AGM Report - Dundee 6 March 2011

Roy Crichton was elected as one of the two Ordinary committee members in place of Sandy Weir, who stood down. Alex Cathro was re-elected as the other Ordinary committee members and the four Club Officers remain George Black (President), Alan Auld (Club Captain), Ian Downie (Secretary) and Peter Monaghan (Treasurer). The post of WGMA representative was removed from the list of Club Officers, leaving a committee of six members.

It was agreed that Vikki Thompson (née Cotter) would be asked to come with us to the European Cup in Neuss as chiropractor.

Crichton's Team takes the honours in Dundee

Following the AGM in Dundee on Sunday 6 March 2011, four sides of ten players took part in a round robin competition of short matches at Riverside Park. Stand in Glyn Thompson, who was there only to accompany Vikki, our chiropractor, was drafted in for his second ever game of hockey and was a stand out performer. The teams were selected to be as balanced as possible but it soon became clear that Crichton's squad was a little bit stronger than the others, running out easy winners in their first two games against the teams captained by Auld and Wilson. In the last game of the tournament, Downie's team set out to frustrate them and proved impossible to break down. Then Trainor broke through in his side's first attack to score for Downie's team to put them ahead, less than a minute before the final whistle seemed to have gone and players started shaking hands. However Toner explained that his shrill tones were to alert players to the fact that the wrong team had taken a free hit, and that there were still two minutes to go. Instead of going on to snatch a draw in the unexpected 'extra' time, Crichton's crew opened up like the Red Sea to allow Trainor to advance into the circle, draw the keeper, and slip the ball to the unmarked McLernan to score a second. All the same, two wins were enough for Roy's Rovers to claim the honours on the day on goal difference from Wilson's Warriors. Man of the tournament (apart from Glyn) was top goalscorer Peter Gordon. Newcomers Jim Bate and Murdoch Young also caught the eye with steady performances at right back and left striker respectively, though Murdoch is more likely to fit in at left midfield where his cack handed style will make him a hard man to play against!

Euroluc Tournament
Lille 12-13 March 2011

Scottish Thistles finished in third place in the tournament, losing only to the eventual winners and outstanding team of the tournament, Welsh Dragons.

two Donalds combine v France in Lille

All five goals were scored by players called Donald - Dunbar with three and Paterson with two. report

Scottish Thistles Yorkshire Tour
6-7 May 2011

A depleted squad including two goalkeepers (Guy Leighton volunteered to play for both opposing squads) had a very successful tour in social terms, if the hockey results were not so good. On the bright side, Guy had two shut-outs! report

McIntosh wins at Dollar

David McIntosh won the golf outing at Dollar Golf Club on Saturday 21 May 2011 with 38 Stableford points, ahead of Colin Tucker on 36 points. report

Mentors Tournament
Athens 2-5 June 2011

Scottish Thistles took silver in the Over 65s tournament, losing out to England LX only on goal difference after drawing with them in the pool match and beating the other side, Alliance. In the friendly matches which were arranged to bulk out the tournament, Thistles claimed another two draws against strong England LX sides but were unable to cope with the much younger home team, Anavryta 49, their 3-0 loss being the only defeat of the tournament. report

Home Internationals
Durham 18 June 2011

Ally Trainor under pressure against England

England once again captured the Linburn Trophy, heavily defeating a Scotland team down to the bare 11 after injuries to Chisholm and Moore in the first match against Wales, in which a tiring Scotland side failed to hold on to an early lead through Gallacher and conceded two goals in the closing stages. The Over 65s put up a great fight against England, a Crichton goal half way through the second half countering a 2-0 lead for the hosts. Scotland finished in command but could not find the equaliser and went down 2-1. report

 

Aberdeen GSFP Centenary
25-6 June 2011

Scottish Thistles included two guest stars in their line up for the tournament to celebrate the centenary of the Aberdeen GSFP hockey club: Scottish Hockey President Lee Cousins and Honorary President Martin Boag. In spite of this, they went down 2-0 to Grammarians and 1-0 to Aberiginals on Saturday 25 June, then lost on the following day 4-1 against Welsh Dragons, who won the tournament at a canter with three wins out of three. Highlight of the weekend was the only goal for Thistles, scored by Martin Boag against Welsh Dragons.

Scottish Thistles v England O70 Squad
Durham 3 July 2011

A mature Scottish Thistles side, bolstered by silver haired youngsters Burns and Egerton, went down 3-0 to a strong England Over 70s side as part of their preparations for the European Cup. report

WGMA European Cup
Neuss Germany 22-26 August 2011

Scotland took part at Over 60s and Over 65s level in the biennial European Cup competition. The Grand Masters (Over 60s) side took on Belgium, England and Italy in Pool B and missed the play offs for the medals. The Great Grand Masters side played in a round robin against England, Germany, Italy and Netherlands, and finished in fourth place ahead of Italy.

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Dunfermline Carnegie Select
23 October 2011 at Rosyth

Scottish Thistles played a Dunfermline Carnegie select including some very young, and very skilful, players and bolstered by several Thistles subs. The result was an equitable 2-2 draw. report

Colin Tucker's Retiral Tournament
Tweedbank 3 September 2011

Colin is giving up playing for Reivers and, to celebrate, the club organised a tournament in his honour, to which Scottish Thistles were invited, along with Peebles and Borders Ladies. Thistles had a small squad: Pearce (GK), Bryce, Chisholm (Capt), Downie, Lloyd and Robertson. Colin played for Thistles in two of their games, and various bystanders were pressed into service to make up the team. The best result was in the first match which ended 2-2 against Peebles, with a 2-3 reverse against an impressive Borders Ladies side and 3-6 against a much younger home team. The company repaired to Blainsley for pies and lager, and Colin was given a small presentation by his team, for which he had played for over 30 years.

Singapore Grand Masters
Oct-Nov 2011

Scotland lost the first match 5-0 against England. while they played better in the second match against Australia, the result was once more 5-0. Allan Lynn finally broke the scoring duck against New Zealand but again the side shipped five goals to end the first round of matches with no points. England scored eight without reply in the first match of the second round robin and the result in the second match against Australia was another 5-0 defeat, even if Scotland played their best hockey so far. The final match, against New Zealand, ended in a 7-0 defeat. report

Scotland Team in Singapore 28 Oct - 5 Nov 2011

Celtic Cup
Llandudno 26 November 2011

Scotland Over 65s took the inaugural Great Grand Masters Celtic Cup in windswept Llandudno with a 2-0 victory against a Welsh side competing for the first time at international level. In a hard fought, end to end encounter, the Grand Masters Celtic Cup was shared by Wales and Scotland Over 60s after a goalless draw in even higher winds.

Kalman saves from a Welsh penalty corner

The Over 65s repeated their Celtic Cup result in a friendly played on Sunday 27 November, while the Over 60s went down to Wales 1-0 in their friendly. report