The Manx Hockey season reaches its traditional end as some of the largest teams in the sport meet at the NSC for the Bridgewaters Cup finals this Saturday.

The men’s cup final timings have become exceptionally squeezed this year following Bacchas’ phenomenal run in the England Hockey cup, meaning that at the time of going to press the winner of the semi-final between Bacchas A and Castletown A has yet to be determined.

While a Castletown win would be something of a surprise, a Bacchas win would leave us with a highly competitive final between two of the more proactive sides in Manx hockey this season.

Vikings A have gone close to taking points from Bacchas on a couple of occasions, mostly recently a couple of weeks ago in the league where one goal settled the difference.

Bacchas remain without lead goalscorer Andy Whiting who is still suffering from the after effects of a broken collarbone in a training injury a couple of weeks ago, but have plenty of other options up their sleeve for goal-scoring opportunities.

What sets the team apart is their defensive records: Dave Whiting has impressed in nets during the season and seems adept at keeping Vikings’ lead goalscorers at bay.

If Bacchas and Vikings line up for the men’s final, the men’s and women’s finals will be competed by the same teams.

In the women’s contest Vikings will start as favourites, their continued success locally having been well-documented in these pages.

Bacchas have reached their third consecutive cup final and have grown progressively stronger in each.

Kathryn Craine has been a shining light in the Bacchas team this season and could well find the critical angle to penetrate the ever-strong Vikings defence, a feat they’ve managed more than any team as the season has progressed.

The plate finals look equally interesting. Castletown B are likely to prove themselves up to the challenge of a plate final against a Saracens team who’ve had their most successful season for some time.

Castletown have a critical weapon in Glesni Corney who has barely gone a game without scoring multiple goals this season and will have enough familiarity with the Saracens team to understand their weaknesses.

Saracens, meanwhile, are an exceptionally young team and this works very much to their advantage against any team containing players who may tire.

For this reason, expect Castletown to turn up with a maximum size squad.

A win for Saracens would be the first cup trophy the women’s team has won during their history.

The men’s plate final will also be hotly contested. Vikings C have underperformed in the league and will be very much a match for a Saracens team who were runners-up in the same league.

Vikings have strength in depth - and experience - with the likes of Ian Perry, Ken Carney and Andy Harding and will prove a formidable force in midfield.

Again, Saracens are young and fast: George Powell has led the team by example, scoring copious goals himself, but Andrew Winstanley, now an old hand will drive the team in midfield.

The last fixture between the two teams was relatively close and Vikings are likely to be slightly stronger in this competition by not having fielded a B team in the cup competitions.

One final fixture in PwC Men’s Division Two will see a close match between league stragglers Harlequins B and Bacchas C.

Quins B, having fought hard and often short of numbers, may finally see their opportunity to put some much-deserved points on the board.

In the Under-16s League, Harlequins and Valkyrs - both contenders for the title at various points this season - will close out their campaign with a tight-fought game where a winner is difficult to predict.

JAMES RUSSELL