HEATHER Cullen’s equalising goal earned Loch Lomond’s first team a hard-fought point from a 1-1 draw away to Glasgow Accies on Saturday.

Loch Lomond knew they were in for a battle following a closely-fought draw in the sides’ previous meeting earlier in the season, and after securing victory over Dumfries the previous week, Loch Lomond were eager to extend their good start to the new year.

From the start Loch Lomond took the game to their strong opponents, creating great pressure and attacking with some brilliant linking play; midfielders Rosie McColgan and Vanesa Sabala commanded the ball, taking it to their forwards.

With the initial pressure well defended by the home team, Loch Lomond made a start to be proud of; the team regrouped when defender Zoe Canty had to be taken off with a painful knee injury, but with Zoe at the side cheering on her team mates, Loch Lomond continued with gusto.

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Glasgow Accies had a spell of attacking play and despite the Loch Lomond defence’s best efforts, it was the hosts who put the first goal on the score sheet.

As had been proven previously in the season, Loch Lomond have the spirit to fight back – and they did, with a great ball down the right which was then crossed in by Rosie McColgan, setting up Cullen for a confident strike into the bottom right corner taking the score to a well deserved 1-1 at half-time.

Glasgow Accies came out strong in the second half, as expected, with Loch Lomond forced to play slightly more defensively; the visitors had to defend a few penalty corners, but goalkeeper Elaine Brown showed her experience and quality on numerous occasions with some great saves.

Defenders Sharon Crossan and Fiona Reid did sterling work marking their players and being first to the ball, with Vicki Perry giving a masterclass in hitting and picking out her players.

Sue Aikman also had some good spells of linking play with the midfielders, but particular credit must go to the forwards and to midfielders Sophia McDermitt and Eliza Ritchie, who worked hard tracking back and stifled the opposition’s attackers brilliantly.

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Loch Lomond continued to attack and turned the pressure around, making it an end to end game once again; Bongiwe Tshabalala made brilliant spaces and runs alongside her fellow attackers but, despite a few corners and great spells of attacking play, Loch Lomond were unable to capitalise in the second half.

A draw was both a fair result and a positive one for Loch Lomond, who continue to show improvement and better understanding of each other’s game week on week, and once again proved they are a well-drilled unit and a tough nut for any team to crack at the top level of West District hockey.

Elaine Brown won both Glasgow Accies’ prize for the opposition player of the match and Loch Lomond’s own award; runner-up for the latter accolade was Heather Cullen.

Team: Elaine Brown, Sue Aikman, Vicki Perry, Sharon Crossan, Fiona Reid, Zoe Canty, Vanesa Sabala, Eliza Ritchie, Sofia McDermitt, Rosie McColgan, Bongiwe Tshabalala, Molly Macken, Heather Cullen.

A huge thank you as always to Andy Richardson for umpiring and to Rosie McColgan for taking on a key role as player-coach.

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