Excellent Scots denied semi-final place by England

 

Team Scotland suffered the agony of missing out on a semi-final place in the Women’s Hockey competition after a 2-1 defeat at the hands of England in their final Pool B match.
In front of a packed home support at the Glasgow National Hockey Centre, midfielder Nikki Kidd had brought Scotland back into the contest with a penalty corner strike shortly before half-time, after Alex Danson and Susannah Thomas goals had given England a 2-0 lead.
The Scots dominated for long second half spells, fashioning a number of chances from open play and penalty corners. Alas, England and Great Britain goalkeeper Maddie Hinch had an excellent game, repelling the Scottish advances in front of goal with a number of top class saves.
Following the match, a shattered Scotland Captain Linda Clement said, “The first emotion is disappointment and also a bit of hurt. We’re really disappointed not to beat England today, and we’ve missed our target of not making the top four.
“There’s also a sense of pride, we fought really hard and we gave it our everything.  Unfortunately we just fell a little bit short today.
“There were a lot of chances in the game and their keeper did play well. In the second half, I felt we dominated, just disappointed that we couldn’t get the ball in the goal. That’s tournament hockey. We pick ourselves up and go for fifth place now.”
“[The crowd] were absolutely outstanding and all we can do is thank them for their support today.”
Scotland Head Coach Gordon Shepherd added, “It was a fantastic performance, one I’m very proud of. I’m so proud of the players, I couldn’t have asked for any more from them.
“We prepared so well for this game, we had a game plan that very nearly came off. In the second half, I don’t know if I’ve seen them play with such conviction, they were amazing.
“We had the corners, we had the open play chances. We had six corners so no-one can say we didn’t create chances, but we just didn’t execute, that was the only thing.
“It’s a game we definitely want to win. We’d like to finish in the highest position possible and it also gives the girls a great opportunity to come and play in front of such a magnificent crowd. They were tremendous from start to finish today, and the players want to enjoy every minute of it.”
Scotland now advance to the 5th/6th classification match on Friday, with England taking a semi-final spot.
England demonstrated their danger as early as the second minute, Sophie Bray dispossessing Scotland defender Aileen Davis, but she was penalised for dangerous play after her initial shot had been blocked by Scottish goalkeeper Amy Gibson.
Gibson kept the deadlock firmly shut in the seventh minute after Alex Danson glided along the baseline to rattle a reverse stick effort against her pads, the ball cleared to safety.
England continued to build on their promising start in the 13th minute when Zoe Shipperley found Sophie Bray inside the scoring circle, but her wild shot sailed over the bar.
However, the Scottish rearguard was successfully penetrated three minutes later when Danson made it 1-0, the Reading forward turning past Leigh Fawcett on the left of the circle to scoop the ball into the far corner.
Scotland responded immediately; Cat Ralph robbing the ball in midfield and finding Nikki Lloyd in space in front of the circle. The Canterbury forward played a sumptuous pass into the path of Linda Clement, whose cross was only narrowly missed by the outstretched stick of Nikki Kidd at the back post.
Gibson was alert to deny both Bray and Lily Owsley extending England’s lead, but the Scotland shot-stopper could do nothing to prevent a second English goal in the 28th minute from a penalty corner. Sam Quek’s initial attempt deflected to Bray, whose shot was blocked by Gibson but Susannah Townsend was on hand to turn the ball home.
Nevertheless, Scotland replied four minutes later at a penalty corner. Kidd’s first attempt came off an English foot, her second attempt struck low and hard into the right corner to bring the Scots back into the game.
A rousing reception from the home crowd as the teams emerged for the second half gave Scotland momentum.
Kidd’s reverse stick shot just missed the target two minutes after the re-start, before Clement’s shot was saved by Maddie Hinch shortly after.
Hinch demonstrated her goalkeeping prowess in the 43rd minute, denying Kidd low to her right to prevent a potent drag-flick reaching its target.
Persistent Scottish pressure almost paid off in the 45th minute, Kidd driving to the baseline and cutting the ball back to Ailsa Wyllie, the Grove Menzieshill forward’s turn and shot just going over the bar.
The home side were awarded a penalty corner mid-way through the second half after England were penalised for dangerous play. A clever penalty corner move almost bore fruit as Ralph dummied for Vikki Bunce to find Clement, whose pass to Wyllie was deflected just wide of the right hand post.
Scottish frustrations in seeking an equalising goal were increased in the 54th minute as Hinch again denied Kidd with a super save from a penalty corner drag-flick.
Six minutes from time, England’s number one kept her side in front, denying Ali Bell and Bunce from close range, before diverting a Kidd penalty corner attempt to safety.
With Hinch in imperious form, it wasn’t to be Scotland’s day, the second half finishing goalless and England advancing to the semi-finals. .

Scotland suffered the agony of missing out on a semi-final place in the Women’s Hockey competition after a 2-1 defeat at the hands of England in their final Pool B match.

In front of a packed home support at the Glasgow National Hockey Centre, midfielder Nikki Kidd had brought Scotland back into the contest with a penalty corner strike shortly before half-time, after Alex Danson and Susannah Thomas goals had given England a 2-0 lead.

The Scots dominated for long second half spells, fashioning a number of chances from open play and penalty corners. Alas, England and Great Britain goalkeeper Maddie Hinch had an excellent game, repelling the Scottish advances in front of goal with a number of top class saves.

Scotland Huddle v ENG

(Scotland produced a valiant team display against England, but it wasn’t to be. Photo Credit: Ian Steele)

Following the match, a shattered Scotland Captain Linda Clement said, “The first emotion is disappointment and also a bit of hurt. We’re really disappointed not to beat England today, and we’ve missed our target of not making the top four.

“There’s also a sense of pride, we fought really hard and we gave it our everything.  Unfortunately we just fell a little bit short today.

“There were a lot of chances in the game and their keeper did play well. In the second half, I felt we dominated, just disappointed that we couldn’t get the ball in the goal. That’s tournament hockey. We pick ourselves up and go for fifth place now.”

“[The crowd] were absolutely outstanding and all we can do is thank them for their support today.”

Scotland Head Coach Gordon Shepherd added, “It was a fantastic performance, one I’m very proud of. I’m so proud of the players, I couldn’t have asked for any more from them.

“We prepared so well for this game, we had a game plan that very nearly came off. In the second half, I don’t know if I’ve seen them play with such conviction, they were amazing.

“We had the corners, we had the open play chances. We had six corners so no-one can say we didn’t create chances, but we just didn’t execute, that was the only thing.

“It’s a game we definitely want to win. We’d like to finish in the highest position possible and it also gives the girls a great opportunity to come and play in front of such a magnificent crowd. They were tremendous from start to finish today, and the players want to enjoy every minute of it.”

Scotland now advance to the 5th/6th classification match on Friday, with England taking a semi-final spot.

England demonstrated their danger as early as the second minute, Sophie Bray dispossessing Scotland defender Aileen Davis, but she was penalised for dangerous play after her initial shot had been blocked by Scottish goalkeeper Amy Gibson.

Gibson kept the deadlock firmly shut in the seventh minute after Alex Danson glided along the baseline to rattle a reverse stick effort against her pads, the ball cleared to safety.

England continued to build on their promising start in the 13th minute when Zoe Shipperley found Sophie Bray inside the scoring circle, but her wild shot sailed over the bar.

However, the Scottish rearguard was successfully penetrated three minutes later when Danson made it 1-0, the Reading forward turning past Leigh Fawcett on the left of the circle to scoop the ball into the far corner.

Scotland responded immediately; Cat Ralph robbing the ball in midfield and finding Nikki Lloyd in space in front of the circle. The Canterbury forward played a sumptuous pass into the path of Linda Clement, whose cross was only narrowly missed by the outstretched stick of Nikki Kidd at the back post.

Cat RalphENG

(Cat Ralph in action against England. Photo Credit: Ian Steele)

Gibson was alert to deny both Bray and Lily Owsley extending England’s lead, but the Scotland shot-stopper could do nothing to prevent a second English goal in the 28th minute from a penalty corner. Sam Quek’s initial attempt deflected to Bray, whose shot was blocked by Gibson but Susannah Townsend was on hand to turn the ball home.

Nevertheless, Scotland replied four minutes later at a penalty corner. Kidd’s first attempt came off an English foot, her second attempt struck low and hard into the right corner to bring the Scots back into the game.

Kidd PC

(Nikki Kidd fires Scotland back into the contest. Photo Credit: Ian Steele)

Kidd and Ralph Celebrate

(Nikki Kidd and Cat Ralph celebrate Scotland’s goal. Photo Credit: Ian Steele)

A rousing reception from the home crowd as the teams emerged for the second half gave Scotland momentum.

Kidd’s reverse stick shot just missed the target two minutes after the re-start, before Clement’s shot was saved by Maddie Hinch shortly after.

Hinch demonstrated her goalkeeping prowess in the 43rd minute, denying Kidd low to her right to prevent a potent drag-flick reaching its target.

Persistent Scottish pressure almost paid off in the 45th minute, Kidd driving to the baseline and cutting the ball back to Ailsa Wyllie, the Grove Menzieshill forward’s turn and shot just going over the bar.

The home side were awarded a penalty corner mid-way through the second half after England were penalised for dangerous play. A clever penalty corner move almost bore fruit as Ralph dummied for Vikki Bunce to find Clement, whose pass to Wyllie was deflected just wide of the right hand post.

Scottish frustrations in seeking an equalising goal were increased in the 54th minute as Hinch again denied Kidd with a super save from a penalty corner drag-flick.

Six minutes from time, England’s number one kept her side in front, denying Ali Bell and Bunce from close range, before diverting a Kidd penalty corner attempt to safety.

With Hinch in imperious form, it wasn’t to be Scotland’s day, the second half finishing goalless and England advancing to the semi-finals.

Team Scotland: Amy Gibson, Vikki Bunce, Morag McLellan, Ali Bell, Becky Ward, Cat Ralph, Sarah Robertson, Linda Clement (c), Ailsa Wyllie, Leigh Fawcett, Nikki Kidd, Susan McGilveray, Nikki Llloyd, Nicki Skrastin, Emily Maguire, Aileen Davis.

Please visit Glasgow 2014 Hockey Competition for all fixtures, results and pool standings.

Recent posts:

Back to all news
Back to top