Pictures by Derek Young Photography
Last weekend saw Scottish Ice Hockey host the first of 2 National tournaments where Scotland juniors played their English counterparts. Saturday and Sunday saw the U15s, U17s & U19s take to the ice, each team playing two fiercely contested games. Over 600 fans watched the youth games over the weekend.
U15s: Saturday saw the U15s keep fans on the edge of their seats. England were leading 2 goals to 1 but a shorthanded goal by Scotland’s Callum McLaren seconds before the final buzzer put the game into OT. Not just 1 period of overtime but 2, with the winning goal scored by Cole Giannadrea to the delight of the Scotland fans.
On Sunday, the young side found their feet early with a dominant performance from the start. Callum McLaren once again found the back of the net with the opening goal on the power play, shortly followed by their second goal courtesy of Cole Wallace. Scotland led 4-0 before England bagged their only goal, then Lennox Deeney chalked up the 5th for Scotland, taking the win over England for the weekend.
U17s: Both of the Scotland U17s games were close. Saturday’s one saw England quick off the blocks with their first goal just 1 minute after puck drop. Liam Houston scored the equaliser for Scotland, taking advantage of the power play. By the start of the 3rd period, England were leading 4 goals to 2 but Flynn Massie narrowed their lead. However, Scotland just couldn’t find the back of the net before the final buzzer and England took a narrow win 4-3.
Sunday’s scoreline was even tighter as both sides reflected on the previous day’s game. England made the most of the power play and scored first, only for Scotland’s Gregor Donaldson to equalise. England were on the offence but netminder Caiden McColl kept his cool between the pipes. Both sides dug deep but with neither side managing to score the winning goal in regulation time, it went to overtime which England clinched, securing the weekend win for the U17s age group.
U19s: Anticipation was high for the U19s weekend games. They were halfway through the series of 4 games against their English counterparts after playing at the draft showcase in Sheffield the previous weekend where it was 1 game apiece.
Saturday saw the Scottish side looking to repeat their performance from their last meeting, and Scotland fans were not disappointed as they led 2-0 at the end of the first period. 2nd period saw Lewis Neave add the third goal before Scotland netted a further 2. At 4-0 at the start of the 3rd, it was Scotland’s Ross Chalmers that bagged the 5th, but it wasn’t long before England scored on the power play ahead of Scotland’s 7th goal of the game. Just 3 minutes left on the clock and England scored, but it was too late to pull it back and Scotland won 5-2.
Sunday also saw Scotland’s U19s dominate the game with a 5-2 victory. 1 – 1 was the scoreline in the 1st period with Captain Gary Kelly netting the goal. 4 more goals in the second period for Scotland and England scored once. Last period saw frustrations rise but neither side added to their scores, resulting in Scotland U19s winning the weekend’s games and also the Frank Dempster memorial trophy.
Next weekend sees the turn of the younger Scotland and England teams in Dumfries, as the U9s-U13s take to the ice. Advance tickets are still available.
