Men’s Hockey – Watsonians 2 v Livingston and West Lothian

Sonians put 9 past struggling Livi.

The opening weekend of the Scottish Hockey season opened with a bang in the Central 2 Division where Watsonians 2’s scored 9 (nine) unanswered goals against an outclassed Livingston and West Lothian side.

The home side opened the scoring after ten minutes of the first half after a period of sustained pressure which had the visitors scrambling to cleat their lines on occasion. The first goal was followed up less than five minutes later by a quickly taken pair, before a fourth with 10 minutes of the half to go, left ‘Sonians with a 4-0 lead at the break.

Livingston put the home side under a bit of pressure early on in the second half, but lack of power up front left them wanting. 12 minutes in and Watsonians added to their tally with a fifth A sixth after 19 minutes from the home side put the match – if any doubt still existed – well out of reach of the visitors and three more goals – two in the last couple of minutes – sealed a fine first match for the Edinburgh team.

Overall fitness and the ability to string together a series of passes gave the home side a distinct advantage over the visitors who were too dependent, at times, on the ‘long ball’. Mention should be made, however, of Livi’s young keeper who performed a succession of heroic saves and who, no doubt, prevented the score reaching double figures if not the mid- to high-teens.