LOCH Lomond Ladies 1st XI ran out 2-1 winners as they travelled to take on Uddingston 2nd XI on Saturday in what was set to be a tough match in West District Division Two.

Loch Lomond played the first ten minutes without a goal keeper which meant the game got off to a defensive start.

The first half saw some promising play from the away team, passing the ball well between their defenders and the midfield putting pressure on the Uddingston keeper.

Uddingston did manage to break through and it was Sue Aikman, who was a vital force in defence throughout, really proving her weight in gold by stopping a certain goal off the line as she stepped up as kicking back for the first period.

Zoe Canty and Lauren McCreadie had a hard job to do keeping the speedy Uddingston strikers in check. They performed this well and for much of the first half the opposition attacking force were tightly controlled. However, against the run of play, it was Uddingston who scored first. At half-time Loch Lomond were 1-0 down but a rousing half-time talk by Captain Vanessa Sabala saw Loch Lomond go into the second half fired up and ready to play more attacking hockey.

It wasn’t long before good passing play between midfield and the strikers saw Rosie McColgan expertly slot the ball into the back of the net.

It was a tough second half with the Uddingston team playing positive hockey, but with the opposition striking force kept reasonably in check, and a couple of timely saves by keeper Heather Smith, Loch Lomond were in the hunt for the winning goal.

The visitors passed the ball well with good interlinking play. Late in the game Loch Lomond were awarded a penalty corner which resulted in a well-executed goal for Sabala. Loch Lomond settled down and, despite tiring towards the end, played good sensible hockey to ensure that the opposition had as little chance as possible to equalise.

It was a hard game and not pretty at times, but the Loch Lomond side were able to keep their composure and ensure another win. A gritty performance from the whole squad.

Player of the match was awarded to Zoe Canty with Evie Harkins as runner-up. The opposition player of the match was Sue Aikman.

Squad: Heather Smith, Lauren McCreadie, Sue Aikman, Zoe Canty, Evie Harkins, Caroline Lyall, Rebecca Lightfoot, Vanessa Sabala (capt), Eliza Ritchie, Rosie McColgan, Kim MaCallion, Kirsty Cordner and Kirsty Richardson.

A huge thank you to John Friel who travelled to umpire the match. Follow the team on Instagram @lochlomondhockey.