The North –v- South Trampoline Competition was great success last with Lorraine Tollan (S1) placing 3^rd at Grade 2 and Nicole Watson (S2) placing 3rd at Grade 1.   Nicole Watson was also the first individual to receive the ‘Joyce Robertson Memorial Shield for Excellence’ which is very touching and we are all absolutely delighted about.

School sports this year are planned to take place on Wednesday 4^th June.

Monday 12^th April was set to be an exciting day for Braidhurst High School’s S2 and S4 netball team, as the teams consecutively took to the court to play in the North Lanarkshire League final. The S2 girls were first up in what was to be a very close encounter against St Ambrose High School. The game was very close for the first three quarters, with the Braidhurst girls dominating the majority of play. However, in the final quarter, St Ambrose came out very strongly and managed to take further advantage of their narrow lead. Despite some excellent examples of defending by both Amber Waldron and Hannah Gordon, Braidhurst were unable to come out on top. St Ambrose won the game 7-5.

Next up were the S4 girls who were up against St Andrews High School. Again, this game was very close with both teams matching each other goal for goal. However, Braidhurst showed great determination and managed to take a narrow lead in the third quarter with the score 11-10. It was evident that the Braidhurst girls took confidence from this and they continued to apply pressure in the final quarter. Excellent shooting from both Holly Worton and Gillian Scott enabled Braidhurst to maintain a small lead with the final score ending 16-11. The Braidhurst girls rounded off a very successful season by being crowned North Lanarkshire Champions for their age category. A massive well done to both teams for a very successful year for the school netball club!!

For the third consecutive year, Braidhurst’s Scottish Cup heroes lifted the Scottish Cup, this time at under-15 level. Having previously won at under-13 and under-14 level, the boys were favourites to lift the trophy at Airdrie’s Excelsior Stadium, the venue of last year’s triumph. In their way was a strong Strathaven Academy outfit, who, from the off, presented Braidhurst with more than a few difficulties.

The cup final atmosphere was building as a light warm-up was followed by a team photo for the debut of Braidhurst’s extravagant new pink outfit. Both teams had brought a strong travelling support, adding to the sense of tension at kick-off.

Soon Strathaven were taking advantage of an enforced injury replacement when Braidhurst captain Rico Quitongo hobbled off after a fifty-fifty challenge. As Braidhurst were reorganising their defence, a Strathaven forward pounced on a defensive mix-up between goalkeeper Adam Sinnett and substitute Darren Wilson to open the scoring.

However, Braidhurst’s continual pressing paid dividends just before half-time when, from a Dylan Falconer corner, Jake Hastie volleyed in an equaliser.

The second half proved to be a more cagey affair, before an inspired substitution by the Braidhurst coaches, Madill and Brandon, sent Deryn Lang on to replace the leg-weary Ryan Watt. Within minutes, the excellent Falconer turned provider again, with a chipped pass over the defence for Lang to run onto and finish with aplomb.

Despite a few scares, including a disallowed Strathaven goal for offside, and some good saves by substitute keeper, Sharkey, Braidhurst held on, to record another memorable victory. The team celebrated by wearing their Scottish Cup winners’ shirts to receive their medals and the Shield. Winning the Scottish Cup is always a great achievement, but for this team, winning has become a habit and their three consecutive victories really is something special.