Men’s hockey – super Macs eye play-off glory

Goalmouth action from last Saturday’s Sottish Cup final featuring Grange and Edinburgh University. Picture by Nigel Duncan Media

John and his younger brother Ritchie McCluskey eye a glory treble when they enter the play-off semi-finals this weekend with double-winners Grange.

They helped the Edinburgh club win the men’s Scottish Cup last Saturday with a 6-3 win over Edinburgh University at Glasgow’s National Hockey CVentre.

And that came only days after the club edged Bromac Kelburne in the Division One title race to take the silverware after a 5-0 victory over relegated Inverleith.

So far, 21-year-old John has won three Scottish Cup medals, one Scottish Plate and a Division One title.

And 17-year-old Ritchie has won Central 1 and the District Cup with Grange 2’s and has this season added the Division One title and Scottish Cup.

In addition, Ritchie has won every inter-district and club age-group tournament that he has been eligible for this year and he has represented Scotland as part of the under-18 squad.

John said: “Winning both the league and the Scottish Cup playing alongside Ritchie has definitely been a highlight of a successful few years for us both.

“It is a credit to the Grange youth system to have so many young players coming up into the team, but it’s not a surprise seeing the success the junior teams have had this year.”

This has been the first season the brothers have managed to play together because of their age gap.

“We are very competitive with each other and now we are focused on giving the best performance we can for this tough weekend of play-offs.”

Grange play Western Wildcats at Fettes College (push off 2pm) on Saturday with the Grand Final on Sunday in Glasgow for the winners of the semi-final tie.

Looking ahead, John is booked to travel to Vienna with Grange to compete in EuroHockey Club Championships II.

Ritchie misses out on as the dates clash with his Higher examinations but he is currently with the Scotland squad for the under-18 EuroHockey Championships II in Wales.

The teenager said: “The last two years have been amazing and to end this season by winning the league and the Scottish Cup playing alongside John has definitely been a highlight.”