Edinburgh City started the 2017/18 season with a set of fixtures that saw them face Dundee as well as last year’s champions Mavericks.
Some good performances saw ECKC split the games with a strong win against Dundee followed by a loss to a Mavericks side in good form.
Edinburgh City (18 – 4) Dundee
The first match of the new season was against Dundee and a return for Stella McNulty to the SKL, with the former Citizen moving back from London and lining up against her old club.
New signing Michael Garbutt made his debut which he marked by scoring his first goal in the black and red of Edinburgh City. A fast paced start from City meant that the game was over as a contest early on after racing to a 7-0 lead, Dan Pratt and Dave Ewing proved too much for the Dundee side scoring 11 goals between them in limited minutes. A solid start to the season for the Citizens and one that lays the groundwork for a long season ahead.
Scorers: Dave Ewing (6) Dan Pratt (5) John Bagnall (2) Finlay Hannah, Michael Garbutt, Andrea Kinver, Clive Minshull, Emma Cottell (1)
MVP: Dan Pratt
Edinburgh City (7 – 25) Mavericks
The second of two matches in this fixture round matched up last season’s top 2 teams. Last year’s champions Mavericks are again highly fancied for a repeat this season after a couple of high-profile signings.
Both teams started the contest strongly with back and forth scoring, City looked to apply as much pressure as possible but pushed too far as Dan Pratt got into a clumsy challenge for the ball that left Maverick’s Adam Luto bloodied and unable to continue.
The injury seemed to galvanise the hosts and they proved too strong for ECKC, scoring heavily in the last 10 minutes to stretch the goal difference. There were encouraging signs for City throughout the match but inconsistency at this early stage of the season cost them dearly.
Scorers: Dave Ewing, Dan Pratt (3), Finlay Hannah (1)
MVP: Dan Pratt
Edinburgh City Korfball Club 