Match Report – Saturday 18th October – Gents 1s

Uddingston 3 – Grange 1

It was an afternoon to celebrate at Bothwell Castle on Saturday as Uddingston Mens’ 1s downed the mighty Grange 3-1 in a match to remember.

Like Dundee Wanderers last week, there was a quiet air of confidence about the Grange team as they arrived in South Lanarkshire. The last time Uddy took a point off Grange in the league was seven years ago in 2018 when Uddy surprised everyone by coming back from 3-1 down to force a 3-3 draw with the reigning league champions.

With a team full of internationals and a rich hockey pedigree including 6 Scottish Cups and two recent league titles, what possible reason could there be for Scottish hockey royalty to worry about on a humid, Autumn afternoon?

Followers of Uddy know, however, that this team is one with which to be reckoned. Four straight unbeaten games doesn’t even do credit to the rapid improvement and cohesion this team has shown as the 2025/26 season has progressed. The team was not only confident going into this critical league clash, they were expectant. Grange were vulnerable. They were going down at the castle.

The first quarter was an Uddy hockey fantasy. The team kept almost all the possession, drove forward decisively and pressed the Grange defence from the whistle. Overheads went to sticks while strong tackles and pressure prevented the vaunted Edinburgh team from escaping from their half. It was a stunning display of organised, determined, attacking hockey.

But the real joy was the goals, of course. It’s one thing to be on top of the opposition, but when the goals start flowing, that’s when this beautiful game gets really exciting.

Barely a minute into the game, Grange were back on their heels and being tormented in the D by the hugely impressive Matt Young. A short corner was duly awarded which Anup Valmiki injected with venom and Angus Sinclair despatched with gusto, 1-0.

With eyes like frightened rabbits, the illustrious Grange backline tried desperately to staunch the flow, but to no avail. Uddy were in their faces, pressing, dribbling, trapping overheads, deflecting awkwardly into the D. It was glorious carnage.

As an Uddy wave washed once again toward David Forrester’s goal, a hefty push by a Grange defender led to a loud whistle and the dreaded seven o’ clock point by the umpire at the P spot: stroke awarded. Up stepped Finn Halliday, Uddy’s stroke man. “He’s never missed from the spot,” first time commentator Fergus Fitzgerald told viewers of the live feed up in the Uddy TV press box, immediately regretting the curse he had almost certainly placed on Halliday’s shoulders.

But this was Uddy’s day, and Halliday was up to the task. He stepped forward and, as a deceived Forrester sat down on his backside in the Grange goal, Halliday whipped the ball into the left corner, 2-0.

There was barely 10 minutes on the clock in the first quarter and Uddingston were already up by two goals. It was almost too good to be true. And then it got even better.

Still playing with precision and directness, Uddy pushed forward again. Sean Baker was lobbing in aerials like mortar shells, Angus Sinclair was picking them up and terrifying the Grange backline. Ben Young, Anup Valmiki, Andy Docherty and the Gardiner brothers were dominating the midfield. And at the back, Joe Russell, Stephen MacKenzie and the superb Uddy skipper Jed Campbell snuffed out any hope of a Grange player even getting into the home team’s D.

Before the end of the third quarter, Uddy won a second penalty corner. This one didn’t quite go as planned. Valmiki injected well enough and Sinclair got the drag flick away, but it was blocked by a Grange defender, there was a scramble, and the ball rolled across the D just in front of Matt Young. Young took a couple of steps and then slapped the ball with panache and accuracy past a diving Forrester high into the Grange net for 3-0.

Uddy fans would be forgiven for pinching themselves thinking this first quarter had all been a bit of a dream. Nic Hadland in the Uddy goal didn’t get a sniff of the ball and constant home team pressure had delivered the extraordinary end of first quarter score of 3-0. That’s Uddy 3, Grange double league champions, six times cup winners, overwhelming favourites, Scottish hockey royalty 0. Get in there.

A shell-shocked Grange got a stern talking to from manager Martin Shepherdson at the end of the first quarter. And it was a more determined team who gradually emerged, holding on to possession for much longer periods and starting to find ways of freeing up their dangermen, Grange skipper and experienced Scotland international David Nairn and GB player Robbie Croll.

But despite more circle entries and a much more attacking outlook, Grange still failed to make much of an impression in the Uddy D and the score remained 3-0 until halftime.

The second half was like two heavyweight boxers trading blows in the final round. Uddy didn’t help themselves with a series of green and yellow cards which meant they played most of the second half at least one, and sometimes two, players short.

Sensing Uddy were vulnerable, Grange pushed forward. Uddy goalie Nic Hadland, who had been enjoying the view from his quiet end of the pitch for most of the game, was suddenly under huge pressure. Grange were awarded penalty corner after penalty corner and the attacks came thick and fast. One goal for Grange and it felt like this whole match could change.

Somehow, Uddy scrambled through to the end of the third quarter still sitting at 3-0, but it was clear the tide of the match had turned. The last quarter would be a Grange deluge and Uddy had their work cut out to hold on to this precious victory.

In the last quarter, Grange’s stars started to shine. Ritchie McCluskey was a danger down the right, Austrian international Clemens Rusjnak made run after run down the centre, Livio Belotti was causing problems every time he penetrated the Uddy D and David Nairns was a constant, awkward presence.

With only minutes to go, Grange finally got the breakthrough they had praying for. A change in their short corner routine saw the ball switched out to Croll at the far left of the D who smashed in a slapped shot from a narrow angle. Suddenly, it was 3-1. But was there enough time left for Grange to take a point and maybe even win this?

Uddy’s goalie Hadland, still with stitches in his head following a training accident earlier in the week, calmy and deliberately kept Grange at bay with a series of outstanding saves and blocks.

And then, after a few last, agonising minutes watching the umpires looking at their watches, the game was over. This was a famous Uddy victory that those who played in and those who watched will treasure for years to come.

The win, which puts Uddingston into fourth in the premier league, will signal the undeniable emergence of a team with its eyes fixed on greater things.

But there are some tough games to go, not least ESM next Saturday and then the daunting prospect of league leaders Watsonians followed by most of the senior Scotland men’s squad at Edinburgh University. But those are games for another day. For now, let’s celebrate a glorious Uddy win and hope there is more to come.

– Adrian Hadland

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