Merlins Gordonians 2 took on Aberdeen Uni 2 in the first night of our spring midweek hockey fixtures which have the club's supporters teeth a-chattering at the prospect of more hockey matches for their free season pass.

A spirited display from our Ladies 2s against a well drilled unit saw the Students run out 3-0 deserved victors; however, a lot of plus points taken from the game including the fine performances of the school girls involved and competing well throughout the game leave Captain Fettes with hope springing eternal that in the repeat fixture on Sunday 12th March Merlins will give the students some Varsity Blues.

Wednesday 8th March:
A small yet vocal crowd of seasoned supporters were treated to a feast of tactical hockey to celebrate International Women's Day in match 2 of the spring midweek hockey fixtures as Merlins Gordonians 1 hosted Glasgow Uni 1.

Coach Walker set out his side in a strong 3-5-2 formation which the team diligently applied and it shored up the space available to the strong passing game that Glasgow Uni are famed for. Boosted by the support from the crowd, Merlins controlled the midfield area of the pitch and worked hard maintaining the structure. Where Glasgow Uni found a way through they were met by Keeper Cowie who was clearly inspired by the bright lights of the spring hockey as she nimbly dealt with first and second phase shots. Merlins led by one goal at half time through the fleet-footed Jen Wright who was clearly pushing her fitbit stats to the max on the amount of yards covered at Pelican Park.

The 2nd half continued in much the same way as the first. The crowd (boosted by some generic instant coffee) continued in fine voice drawing admiring comments from the near-side umpire; the team continued to maintain their strong structure and move the ball well between the lines and the outlet provided by Jen Wright continued to be an effective attacking weapon. She can run fast....I mean very very very fast. Mid way through the half, one run took her from half way line to the D and she unleashed a low reverse shot which nutmegged the keeper. 2-0 Merlins. 2 goals to Jen Wright. High 5s all round.......at this point I can only guess that the ever defensively-minded Coach Walker pulled even more players back behind the ball as the match concluded 2-0 and the Barca v PSG game had started on tv which distracted me so I bailed out.

Strong plus points for Merlins as they used their big bench well (despite the growing list of injuries and lack of availability of regular players) and the young team members matched their more experienced team-mates on the night to ensure that the 3-points and a clean sheet were picked up in a very structured and disciplined passing performance.