Watsonians coach Keith Smith admitted his squad eased off when they were 5-0 ahead against Clydesdale Western in their Scottish Cup semi-final victory, allowing the opposition too much time and space.

Their rivals scored and Smith said: “It’s a reminder that we need to work hard to keep our standards high throughout the game.”

The treble-chasing Edinburgh club now face Western Wildcats in the Scottish Cup Final later in the season and the Auchenhowie side provided the opposition when Watsonians clinched the Premiership title recently with a 3-1 victory at George Watson’s College in Edinburgh.

Looking back at the semi-final at Glasgow’s National Hockey Centre, Smith said: “It was pleasing to score in quite different ways. The first and last goals showed our ability to create chances by playing back to front quickly.

“The third and fourth were the opposite, patient until we found an overload and we then exploited the chance well when we did.”

The coach added: “Before the game we’d also felt we could be a little bit more aggressive without the ball then we have been in recent weeks and I think we did a good job of making it hard for Clydesdale Western to build-up.”

PICTURE: Watsonians women after clinching the Premiership at Tipperlin (George Watson’s College). Picture Nigel Duncan

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