HELENSBURGH Hockey Club’s season restarted this week with the first team held to a thrilling draw at home to Dumfries.

The first team faced Dumfries at Hermitage Academy. Burgh were unbeaten in three after a win and two draws going into the tie.

The Burgh defence coped with attacks from the away side – Stuart was playing a pivotal role in the centre of defence, intercepting many passes before they became threats. One such interception led to the first goal of the game.

His pass into the D sailed through many sticks and onto the keeper. The Dumfries keeper saved, but the rebound fell to captain Dye who slotted the ball away after a short scramble.

Continuous pressure went unconverted by Burgh as the strikers failed to put away many chances. This proved fatal as Dumfries counter-attacked and won a short corner.

The corner was hit into the net, and although it shouldn’t have been a goal – it was given and the score was tied at 1-1.

Dumfries, buoyed by their goal, pushed on and managed a second before half time. The Dumfries striker took the ball along the baseline, only to be met by the oncoming keeper, Black. The initial save was good, however the experienced striker saw a gap and coolly slotted the ball home.

Helensburgh looked dumbfounded and had to fight to get back in the game. They managed to just before half time, with Stuart receiving a reward for all his hard work in the first half.

A short corner was taken, to the top of the D, and slipped to Stuart, who hammered the ball home. Again, this goal could have been discounted, but was given due to the earlier decision. The half time score was 2-2.

Poor Burgh defending led to a third for Dumfries before Burgh mounted a fight back. Stuart made up for his early mistake with a nice reverse stick finish.

As the game drew to a close, a ball from Kennedy sent Rosie through on goal, and the youngster, one-on-one with the keeper, couldn’t miss.

Helensburgh took a 4-3 lead with minutes to play. The game wasn’t over yet – and straight from the restart, Dumfries pulled off the unthinkable.

McKenzie managed to steal the ball right at the restart, but then got caught on it and Dumfries countered. The Dumfries player beat a host of Burgh players and managed to score a rebounded goal to bring it to 4-4 at the final whistle.

Helensburgh: G. Black, J. Caulfield, G. McWilliam, G. Caulfield, A. Stuart (MoM), B. Kennedy, T. Barton, G. McKenzie, C. Rosie, C. Dye (MoM), B. Cox, D. McGregor, I. Richardson, J. Murphy.