Sports fixtures for the coming week:

SENIOR FOOTBALL

All kick-offs 6.45pm unless otherwise stated. Some fixtures may have changed since we went to print

Tonight (25th) - G&S Flooring Premier League
Celtic v Spurs at Gilbertson Park (referee Robbie Leask). Madrid Cup: Delting v Thistle at Brae (John Saunders); Scalloway v Whitedale at Fraser Park (Kevin Valente).

Monday (28th) – G&S Flooring Premier League
Thistle v Ness United at Clickimin South (Derrick Bradley, 6.30pm). Madrid Cup: Delting v Celtic at Brae (Steven Goodlad); Scalloway v Spurs at Fraser Park (Robbie Summers); Whitedale v Whalsay at Strom Park (Michael Grant).

Wednesday (30th) - Mind Your Head Reserve League
Celtic B v Thistle B at Seafield (Robbie Summers); Ness United B v Delting B at Cunningsburgh (Robbie Leask); Scalloway B v Spurs B at Fraser Park (Steven Johnson); Yell v Whalsay B at Mid Yell (John Saunders).

WORKS LEAGUE

All kick-offs 6pm unless otherwise stated

Tomorrow (26th) – Injury Shetland Works League
CF Cosmos v Banks at Clickimin South; Chernobyl v Coffin Dodgers at Seafield; Ness United C v Services at Cunnings­burgh; Wrultizers v Wastside Rebels at Brae (1.30pm); Wast Linga Ramblers v Baroc Revolution at Harbison Park (3.30pm).

Tuesday (29th) – Injury Shetland Cup
Wrul­tizers v Banks at Brae (6.30pm).

Wednesday (30th) – Injury Shetland Cup
Chernobyl v Wast Linga Ram­blers at Clickimin South (6.30pm).

HOCKEY

Monday (28th) – Association Rosebowl
Spurs v Delting at 6.30pm (Sarah Couper and Josie Jamieson); Whal­say v Scalloway at 7.50pm (Sarah Couper and Josie Jamieson).

Thursday (31st) – Association Rose­bowl
Delting v Juniors at 6.30pm (Morag Fox and Spurs rep); Zetland v Spurs at 7.50pm (Simon Skinner and Juniors rep).

ADVANCE NOTICE

Junior Inter-County Sports in Orkney (all Pickaquoy exc. swimming)
16th June: Netball 10.30am; Swimming 2pm (at KGS); Football 6pm.
17th June: Athletics 10.30am; Hockey 4.30pm.

WORKS LEAGUE

All kick-offs 6pm unless otherwise stated

Tomorrow (12th) – Injury Shetland Works League: Banks v Emergency Services at Clickimin South; CF Cosmos v Dynamo Chernobyl at Seafield; Ness United v Wastside Rebels at Cunningsburgh; Wast Linga Ramblers v Coffin Dodgers at Harbison Park (3.30pm).

Sunday (13th) - Injury Shetland Works League: Baroc Revolution v Wrultizers at Clickimin South.

Celtic 2, Scalloway 1

Goals from Roy Wood and Finn Watt gave Celtic their first win of the season. Scott Henderson scored for Scalloway.

Spurs 6, Thistle 1

This was dominant display by the Milktops with goals coming from James Johnston (3), Connel Gresham, Sam Wood and Jordan Webb. Kevin Teale got a consolation for the Jags.

Spurs were starting the tournament with good pre-season form having won the Highland Fuels Cup but two goals from Delting’s Robert Balfour secured a good win for the north men.

Whalsay enjoyed a fairly comfortable 6-1 victory at home against Scalloway. They took the lead through a Marcus Pitt own goal and further strikes came from Stuart Shearer (2), James Shearer (2) and Colin Anderson. Scalloway replied through Scott Henderson.

The Celtic v Whitedale match was postponed.

This year promises to be one of the most intriguing again following on from 2011′s drama which saw five different top flight teams win a trophy each. There was an exciting championship duel between holders Whalsay and a young Celtic side while Shetland narrowly overcame Orkney to win the annual inter-county yet again.

There has been some transfer activity and speculation over the winter with some top players moving clubs while injury, retirement, university and moves out of Shetland have been the curse of many.

There have been changes off the pitch too with some new blood joining the association, new sponsors for the reserve league and some new managers taking the reins, not to mention Niall Bristow deciding to stay on as county coach again.

It looks like Whalsay will remain the team to beat in the G&S Flooring Premier League with a virtually unchanged squad from last season. Their consistency and experience kept challengers at bay when it mattered with the overall top scorer, Stuart Shearer, scoring for fun, ably assisted by an array of county team mates. Their only disappointment will have been their three cup-final defeats at the hands of three different Lerwick sides so they will be seeking revenge for that this year.

If any team is going to beat Whalsay it looks like it will be Spurs who on their day they can play some of the best technical football in the league. While last season they may have been disappointed not to have sustained a title challenge with the squad they had, they still clinched the Madrid Cup and have added substantially to their personnel with the notable signings of Paul Molloy from Whitedale and 2011 player of the year Jordan Webb from Celtic.

Webb and Molloy are two players of county pedigree who will strengthen midfield and attack and who scored over 30 goals between them last year. If pre-season form is an indicator of how teams will do, Spurs may just win the title. As a taster they beat Whalsay 3-2 in the Highland Fuels Cup final earlier this month.

How Celtic fare without Webb and some others will be key to their progress in 2012. They topped the league for a while last season before some disappointing results prevented them from securing success but they did come away with the Manson Cup.

With a young team and many players coming back from university later on in the season, Celtic will be looking to start well if they want to replicate last season’s form to mount a title challenge.

Whitedale will miss Molloy’s goals and creativity but they can rely on a solid defence, some good experience and the goal threat of Jamie Wilson who has been one of the most consistent scorers in Shetland football over the years.

They also have a league-winning reserve squad so can call some more players up when required. While the last few years have seen cups won for the West Siders, they will be looking for more consistency in the league if they want to improve their mid-table position from last year.

Another cup-winning team who will look to improve league form is Thistle. The Jags had some special moments last season, especially ending their six-year cup drought with victory in the Fraser Cup but they sometimes failed to repeat that form in the league.

If they can keep their squad together and play the way they can, they should pull off a few surprises again this season. They will also have to do this without Shetland duo David Thomson and Neil Laurenson who were star performers last year but have signed for Unst this season.

Delting came out of their 2011 season with no silverware, which is something they will want to put right this year. While their squad is not the biggest, they still possess a strong spine full of title-winning and inter-county experience to match any team. With players like Ross Jamieson, Leighton Flaws, Merv Jamieson and Ross Macdougal they will still be tough to beat.

Scalloway’s form last season was baffling with some great wins following heavy defeats at times. They can beat anyone on their day though and always carry a goal threat with players like Steven Umphray and Robert Garrick while a reportedly more rigorous winter schedule means they will be leaner and fitter than in the past few seasons.

Ness United were another team who will feel they underachieved last season. Despite many good performances they didn’t score enough or win enough games. However, they have one of the youngest teams in the league and offer a lot of promise with many junior county level players in the squad.

With some first-team players moving from Shetland at the end of last season for various reasons, Ness will have a small squad but the acquisitions of Danny Finnie and Thomas Sinclair will add more of a goal threat than previous years.

The newly named Mind Your Head Reserve League started this week and reigning champions Whitedale will hope to retain the title after winning it comfortably last year ahead of Spurs.

There will also be two knock out cups for the reserve teams to play for. The only change from last year is that Mossbank have disbanded so the league will be down to 10 teams again.

Shetland Football Association would like to thank sponsors G&S Flooring, Brudolff Hotels and Mind Your Head for their support and wish all teams the best for the new season.

James Shearer bagged a hat-trick for the winners with Allister Johnson getting two, one from the penalty spot, and Stuart Shearer also finding the net. Scalloway replied through Scott Henderson and a Robert Garrick penalty.

Scalloway had made it through to the semi-finals after defeating Thistle last Thursday. After a 2-2 draw, with Calvin Leask scoring twice for Thistle and Kevin Sinclair and Robert Garrick replying for Scalloway, the villagers triumphed 6-5 on penalties.

The second semi-final, between Spurs and Whitedale, is due to be played on Thursday night. The winners will face Whalsay in next Monday’s final.

The young Shetland team, made up of six school age and four seniors, were up against fencers from senior club and university teams.

Competing were Mathew Blance, 15, Oliver Russell, 14, Stephen Leask, 17, Lucy Morris, 13, Abi Marples, 14, and Mhairi Gifford, 16, along with seniors Erik Moncrieff, Kate Manson, Sophie Drosso and Paul Hibbert.

The outstanding performance of the weekend came from Drosso, who won a silver medal in the ladies épée on Saturday and a bronze in the foil on Sunday.

Drosso, who only competes in the épée as a “second weapon”, overcame Scottish team members in close fights to gain a place in the final against specialist Elena Rainero from Italy. Drosso was to meet her match and took the silver.

In the ladies’ foil Drosso again had to come through very close fights against English fencers before coming up against a strong Scottish team opponent and this time she came away with the bronze.

Shetland managed to get three fencers into the last eight of the ladies’ épée event, Kate Manson making a comeback after a long lay-off with only a handful of sessions back and Mhairi Gifford making up the other place.

Stephen Leask had an excellent morning in the men’s pool, winning all his seeding pool fights to be seeded eighth, only to get a tricky fight in the direct eliminations to go out earlier than he was hoping. However, this showed the progress all the young Shetland fencers are making in the senior ranks.

All the Shetland team competed well over both days including all the younger school age fencers. This was reflected in the excellent third place in the team cup, placing above the main Glasgow and Edinburgh clubs and university teams.

Runners set off at the Clickimin track.

The Sainsbury’s Sport Relief Mile events in Shetland at the weekend attracted around 370 participants of all ages and raised an estimated £3,000 for Sport Relief.

On Saturday afternoon the Baltasound Mile event saw 210 adults and children take part, starting from the Baltasound school and completing the three distance challenges of one, three and six miles.

Organiser Caroline Hunter said: “The Unst community has really turned out in force again with even more folk than we had two years ago. We collectively raised a total of £1,621 for Sport Relief, which is a superb amount.”

On Sunday afternoon the Lerwick Mile, in cool, misty conditions, saw around 160 participants, from toddlers to adults, completing distances around the Clickimin Loch and South Lochside. A few youngsters were in fancy dress while members of Shetland Fencing Club turned out in fencing gear and members of Shetland Gymnastics Club cartwheeled around the track.

Organiser Karen Woods said: “There was a good crowd of participants for each of the three distance challenges and everyone looked like they were having had a fun time.

“We reckon we have raised over £1,000 for Sport Relief from the Lerwick Mile alone, on top of the other fund-raising that community groups and local schools have raised. Many thanks to all who took part and helped with the day.”

Anyone with outstanding fund-raising money is urged to return it to Sport Relief as soon as possible either by post, in person (at a bank or post office) or online at www.sportrelief.com/payin.

Division One

Kinetics 28, Team Rowley 59

Team Rowley started strongly, using fast-paced play and making good interceptions, converting them into goals. Kinetics GK Vaila Hough worked tirelessly in the circle to try to stop Team Rowley GS Lisa Morrison receiving passes, getting a few tips. Despite this Team Rowley pulled ahead in the first quarter to 18-6.

The second quarter saw changes being made to the Kinetics team with Josie Nisbet moving to take the GD bib and Kirsti Leask moving to WD. Team Rowley still displayed excellent linking play in the mid-court by Karen Bannister and Marie Clark.

The Kinetics defence gained some good rebounds in the Rowley circle, converting them into goals. This decreased the score gap, leaving it 16-31 to Team Rowley at the half-time whistle.

The third quarter saw changes again for Kinetics with Rowan Nicolson moving to WD. Rowley also made changes in their defensive circle with Morag Fox moving to GK and Brenda Leask to WD.

Rowley had found their rhythm now and were linking well throughout the court. Good movement and positioning around the defensive circle from Rowan Nicolson and Fiona Shearer of Kinetics meant that they were picking up loose balls from around the circle. However, good interceptions in mid-court from Karen Bannister saved them from any Kinetics attempt at a shot on goal. The third quarter finished 44-23 to Team Rowley.

In the last quarter both teams were still working hard. However, Team Rowley had now settled into their game, demonstrating slick passing and consistently accurate shooting from Lisa Morrison and Dawn Manson.

They played a tactically sound quarter with Brenda Leask remaining at WD and Marie Clark moving to WA, giving Kinetics new players to unsettle their game. The final score was 59-28 to Team Rowley.

Overall Team Rowley dominated play, making few mistakes and linking well together. Kinetics worked hard throughout the game to try to close the gap. Players of the match were Josie Nisbet for Kinetics and Karen Bannister for Team Rowley.

Division Two

Arctic Security 40, Unst 33

Unst were first to settle with some great interceptions by GD Andrea Laurenson which were quickly converted into goals by Claire Priest. Arctic Security GD Sarah Kay retaliated quickly with an interception that was passed well down the court and GA Julie Brown got the chance to open Arctic Security’s score.

This seemed to settle Arctic Security and the game pace became fast with both teams holding onto their centre pass for most of the quarter. Arctic Security pulled slightly away at the end of the quarter with some great passing between Nicola Duthie and Heather Henry who fed the ball accurately into the shooting circle. At the end of the quarter the score was 11-8 in Arctic Security’s favour.

Unst came out determined in the second quarter and play was fast and furious. Anna Macaulay and Karis Burns were getting the ball to Priest at the edge of the circle who did not miss a shot despite being pushed to the edge by Kristen Johnston. Great defensive work from Kay was making life difficult for Unst GA Emma Niven, but her shots were also on target. Unst’s accurate shooting this quarter saw them pull back the score to 20-all at half-time.  

Both teams came out fighting with end-to-end play and each team rarely losing their centre. However, Arctic Security WD Hazel Aitken seemed to react fast to any loose balls, quickly getting the ball back up court to shooters Brown and Kayti Jeromson.

Both Brown and Jeromson were shooting well from within the circle with great balls in from Henry and Duthie. Arctic Security had to work hard to get the ball past Unst’s defence duo of Laurenson and Julie Munro. Some rebounds at the Unst end by Johnston and Kay were converted by Arctic Security to ensure a three-goal lead of 30-27.  

Unst had first centre pass but Arctic Security had an interception and turned it quickly into a goal. This seemed to settle Arctic Security into a calmer period of play. Both teams had strong defensive play, in particular with Unst being assisted by their WD Amber Inkster in blocking the shooters out of the circle.

Arctic Security had a lucky run of interceptions, converting all to goals to score five in a row. Both teams were looking tired but were fighting for every ball. There were some great balls into Priest from Unst WA Fern Johnson and again Priest rarely missed her target. However, Arctic Security’s run of goals ensured they maintained their lead to win the match.  

Supernova 47, Da McEwans 28

The match began evenly with both teams settling quickly. The ball moved swiftly from one end of the court to the other with Supernova shooters Liz Haining and Marianne Williamson and Da McEwans shooters Joanne Stewart and Emily Henderson rarely missing a shot. Supernova were just three goals ahead, 9-6, at the end of the first quarter.

The second quarter saw Supernova increase their lead with excellent linking play by Kristan Robertson and Helen Mathewson into the shooting circle, despite the tireless efforts of youngsters Ellie and Ruth Simpson in Da McEwans’ defence.

At the other end of the court Da McEwans shooters were working equally as hard to close the gap. However, Supernova’s Sharon Moore made some amazingly fearless interceptions, interrupting their flow. At half-time Supernova had further increased the gap with the score standing at 20-13.

In the third quarter Da McEwans defenders continued to work incredibly hard to contain the irrepressible Supernova shooters, who were showing tremendous form and rarely missing a shot.

Da McEwans struggled in this quarter to get past the Supernova defence of Sharon Moore and Jenny Wylie, despite every player fighting for every stray ball. Supernova continued to increase their lead by 16 goals, with the score standing at 35-19 going into the final quarter.

Da McEwans fought back in the final quarter with mid-court players Maggie Irvine and Eileen Robertson linking well with their shooting circle where the shooting duo were on fine form. Unfortunately it came too late in the game and Supernova’s lead was too great.

The players of the match were Ruth Simpson (Da McEwans) for her amazing defending, especially considering she has only just turned 14, and Sharon Moore (Supernova) for her fearless interceptions.

Mishaps 41, Hotfooters 36

The game got off to a great start with Mishaps scoring the first few goals through Leanne Tait and Alicia Hunter. However, this did not give them a great advantage over Hotfooters as they had a very stong attack, in particular Laura Cheyne, which resulted in them taking the lead in the first quarter.

Mishaps made a change in the second quarter, bringing Gayle Henry to WA which helped Mishaps close the gap. Mishaps worked well together but Hotfooters continued to apply pressure and only let Mishaps take the lead by one goal.

The third quarter saw little change in both teams. Mishaps’ Kara Thomson and Emma Inkster put a lot of pressure on Hotfooters with brilliant interceptions and defending. Hotfooters’ Anne Leask did well at pushing the ball up to her shooters but Mishaps were still ahead by one goal.

The final quarter saw both teams working as hard as they could to take a good lead. Mishaps’ Leanna Henderson made great passes and interceptions to get the ball to her shooters while Hotfooters’ Keria Kelly also made good interceptions. Towards the end of this quarter there was no stopping Mishaps as they worked hard to keep the ball going there way and took the lead by five goals.

Players of the match were Kara Thomson for Mishaps and Zoey Symington for Hotfooters.

Division Three

Dutch Courage 7, Ness 44

Ness took the first centre pass and fed the ball straight up to their GA Caroline Wood who put the ball nicely into the net. Dutch Courage went straight to it in their attempt to keep things even but their missed shots were quickly picked up by Ness GK Ruth Christie.

Play was relatively even throughout the quarter but Dutch Courage were unlucky with their shooting so Ness led at the end of the quarter 10-3.

Play started quickly in the second quarter with both teams looking determined to give it their all but it was Ness who settled first. WA Ashley Young moved well around the circle, passing accurately in to the shooters.

Any rebounds were quickly snapped up by Dutch Courage’s Jamie Cowie and Liz Brown but good intercepting from Ness’ Maya Whittall and Ailish Parham in mid-court prevented Dutch Courage having many shooting opportunities and it was eight minutes before they got their first goal of the quarter.

Ness displayed some fast and accurate passing throughout and had managed to extend their lead to 21 by half-time.

Dutch Courage started well in the third quarter, scoring the first goal. Ness quickly replied and continued to storm ahead with some great shooting from Clare Farmer and Caroline Wood.

Liz Brown for Dutch Courage made some impressive interceptions to interrupt play but Ness continued to press ahead to ensure a lead of 31-5 going into the final quarter.

Almost three minutes of play had passed in the fourth quarter before there was any sign of a goal, which came from Ness.

Kate Wills and Vaila Pearson for Dutch Courage linked well together to feed the ball into the circle but the defence of Ruth Christie and Ailish Parham was so tight and shooting opportunities for Dutch Courage were rare.

Players of the match were Liz Brown for Dutch Courage and Ruth Christie and Maya Whittall for Ness.

Davy Cummings competes in the arm over arm pull.

Two of Shetland’s strongmen were back in action at the weekend, with Davy Cummings competing in a Giants Live Europe’s Strongest Man qualifier in Dumfries on Saturday before joining Dhanni Moar at the Aberdeen Open Strongman Competition on Sunday.

The European qualifier was a tough step up at fairly short notice for Davy, but a valuable experience. The first event saw him come within inches of completing what would have been a personal best lift of 135kg on the overhead log lift.

The second event, the deadlift, opened at 280kg which Davy pulled easily before doing the same at 300kg. Davy decided to then have a go at 320kg for a new personal best and narrowly missed the lift. This proved to be a mistake as a comfortable 310kg would have taken fourth place rather than a share of fifth.

Event three, which involved loading three 120kg sandbags on to a wall from 10 metres out, proved to be Davy’s best event, and he took third place.

The fourth event, the 400kg yoke carry, took its toll with Davy injuring his hip but battling to a fifth place finish, missing fourth by 33cm. This was 60kg more than he had ever attempted before, so a pleasing result.

The fifth event saw Davy struggle with both grip and the hip injury and he failed to carry the 320kg frame.

In the final event the atlas stones, ranging from 110-180kg, had to be carried in and loaded onto platforms. The first three proved quite comfortable but the fourth aggravated the injury and ended the event for Davy in sixth place, meaning an overall sixth place finish in a competition where the top two were dominant and the rest of the field finished very close together.

Sunday saw a beautiful sunny day in Aberdeen and a strong field for the first strongman competition run by Results Gym in a number of years. As well as Davy and Dhanni the event included fellow Scotland’s Strongest Man finalist Martin Bunyan with whom Davy had competed in Dumfries the day before, and Stuart Yule who took second place in the Britain’s Strongest Man U90kg class.

The first event was the rising bar frame deadlift. The starting weight was 200kg and went up in five 40kg increases to a rather hefty 400kg. This event saw Davy well ahead of the rest of the field on five lifts with Dhanni and the majority of the other guys getting four lifts and splitting the points.

Next up came the maximum weight axle, with a bar the same thickness as a coke tin having to be lifted from the floor to chest and then pressed overhead.

The event kicked off with 97kg then progressed in 10kg jumps up to 117kg with all but two competitors still in the competition. The next weight was 122kg and this saw the numbers thinning out with only Stuart Yule, Davy, Martin Bunyan and Dhanni getting good lifts.

All four guys continued onwards past 127kg and got good lifts at 132kg but Dhanni was the only one to progress past that on to 137kg before doing another lift of 142kg despite having already won the event. This was the highlight of the day and it was an extremely impressive lift with Dhanni looking like he could have gone higher if required to.

The farmers walk for maximum distance in 75 seconds with 125kg per hand was next up. Dhanni was victorious again, setting an impressive distance of 60 metres with Martin and Stuart Yule not too far behind him and the rest of the pack spread out a bit. Davy took fifth on typically his worst event with just under 30m. This is the equivalent of going for a brisk walk with five bags of cement in each hand!

At this point in the day Dhanni was comfortably in the lead with Martin second, followed closely by Davy.

The super yoke for 30m was up next. The strongmen had to contend with 320kg on the top of the shoulders which proved quite a challenging weight with half of the field failing to complete the course. This was won convincingly by Martin Bunyan with Dhanni in third and Davy a close fourth with signs of the previous day’s exertions beginning to show.

The penultimate event was an arm over arm pull of a chain over 12m. The chain weighing near to 300kg was an easy event with everyone completing the course in under 30 seconds.

Martin won the event with Davy fourth and Dhanni fifth. Martin had now taken the lead over Dhanni by a mere 0.3 points followed closely by Davy, so it was still all to play for.

Last up was the atlas stone over a 53″ yoke, 120kg for repititions, and Davy set the standard with nine easy reps. Dhanni followed and came within inches of receiving a 10th rep but unfortunately rushed and slipped the stone.

Martin fought hard and got his ninth rep right on the referee’s whistle for time, making for an intense and exciting finale, and the tightest of wins by beating Dhanni overall by only 0.3 points.

All in all it was a great day and fun was had by all. The standard was extremely high and some very impressive lifting was done by both Dhanni and Davy.

They said they would like to thank the organisers and helpers at both Burns Gym in Dumfries and Results Gym in Aberdeen for a couple of excellent days competition and Shetland Weight Training Club in Scalloway for the continued support.

They won 2-0 with both goals from last year’s top scorer Stuart Shearer and will play the winner of this Thursday’s match between Scalloway and Thistle in the first semi-final next Monday.

Last Thursday Spurs defeated Celtic with goals from Sam Goudie, Lewis Kay, Scott Morrison and Paul Molloy. They will play Whitedale next Thursday. All kick-offs are at 6.45pm.

Meanwhile Shetland Football Association has confirmed that local firm G&S Flooring will continue to sponsor the Premier League this year while Brudolff Hotels is continuing as association sponsor. Local charity Mind Your Head will now sponsor the reserve league.

Association chairman Brian Duncan said: “I’d like to thank G&S Flooring and Brudolff Hotels for their continued backing of football in Shetland. They’ve supported us for a few years now and it’s very much appreciated.

“We are absolutely delighted to have such a fabulous local charity sponsor the reserve league. We are excited to have the opportunity to work with Mind Your Head and to support the charity in any way we can. The committee’s training for the Round Spiggie Race will begin immediately.”

Mind Your Head co-ordinator Jenny Teale said local football was a very appropriate activity to get involved in.

She said: “We are delighted to be working with the Shetland Football Association and sponsoring the reserve league this year. With one in four people likely to experience a mental health problem every year it is critical that we raise awareness and promote good mental wellbeing.

“A healthy mind goes hand in hand with a healthy body so what better way to promote positive mental health than to be involved with Shetland football Association.”