West District Indoor team is a match against Monklands! Next Sunday at the school of sport, half 11 push back. See you there to support the team!

Stepps 12 - 2 Inverleith 2s (National League 16th January 2010)

Stepps 15 - 2 Carnegie (National League 16th January 2010)

Stepps 18 - 1 Garscadden (National League 16th January 2010)

Stepps maintained their momentum from the first half of the season with three more victories at the Lagoon Centre in Paisley. The record is now ten from ten meaning that promotion could be secured at the next indoor weekend.

Stepps were missing top goalscorer Graeme McKean (who sustained a broken leg in the final game before Christmas) as well as influential defender Andy Ross but were boosted by the appearances of Simon Breslin and new signing Barry Fletcher.

All in all, there were only two changes to the starting 6 with Graeme being replaced by Andy McDonald, and McCall starting the first game in place of MacLeod in goal.

It was Inverleith who started brightly though, and Stepps were caught cold with a long pass through the middle of the pitch which the Inveleith forward managed to deflect in before McCall could get there. Worse followed soon after as despite equalising, Stepps found themselves 3-1 down as a rejuvenated Inverleith squad were precise with their passing to find men unmarked at the back post. This was the point for a boost, and Stepps found three quick goals to lead 4-3 with Dave Hitcheon showing that he can be an able replacement for McKean at top D.

The turning point in the half came at this point, when Stepps won a PF from one of Dave's corners. Murray Barr stepped up to take it, but his flick was saved by the keeper. Inverleith then broke up the park to win a corner, and McCall will be disappointed that the shot from the right hand switch squirmed through. 4-4 at half time.

It stayed close in the second half, reaching 6-6 with around 10 minutes to go. Finally Stepps found some momentum and two further goals made it 8-6. There was danger when Inverleith got a PF with 2 minutes left, but McCall made the save with his right boot to prevent any late drama. A tough opening game, with great credit going to Inverleith, but a vital victory was attained.

Carnegie were next in the firing line. MacLeod started this game in goals after McCall's umpire and dance class (dancing to the delightful tunes of the Spin class located in the same hall), declaring that the "good goalie" was now going in. McCall was therefore not to unhappy to see the Big guy get properly pegged in the opening 10 minutes!

Despite that, Stepps were opening up a lead. Finding their rythym, the forward combinations of Norris, Leggat, Hitch, Andy and Si (whichever combination of the three we had on) were tearing the opponents to shreds and creating chance after chance. Carnegie put in a lot of effort, but the game was almost out of sight at half time with the score at 6-3 (ish).

Stepps continued in the same vein in the second half and opened up an 11-4 lead before an off the ball incident saw the opposition keeper yellow carded. After a prolonged break, one of their young guns stepped in and saved everything that Stepps threw at him for 5 minutes. Simon and Craig came on and secured things, and Stepps ran out the winners by 15 to 4.

Finally, Stepps had to face Garscadden. This match ended 18-1 last time, but Stepps showed the necessary respect as this match was restarted at 0-0. Stepps quickly gained the lead, but it was snuffed out not long after to make it 1-1. At this point, Stepps upped a gear, and comfortably made it 6-1 at half time (and goalie McCall stepped off the court to allow big Allan to step in).

Robin, Murray and Barry were looking much more secure at the back than they had in the first game, so Stepps were relatively untroubled. Athough to be fair to the big guy made a quite fantastic save from Garscadden's key striker - a full length dive to the right to tap it round the post.

Stepps secured the points with some cracking goals in the second half. The swith to Si at corners began to pay dividends, and Andy McDonald made his tally 11 for the day when he finished of the team's scoring. Final score 12-1, and Andy is now tied with Graeme at 30 goals for the season.

Captain Robin Gibb was delighted to see the tenth win in a row, and commented "I wasn't feeling too good today as I've been struck down with a cold, but once we got going in the first game there was no turning back. The team is playing some terrific stuff, and if we can keep it going in Dundee in two weeks time, we will almost be there".

Special thanks on the day go to Martin Monaghan and Christine MacDonald for helping us to improve the quality of umpiring at Stepps. They both made up the umpiring panel which assessed Murray Barr and Allan MacLeod who are now confirmed C-Badges at indoor level.

Stepps 7 - 3 Greenock (WD Indoor League 10th January 2010)

by Craig Cathie

The Stepps West District indoor team had their first game back after Christmas against Monklands! Or so captain Craig Cathie told the boys who were playing, also telling them it was red socks. Having checked again on Saturday night, Craig realised it was Greenock and black socks! Causing a lot of last minute hunting for black socks and earning him the DOTD award before the game had even begun!

However, club president Gordon McCall had it on the website that the team were due to play at half past 10. So, being the very punctual team we are, we arrived on time and were ready to play, only for Gordon to announce that we weren't on till half 12 and he had forgotten to tell anyone! The first thing that was said, from Craig Cathie anyway, was "ah well, at least I'm not DOTD!"

Once the game eventually got underway Stepps played some nice hockey, passing the ball around well and trying to find a gap. Some good passing play at the back from Andy Ross and Barry Fletcher found Murray Barr who beat his man to then throw a pinpoint pass to the stick of Craig Cathie at the back post for an easy tap in, a great team goal. After this goal concentration levels dipped slightly and let the men from Greenock draw level from a somewhat dubious goal. Stepps stepped up a gear after this, and more good play from the back 2 led to John McKenna waltzing past the Greenock defenders and finding Craig Cathie in a good position at the back post for another tap in and the second goal of the game.

The Stepps dominance continued with wave after wave of attack on the Greenock goal, one such attack led to Murray Barr flicking a shot at the keeper which he saved, so Murray did the same thing again, and needless to say so did the keeper, and with his third shot he decided to lift it and from 3 yards he well and truly skied it. Chances came and went and it seemed that Stepps were lacking that final touch in front of goal at crucial times. But the men in white went into half time with a 3-1 lead thanks to a Craig Cathie hat-trick, the captain linking up well with fellow strike partner Andrew McKean and slotting home to give Stepps a two goal cushion at the break.

After the break Greenock pushed on, trying to get back into the game, and they did this after some neat play and a goalmouth scramble gave them the opportunity to make it 3-2. Stepps took heart from this and straight from the restart and good play between John and Murray found Craig at the edge of the 'D' who rounded the keeper and slotted home from a tight angle, scoring his 7th goal in 2 games. Murray Barr then got the goals that his overall play deserved, his first came from a good individual run and a smart finish, which helped towards making up for his first half miss. His second was a fluid team move with good passing and moving, the 3 forwards working well together and letting Murray find space to rifle home his 2nd and Stepps 6th.

Greenock tried to find a way back into the game but couldn't find a way past the defence and on the odd occasion they did Gordon McCall was there to clear any danger. John McKenna then linked up well with Andrew McKean and the pair managed to set up a chance which John finished emphatically. By this point Greenock were getting frustrated, and it didn't help that Andrew Ross was toying with their captain, turning him inside and out, then turning back to do it again! John and Andrew then proceeded to rub salt in the wounds, linking up well as they had been all day, John found himself with time and space after a good show of skill to set up Andrew in the 'D' with a chance to score, and Andrew duly obliged, making the final score 8-2 to Stepps. (Or 7-3? I think that's what the team sheet said...)

After the game outdoor captain and manager for the day Craig Leggat said "The guys played well today, linking up well and playing some impressive hockey. It could have been a lot more but credit to Greenock for keeping out the chances we never managed to convert!" The next game for the indoor team is next Sunday against Kelburne in a half past 10 push back (definitely the correct time this week!) at the school of sport.

Stepps P - P Lanarkshire (WD Indoor League 20th December 2009)

Lanarkshire couldn't field a team to take on Stepps, and have withdrawn from the league. Disappointing for our guys who wanted a last hurrah before Christmas, but it did mean that the hangovers from the Christmas night out weren't taken out on the hockey court!

Stepps 12 - 2 Inverleith 2s (National League 19th December 2009)

Stepps 15 - 2 Carnegie (National League 19th December 2009)

Stepps 18 - 1 Garscadden (National League 19th December 2009)

Stepps finished off for christmas with three thumping victories, but the depressing headline for the day was the broken leg for top scorer Graeme McKean (click here for further information).

There was one enforced change to the squad as goalkeeper McCall damaged his elbow last week, so Big Allan MacLeod eagerly stepped in for the day and did not disappoint. In addition, with three games in the day the squad was boosted by the the first NL indoor appearance of the season for Craig Leggat.

While Murray Barr and goalie McCall were in Perth getting their umpiring assessed, the remainder of the squad kicked off against Inverleith. Expecting an onslaught, Inverleith lined up with a half court defence and ensured that they always had their six players between the ball and the goal.

It was therefore a turgid affair, but Stepps developed their lead throughout the game and by the time McCall and Barr had arrived the score was 9-2, although there was a definite feeling throughout the squad that this was the worst that they had played all season. Fortunately, the increased banter provided by the extra two provided a bit of a morale boost and the guys saw out the game in comfort.

A comfortable win, as expected, and everyone was feeling confident for the Carnegie game. Craig Leggat started in centre mid, and Stepps got off to a great start as he was linking brilliantly with McKean and Hitch. Once the first few goals went in there was no danger, but the team lost momentum when Graeme McKean received a yellow card for hitting the ball away just seconds after Andy Ross had gotten a warning for the same offence. Even with only four outfielders, Stepps were still the better team and got to half time leading by (about) 8-0.

The second half followed the same pattern as the first, but the quest for 20 goals was continually thwarted by save after goal line clearance after miss... At the other end, Allan had a few saves to make but couldn't manage to keep a clean sheet as the Carnegie forwards squeezed in a couple of shots. Still, at the end it was job done with a 15-2 victory.

The expectation before the day was that garscadden would provide the toughest challenge. They were a division 2 side until last year, and had won 3 out of four before the start of the day. It was therefore a huge surprise when Inverleith managed to defeat Garscadden with a goal in quite literally the last second of the game (8-7 was the final result).

So Stepps were full of confidence, and no-one more so than Andy McDonald. Some of the stick skills were simply fantastic, and between skinning defenders and rounding the goalkeeper he was simply unstoppable. Garscadden tried to attack, but all that meant was that their players were gettting caught high up the pitch when Stepps were attacking on the counter attack. Inverleith and Carnegie, although potentially more limited in terms of their hockey, had tried to guard against this and that is why it was easier to break through Garscadden.

It was 9-0 by half time, Allan had made a couple of saves but other than Andy Ross's golf swing tackle the defence had looked relatively unflustered. When the score reached 15-0 with ten minutes to go, a 20 goal haul looked like a real possibility. We got to 18, but then disaster struck. Graeme Mckean picked up the ball and went in one on one with the keeper.

He seemed to enter the D at a strange angle, and when the goalkeeper made the challenge Graeme stayed down. There was nothing that anyone could really have done, it was a fair challenge, but it left a really bad taste in the mouth. (Further details here).

And then in the game itself, and after 39 minutes and 50 seconds of good goalkeeping, Allan allowed a shot to squeeze in at the near post and lost a very rare indoor clean sheet. 18-1 the final score.

So halfway through the season, 7 wins out of 7 and a goal difference of plus 59. It has gone exceptionally well and all credit goes to Robin Gibb and all the guys that have played so far this season. It's now time to enjoy the winter break, and look forward to the 16th of January when battle will re-commence in Paisley.

Stepps 5 - 6 Clydesdale (W.D. League, 13th December 2009)

For the first time since the 24th of October, a Stepps side lost - albeit in a closely fought encounter with Clydesdale. On the plus side, the game saw the return of the quite legendary Graeme Marshall in goal.

I am currently awaiting a match report (obviously I myself didn't play or we would not have lost...) from someone who was not so hungover that they can't remember the game (anyone??). Please forward it to mail@stepps-hockey.com and I'll get it posted here!

Stepps 11 - 5 Granite City (National League, 12th December 2009 - 11.00am) &

Stepps 6 - 3 Quasar (National League, 12th December 2009 - 12.00pm)

Stepps romped to the top of NL Division 3 with two convincing wins over their main rivals for the title this season.

Stepps started the day in third place, and with their opponents occupying first and second it promised to be a difficult day at DISC. The squad of 7 who won both games last week were boosted by the availability of indoor (and outdoor) stick whiz Andy McDonald and despite the difficult games ahead there was a feeling of optimism in the car on the way up to Dundee.

Despite the optimism, and the quality team talk from captain Gibb, Stepps started poorly. Murray decapited his stick in the warm up, and had to borrow from keeper McCalll. After this, the team conceded a couple of early chances which the GC forwards failed to convert. Graeme McKean showed them how to do it and put us 1-0 up. Unfortunately, despite the fact that Stepps had all of the possession and pressure, Stepps slipped 3-1 behind with breakaway goals.

This was the queue for the introduction of Andy McD and Andy Ross, and by this point the alcohol in Dave Norris's system from the night before was beginning to burn off and help to power the afterburners in Dave's trainers. Stepps tore into GC, and before half time had managed to secure a 6-3 lead through a variety of great finishes. It was worth noting that McKean did finally fail to convert a corner as the ball bounced off the goalie and over - he did score every other one he got right enough...

Halftime was fairly placid in the Stepps camp, and we were confident going into the second half. Our forwards were getting stuck in by now, and Stepps pushed ahead. The scoreline was widened further, and despite GC pulling one back Stepps scored some cracking goals to develop an 11-4 lead throughout the half. My personal highlight was Muzza's goal.

Mckean picked the ball up on the left hand side, beat his defender, then absolutely fizzed a shot at goal. Like a self propelled rocket, it rose onto the bar and flew accross the court, seemingly out of play. 10 out of the 12 players gave up as the ball seemed to be heading over the boards at the side of the pitch, but Muzza kept his eyes on the ball. His eyes lit up as the ball dropped like a stone off the sideboard straight to his frontstick and he eagerly despatched the ball into the empty goal. Nothing like a bit of luck to boost the goals tally!

11-5 (after a cheeky late goal from Simon Hudson) and a great start to the day from the team, without even conceding a short corner. On a personal note it was great to see Simon playing away (albeit for the wrong side...), there a plenty of good guys that we know well throughout Scottish Hockey and it is good to bump into them every now and again.

A great second half performance meant that Stepps went into the second game against Quasar on a high. That said, so did the opposition as they had simply demolished Garscadden in the opening fixture (12-2 ish?).

It was a cagy start, but Stepps created the first opening and duly took a 1-0 lead. Unfortunately, a slight abhorration from Mr. McCall in goals let the opposition back in with a tame shot from the angle finding the net. And the first half followed this pattern. Andy Ross found the net to make it 2-1 (the Karachi King, what a stick!), but Quasar pushed forward and made it 2-2.  And the same happened when we took a 3-2 lead, and it was back to 3-3 at half time.

Also worth noting that while McCall was making a good case for D.o.t.D. with a couple of disappointing goals, Robin secured the award with a strange ball across his own D, that resulted in keeper McCall having to make a quick block. As the player's prepared for the resultant short corner, Hitch made his feelings clear when he approached Robin with his arms out to his side and exclaimed "What the f*** was that?". Only Hitch could do that and avoid a fist in the forehead, but very funny nonetheless. Hockey and banter, thats why we enjoy indoor so much!

Anyway, back to the game and it was close, too close at half time. Everyone was getting a bit agitated, but Stepps roared out of the traps in the second half. The Quasar goal resembled the Alamo, but despite hitting the post (with an open goal and two players unmarked), seeing several clearances cleared off the line and, well, just about everything keeping the ball out, Stepps didn't lose heart and regained the lead. This time, McCall and his defence had shored things up and other than a few very comfortable saves (and one uncomfortable one that resulted in what feels like a cracked elbow...) the defence was untroubled. Stepps increased their lead to 6-3, and were not going to let this slip. That was the final score, and it could have been more.

Another great day for the squad, and for Robin in particular who was overjoyed with the performances - particularly with Hitch who was very rightly crowned man of the match for his performances over the two games. The beer stop at Tesco's for Andy McD, Andy Ross and Hitch had been well earned, and they left two in the car for McCall which was nice!

Next week Stepps are looking to make it 7 from 7, with games against relegation contenders Carnegie and Inverlieth 2s, as well as an interesting tie against Garscadden. Christmas turkey will taste so much better when sitting top of the table, so lets get it done!

Stepps 11 - 3 Helensburgh (W.D. League, 6th December 2009)

It's that time of the season again, and this season Stepps have entered a West District Indoor team. The first game of the 7 fixtures was against Helensborough and we went into the game without outdoor captain Craig Leggat, the solid Barry Fletcher and other key players. But on the plus side, new captain Craig Cathie and fellow youngster Andrew McKean were on hand to make their indoor debuts.

The game started brightly for the Stepps side with good play from Andy McDonald finding Craig Cathie in the D but the youngster was unable to make the most of the opportunity. Andy, with his trademark Indian dribble, then waltzed passed 3 Helensborough players and calmly slotted the ball past the keeper for 1-0. Stepps continued to dominate the game with good play from John McKenna, picking out pinpoint passes which led to great chances, but Stepps couldn't find a way past the keeper who seemed to be saving everything.

 

Good play from Graeme McKean down the left hand side found Andy McDonald in the D who fired a shot at the keeper, but his save fell to Craig Cathie to scramble home his first goal of the season, and first of his indoor career. After this, the floodgates opened. Graeme McKean made many runs from the heart of the defence, where he was playing as the 6^th outfield player as Allan MacLeod (a keeper) didn't want to play in goals! One of these runs resulted in a great finish by Graeme, showing why he is first choice indoor flicker for the 1s. Andy McDonald then went on to complete his hat-trick and take the tally to 6-1.

 

Young Andrew McKean's hard work finally paid off, the forward had been putting in an excellent shift and was rewarded with his first goal in his hockey career with a smartly taken goal, giving the keeper no chance with the finish. Andrew and Craig linked up well for Stepps 7^th, the two players making good runs which puzzled the Helensborough defence, and a neat pass from John McKenna found Cathie in the D who made no mistake with the finish.

 

However, the same can't be said for Andrew McDonald. After good play on right from Anthony McKean and Craig Cathie, Craig's pass took the keeper out the equation to find Andy 3 yards from goal, who then managed to hit the keeper who wasn't standing in the goals! Earning him the coveted D.O.T.D. award. A mere 30 seconds later Andy made up for this miss with a good run and powerful flick from top D which made it 8. A well worked passage of play involving all the 3 McKeans, Anthony, Andrew and Graeme, resulted in Stepps earning a short corner which Graeme then flicked off a defender on the line, winning a PF. Up stepped Craig Cathie for his hat-trick, confident after his performance so far, only to put the ball high, wide and not at all handsome. Safe to say he won't be on penalties any more!

Anthony and John, solid at the back, decided to work their way up the pitch and create a great chance for Andrew McKean to net his second of the game, and he duly obliged with a neat finish. Craig Cathie was the second player of the game to complete his hat-trick, with Andy McDonald at the heart of the move setting up Craig for an emphatic 3^rd. Allan MacLeod, playing outfield for this game, was almost rewarded for his efforts after a venomous flick from top D was turned away by the Helensborough keeper, had it not been for him Stepps could have been well into the 20s by this point.

 

Helensborough managed to claw a couple of goals back, a combination of good play and mistakes at the back resulted in the opposition making it 10-3, but Andy McDonald then went up the pitch after the restart to score his 5^th and final goal of the game, which Graeme McKean wasn't too pleased about!

 

After the match captain Craig Cathie said "It was a good performance, we could and should have had a lot more! It was a great debut for me and Andrew, getting a few goals and the all important win. I think we can be happy with result, considering we played the match without even a kicking back, the defence should be delighted with the job they done, even if John was gutted he didn't score!"

Next week Stepps are at the School of Sport for a 12:30 game against Clydesdale.

(Thanks to Craig Cathie for the match report)

 

 

Stepps 10 - 3 Waverley (National League, 5th December 2009 - 15.30pm) &

 

Stepps 6 - 3 East Kilbride (National League, 5th December 2009 - 13.40pm)

Stepps got their indoor season off to a flying start with two wins at Dundee University.

Travelling with a squad of 7, and less than ideal preparation with the team not being finalised until the last session and the training sessions being disrupted by lack of player availability, the only goal was to try and get into a bit of rythym and play some good stuff.

Newly appointed captain and coach Robin Gibb had clearly done his homework though, and his team talk before the first game was clearly inspired, despite repeated interruptions from a certain Murray Barr who seemed to have had too many Macchiatos during his shift at Starbucks that morning.

East Kilbride always provide stiff opposition, but Stepps got off to a good start with Graeme McKean finding the net early on in the game to give Stepps the lead. East Kilbride then had a succession of corners but goalkeeper McCall and his defence stood firm. From the third successive corner, a save from McCall fell to the feet of a Stepps defender and his quick thinking released McKean at the other end to get the team 2 up. The scoreline changed quickly, with E.K. forcing long passes through the centre of midfield. They got to 2-1, then 3-2, just before halftime.

E.K. started the second half strongly, but Stepps had re-shaped the defence to counter their style of attack. Despite a few saves, E.K. managed to pass around McCall and get the equaliser. The strength of character in this Stepps team then came through, with three goals inside a minute putting the game beyond the opposition. McKean, Norris and Hitch were linking superbly and the hockey was scintilating. Only an outstanding performance from the E.K. keeper kept the game from ending up in double figures as Stepps opened their campaign with a win.

After a break of around an hour, Stepps were then ready to face a Waverley side that have not had their problems to seek in recent times. Waverley's corner team had caused Garscadden problems in the previous game, so Mccall was aware of the potential threat and had planned accordingly.

It was the Stepps corner team that really began to find it's range however. Graeme McKean has been working on his top D corners, and was absolutely zinging them in during the first half of the game. Stepps gradually built a lead of 6 goals to 1 by halftime with everyone in the team, from McCall flying out to the top od the D to thunder through the opposition forwards, to Dave Hitchon's continually improving link up play with McKean. Even Murray Barr from right back was getting in on the action despite a nasty blow to the hand.

The second half started uncomfortably as Waverley pushed to get back into the game. Within 1 minute of the re-start, Waverley got a disputed penalty corner and for the only time during the day McCall was beaten from the top of the D. Waverley got a boost from this, but Robin Gibb and Murray were looking strong in defence along with Dave Norris who put in a tireless shift in the middle. The pressure was cranked up when Robin made his only mistake of the day to clatter into a forward and concede a short corner, but with "a bit of Fraser", McCall and his defenders were more than equal to what Waverley had to offer.

Around ten minutes into the half Stepps found their second wind and played their best hockey of the day. 6-2 became 9-2 over the space of five scintilating minutes, during which the corner team cranked into fifth gear (McKean flicking so hard down the middle of the goal that the goalie actually moved out the way...) and McCall producing good saves when it mattered (including very manfully taking one on the knee without even wincing with pain...). Andy Ross also made an amazing diving tackle, successfully claiming that as his whole body was on the ground he only had one point of contact :).

A couple of goals in the last few minutes saw the game finish 10-3, and Stepps can be absolutely delighted with the start they have made.

Captain Robin Gibb was absolutely delighted, and I'm sure he'll give me a quote at training on Monday.

Next up are two other teams that have two wins from 2, Quasar and Granite City (including Simon Hudson). This will be a very stern test, so please make yourselves available for selection if you can.