Graham Stuart resigned as Watsonians coach to take up an appointment as a hockey coach at Robert Gordon College in Aberdeen.
Subsequently, Stuart was appointed coach to Aberdeen Standard Gordonians and they travel to Edinburgh to face Watsonians in a key game in the basement area of men’s Division One on Saturday (4pm, Peffermill).
Both teams were promoted last season but in Division One, Aberdeen are pointless and bottom of the ten-strong league after five games and Watsonians have two points from five fixtures.
The Edinburgh side’s captain, Tom Swarbrick, said: “Obviously, this is a very important game for us. We need three points and so do they.
“Gordonians have been in the same league as us for the past three seasons.
“Their coach Graham Stuart resigned as our coach after doing a fantastic job because he had been offered a job at Robert Gordon so there is plenty of recent history between the two sides.”
Experienced forward Andrew Fraser-Harris has been given a re-call to Watsonians first team and they give a debut to new club member Andrew Bingham.
Aberdeen have so far been the whipping boys having scored only one goal and lost 36.
Swarbrick said: “We are disappointed that we haven’t been able to collect more points as we feel we have played some good hockey so far.”
Elsewhere, champions Grange, who are currently third in the table with ten points from four starts, entertain sixth-placed Uddingston (11am) at Fettes College.
As a form guide, Grange comfortably disposed of Edinburgh University 4-0 at Peffermill last Saturday while Uddingston drew 1-1 with the students in Lanarkshire on Sunday.
And seventh-placed Edinburgh University travel to Auchenhowie to face second-placed Western Wildcats (1pm) who whipped Aberdeen 10-0 in Glasgow in their last outing.
Experienced news, business, arts, sport and travel journalist. Food critic and managing editor of a well-established food and travel website. Also a magazine editor of publications with circulations of up to 200,000 and managing director of a long-established PR/marketing company with a string of blue-chip clients in its CV. Former communications lecturer at a Scottish university and social media specialist for a string of successful and busy SMEs.
