Scotland and South Africa in ten goal thriller

 

Scotland (Cram 25′, Merchant 43′, Lloyd 50′, Clement 66′, Howie 67′) 5-5 South Africa (Coetzee 33′, 47′, 63′, Chamberlain 53′, Keet 64′)
Scotland Women rounded off their four match series against South Africa in Edinburgh with a 5-5 draw at Peffermill tonight.
Pietie Coetzee was again the most dangerous player for the visitors, bagging a hat-trick to add to her world record goals tally, while Marcelle Keet and Dirkie Chamberlain also registered on the scoresheet for the away side.
Scotland’s goals came from Holly Cram, Becky Merchant, Nikki Lloyd, captain Linda Clement and Ali Howie as the home side claimed a very credible draw and they could have won it right at the death as the ball cannoned off the left hand upright from a last minute penalty corner.
As a result, the Scots narrowly lose the series 2-1 but there are plenty of positives from Gordon Shepherd and his players to take away from these encounters with a side listed number eleven in the FIH World Rankings.
Scotland started the brighter side in the first five minutes and looked lively in midfield as the South Africans struggled to get themselves up to speed with the opening stages of the contest.
They were awarded a penalty corner in the sixth minute when the ball is played to Becky Merchant at the edge of the circle but her reverse stick shot on goal was considered dangerous play by the umpires.
South Africa eventually sprung into life in the 18th minute and Scotland goalkeeper Amy Gibson was on hand to prevent Pietie Coetzee from opening the scoring when she made a deft save to her left hand side.
Three minutes later, Holly Cram thought she had given the national side the lead after Vikki Bunce had forced Samani Mingisa into a good save from a penalty corner drag-flick, and the Milne Craig Clydesdale Western striker netted the re-bound, only for the umpires to chalk it off for an illegal use of the foot.
However, the Scotland forward didn’t have to wait long to get on the scoresheet as she put the faintest of touches onto Ali Bell’s through-pass to skilfully deflect the ball past Mangisa and give her side a 1-0 lead in the 25th minute.
Chances fell to South Africa’s Lilian Du Plessis and Scotland’s Nikki Lloyd before the visitors got back on level terms in the 33rd minute when Coetzee had the easy task of turning the ball home to make it 1-1 after Kelly Madsen found her at the back post with a neat pass.
As half-time approached, Sarah Robertson had a great chance to put the Scots back in front but Mangisa did well to force the Edinburgh University midfielder wide and block off her shot to keep the scores level as the half-time hooter sounded.
The second half was a ding-dong affair with the lead changing sides a number of times.
South Africa started the second half with five penalty corners in a row; Ali Howie did well to block Coetzee’s first attempt with her stick, while the striker’s second strike from the set-piece was illegally blocked. Quanita Bobbs was next to try her luck from the penalty corner but the Scottish defence stood tall to clear the ball, before Coetzee saw another effort well blocked. The final attempt saw the visiting side try a training ground move but the attackers were not on the same wavelength and the threat fizzled out.
Having survived some intense pressure on the home defence, Scotland were awarded a penalty corner in the 43rd minute. Bunce worked the injection back to Morag McLellan, who found Merchant in front of goal and the defender scooped the ball past Mangisa to give the Scots a 2-1 lead.
In the 45th minute, Coetzee was convinced she had scored from yet another penalty corner, only for the umpires ruled the strike out, but two minutes later the South African striker was not to be denied as she rattled home a drag-flick past Nicki Cochrane to equalise at 2-2.
The lead only lasted three minutes as a brilliant counter-attack from Scotland led Howie bearing down on goal from the left touchline her pass found Lloyd, who slid the ball past Magisa to make it 3-2 in the 50th minute.
Scotland barely had the opportunity to savour their lead as Dirkie Chamberlain displayed a lovely turn and surge into the circle to strike the ball cleanly into the left hand corner of the net to put her side back on parity at 3-3 in the 53rd minute.
In the 60th minute, Susan McGilveray stung Mangisa’s gloves with a strike from a penalty corner move before Merchant also went close with an opportunistic effort on goal.
Thereafter followed four goals in seven minutes; Coetzee beat Cochrane from the penalty spot to give South Africa a 4-3 lead in the 63rd minute before Marcelle Keet turned the ball high past the Scotland goalkeeper to make it 5-3 only a minute later.
With the Scots seemingly down and out, captain Linda Clement notched the fourth goal for her side in the 66th minute and then Howie popped up at the back post to grab a Scottish equaliser in the 67th minute and square the scores up at five apiece.
There was still time for both sides to snatch a win at the death and Cochrane made a great save from Coetzee to deny the away side before the Scots came within an inch of a sixth goal right on full-time as a penalty corner strike came rattling off the woodwork to prevent them from securing a win that would have levelled the series at 2-2.

Scotland (Cram 25′, Merchant 43′, Lloyd 50′, Clement 66′, Howie 67′) 5-5 South Africa (Coetzee 33′, 47′, 63′, Chamberlain 53′, Keet 64′)

Scotland Women rounded off their four match series against South Africa in Edinburgh with a thrilling 5-5 draw at Peffermill tonight.

Pietie Coetzee was again the most dangerous player for the visitors, bagging a hat-trick to add to her world record goals tally, while Marcelle Keet and Dirkie Chamberlain also registered on the scoresheet for the away side.

Scotland’s goals came from Holly Cram, Becky Merchant, Nikki Lloyd, captain Linda Clement and Ali Howie as the national side claimed a very credible draw and they could have won it right at the death as the ball cannoned off the left hand upright from a last minute penalty corner.

As a result, the Scots narrowly lost the series 2-1 but there are plenty of positives for Gordon Shepherd and his players to take away from these encounters against a side listed number eleven in the FIH World Rankings.

Ali Bell vs SA

(Scotland’s Ali Bell on the ball on the occasion of her 100th international cap. Credit Ayaz Ali.)

Scotland started the brighter side in the first five minutes and looked lively in midfield as the South Africans struggled to get themselves up to speed with the opening stages of the contest.

They were awarded a penalty corner in the sixth minute when the ball was played to Becky Merchant at the edge of the circle but her reverse stick shot on goal was considered dangerous play by the umpires.

South Africa eventually sprung into life in the 18th minute and Scotland goalkeeper Amy Gibson was on hand to prevent Pietie Coetzee from opening the scoring when she made a deft save to her left hand side.

Three minutes later, Holly Cram thought she had given the national side the lead after Vikki Bunce had forced Samani Mingisa into a good save from a penalty corner drag-flick, with the Milne Craig Clydesdale Western striker netting the re-bound, only for the umpires to chalk it off for an illegal use of the foot.

However, the Scotland forward didn’t have to wait long to get on the scoresheet as she put the faintest of touches onto Ali Bell’s through-pass to skilfully deflect the ball past Mangisa and give her side a 1-0 lead in the 25th minute.

Chances fell to South Africa’s Lilian Du Plessis and Scotland’s Nikki Lloyd before the visitors got back on level terms in the 33rd minute when Coetzee had the easy task of turning the ball home to make it 1-1 after Kelly Madsen found her at the back post with a neat pass.

As half-time approached, Sarah Robertson had a great chance to put the Scots back in front but Mangisa did well to force the Edinburgh University midfielder wide and block off her shot to keep the scores level as the half-time hooter sounded.

The second half was a ding-dong affair with the lead changing sides a number of times.

South Africa started the second half with five penalty corners in a row; Ali Howie did well to block Coetzee’s first attempt with her stick, while the striker’s second strike from the set-piece was illegally blocked.

Quanita Bobbs was next to try her luck from the penalty corner but the Scottish defence stood tall to clear the ball, before Coetzee saw another effort well blocked. The final attempt saw the visiting side try a training ground move but the attackers were not on the same wavelength and the threat fizzled out.

Having survived some intense pressure on the home defence, Scotland were awarded a penalty corner in the 43rd minute. Bunce worked the injection back to Morag McLellan, who found Merchant in front of goal and the defender scooped the ball past Mangisa for a 2-1 lead.

In the 45th minute, Coetzee was convinced she had scored from yet another penalty corner, only for the umpires to rule the strike out, but two minutes later the South African striker was not to be denied as she rattled home a drag-flick past Scottish replacement goalkeeper Nicki Cochrane to equalise at 2-2.

The lead only lasted three minutes as a brilliant counter-attack led to Howie bearing down on goal from the left touchline and her pass found Lloyd, who slid the ball past Magisa to make it 3-2 in the 50th minute.

Nikki Lloyd vs SA

(Nikki Lloyd celebrates her goal for Scotland. Credit: Ayaz Ali)

Scotland barely had the opportunity to savour their lead as Dirkie Chamberlain displayed a lovely turn and surge into the circle to strike the ball cleanly into the left hand corner of the net to put her side back on parity at 3-3 in the 53rd minute.

In the 60th minute, Susan McGilveray stung Mangisa’s gloves with a strike from a penalty corner move before Merchant also went close with an opportunistic effort on goal.

Thereafter followed four goals in seven minutes; Coetzee beat Cochrane from the penalty spot to give South Africa a 4-3 lead in the 63rd minute before Marcelle Keet turned the ball high past the Scotland goalkeeper to make it 5-3 only a minute later.

With the Scots seemingly down and out, captain Linda Clement notched the fourth goal for her side in the 66th minute and then Howie popped up at the back post to grab a Scottish equaliser in the 67th minute and to square the scores up at five goals apiece.

There was still time for both sides to snatch a win at the death and Cochrane made a great save from Coetzee to deny the away side before the Scots came within an inch of a sixth goal right on full-time as a penalty corner strike came rattling off the woodwork to prevent them from securing a win that would have levelled the series at 2-2.

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