The Edinburgh Reporter August 2024

Shankland ready for new season

22 SPORT

EuroHockey qualifier comes to

Scotland

Fishing news

No slip ups to make

A Division a reality

By NIGEL DUNCAN

HARLAW RESERVOIR above Balerno

has been fishing well in June and July

with a great number of fish in the upper

layer and some anglers have been

catching up to 15 trout in one session.

Alex Rose, secretary of Malleny

Angling Ltd who administer the water,

said the best areas have been Duffer’s

Bay, Ricky’s Point, The Narrows, The

North Shore and an area across from

The Bothy called The Point.

He said: “As well as rainbow trout, a

good number of brown trout have been

caught this year and reports from

anglers have commented on the hard

fighting qualities of the trout. Flies that

are catching include yellow owl, daddy

long legs, red and black buzzers,

nymphs and Mayflies. In the later part

of July, with the barometrical pressure

rising and the water getting warmer,

the fish have been caught a little deeper

down with floating and sink tips lines

proving the most popular choice.”

Anglers have been out on other

waters - Bill Taylor has some new boats

and anglers have been taking

advantage at Glencorse. He is, however,

going to reduce the number of evening

sessions to two a week. At Newlands

Tweeddale Fishery double-figure

catches were recorded with Kevin

Walkinshaw of Gorebridge hooking into

13 on bloodworm and damsel. Mick

Mulgrew from Danderhall had 14.

By NIGEL DUNCAN

SCOTLAND’S BID to rejoin the elite of
women’s hockey was boosted when Scottish
Hockey agreed to host the tournament on
home soil.
Twelve months ago, the girls were buoyed to
edge Spain 2-1 in their final match of the
previous EuroHockey Championships, A
Division, in Monchengladbach, Germany.
Edinburgh-born Amy Costello, formerly of
Inverleith, opened the scoring from a penalty
corner after 15 minutes and Dundee-born
Charlotte Watson collected the ball near
half-way from Eve Pearson (Edinburgh Uni)
and she kept her cool to add a second following
a one-on-one with the Spanish goalkeeper after
32 minutes.
Spain replied through Lucia Jiminez from a
penalty corner after 47 minutes and Scotland
goalkeeper, Amy Gibson, stayed ice cool to save
a penalty stroke with two minutes remaining.
The joyous scenes after the final whistle were
memorable but, overall, the squad was gutted
to miss out on automatic qualification for the
next tournament in Germany in 2025, again in
Monchengladbach.
Two on-the-line saves from the outstanding
Italian goalkeeper, who back-stopped the worst
team in the Germany-based event, made the
difference - and is why Scotland now face the
nerve-jangling qualifiers.
Only the top team after the tournament at
Glasgow’s National Hockey Centre in late

By NIGEL DUNCAN

LAWRENCE SHANKLAND took

less than a minute to score his first

goal of the season, coming on as a

substitute at half-time, taking a

defence-splitting pass from

newcomer Yan Dhanda before

sending the ball low into the bottom

corner of the net against English

cracks Tottenham Hotspur.

The music blared, and the fans

loved it. They will undoubtedly hope

for more of the same when the

William Hill Premiership opens with

a home joust against Rangers at

Tynecastle on Saturday, 3 August, a

game which will be televised on Sky.

Glasgow-born Shankland scored

over 30 goals last season and the

prolific marksman admits that he

has set a high standard in recent

years, a standard which could be

difficult to replicate this term, but he

is up for the challenge.

The proven marksman has

newcomers around him, recruited

from within Scottish football and

from abroad, to help maintain his

reputation as a real danger man to

opposition clubs.

The 28-year-old is impressed with

what he has seen in pre-season

games and on the training pitch at

Riccarton. Dhanda and Costa Rica

defender Gerald Taylor have already

shown that they could be real assets.

Dhanda, he argued, has proved

himself with Ross County and Taylor

has a reputation built from playing

at a high domestic and international

level. His aggressive running and

work rate impressed against Spurs

and Shankland looks forward to

them both providing the chances

for him to finish during the season

which lies ahead.

The striker, who began his career

with Queens Park in 2012, of course,

made his return to competitive

action against the men from White

Heart Lane only three days after

returning from his short break after

being in the Scotland squad for the

Euro 2024 tournament in Germany.

He admitted it was good to get

back out on the pitch and get some

minutes ahead of another domestic

campaign, and, of course, Hearts are

once again in Europe.

August makes it to the big show.There can be

no slip-ups en-route and Scotland’s head coach,

Edinburgh-based, Chris Duncan, will have the

services of his Great Britain (GB) squad

players. But several are at the Olympics, and

another massive tournament after the stresses

and strains of the Games in Paris, could have

an affect mentally and physically.

Borders-born Sarah Robertson, a former

Edinburgh University player, who won bronze

in the last games with GB, returns for GB while

Watson and Costello are in the Olympic squad

for the first time.

Goalkeeper Jess Buchanan impressed for GB

in the recent round of Pro League matches after

being part of Scotland’s squad for the past two

years. She was in the squad at

Monchengladbach and is a travelling reserve

for GB at the Paris Games, a role Costello was

assigned to in Tokyo four years ago. 

Katie Robertson, who missed out on

Olympic selection, and Jen Eadie, who has

been a member of the GB squad for some time,

could also be available to Duncan. 

So, what lies ahead? Wales, Croatia, Austria,

Lithuania, the Czech Republic and Scotland are

involved in the prestige event at Glasgow Green

from August 22 to 25. Wales square-up to

Croatia on Day One along with Austria who

play Lithuania. The Czech Republc play the

winner of Wales and Croatia and Scotland face

the winner of Austia and Lithuania. Those

matches are on August 24.

The loser of semi-final two faces the

defeated team in semi-final one for third and

fourth place while the winner of semi-final two

will play the winner of semi-final in the final,

both matches to be played on 25 August.

Duncan admits it is a tightrope and there is

no safety net. It’s win or you remain in B

Division, and that is not where the ambitious

coach or his players want to be.

Nigel Duncan

Nigel Duncan

HOMFC

Goal machine

Lawrence Shankland

Glencorse

Vital play-off for Scotland squad