The George Black Trophy Final!

The West District held their Cup and Plate finals day on Saturday 27th April at Auchenhowie, and the sun shone brilliantly on an excellent day of Hockey.

The Plate final was contested between Dumfries and Giffnock.

The two sides had had contrasting routes to the final, with Giffnock losing to second division Kelburne 3 in the first round of the George Black Trophy. However, they then eased past Clydesdale and Kelburne 4 to book a spot in the plate final. Dumfries had to play Hillhead three times, with eventual finalists Hillhead A knocking them out in the first round of the Cup. They then defeated both Hillhead C and Hillhead B on the way to the final.

The game started evenly from both sides with possession bouncing to and fro. Giffnock had the better of the first half chances, but Dumfries were well in the game. It was an even first half with only the one goal falling the way of Giffnock after a well worked short corner. The pace ramped up in the second half for Giffnock, and it proved too much for Dumfries. One consolation goal wasn’t enough for Dumfries as they fell to a 6-1 defeat.

The George Black Trophy was between Western 3 and Hillhead A. Both sides had had fairly simple routes to the final with only Helensburgh giving Hillhead a close shave in the semi-final. It was set to be a top final. Hillhead were certainly in the ascendency for most of the first half. They gave Western several scares with excellent balls into the D, but the strikers couldn’t find the back of the net. Western did, however, find the net. The team’s top scorer, Douglas Simpson, got the only goal of the first half.

The second half was much more action packed as Western ramped up the pressure. Hillhead did have chances, that they would certainly regret, but Westerns experience showed in the end. A hat-trick from Simpson, coupled with two Barry Kane goals saw the West District champions see the George Black Trophy go their way. The final goal of the game fell to Captain Ally Reid to seal the deal.