Edinburgh University aiming for historic first in men's hockey

Player/coach Hamish Imrie and his squad go into the Premier National play-off on a downer, however, having lost their Scottish Cup semi-final to unfancied

Hillhead 3-2 after being 2-0 ahead in Glasgow on Sunday.

That disappointment came 24 hours after the students clinched third place in Scotland's men's Premiership with a 6-1 victory over city rivals Watsonians at Peffermill.

The 25-year-old playcaller claimed fatigue caught up with the squad on Sunday but added: "We're determined to make history."

Edinburgh claimed this promotion chance after finishing top of the North League in Division Two of the competition run by British Universities and Colleges Sport (BUCS), winning five matches, drawing two and losing one.

They missed out on being promoted to the top tier last week when they were edged by Oxford who won the South League in Division Two, but get a second chance against Oxford Brookes who finished second bottom of the top division.

Imrie admitted that there is a big difference between the standard in the first and second division, but the Scottish international remains optimistic and declared: "We suffered heartbreak last week in losing on penalty strokes to Oxford. We were 2-2 at the end of regulation time, and we went down 4-1 on penalties.

"However, I'm confident the boys will put that and Sunday's Scottish Cup disappointment behind them and win on this occasion. No other Scottish university men's team has ever been in the top division and we want to be there."