Scotland lose to France in tight second test match

Scotland v Swiss

Scotland’s senior men lost their second test match against France 2-1 in Le Touquet. The result follows the previous day’s 2-1 victory for the Scots as part of final preparations for World League 2 in Belfast next month.

In this game Scotland got off to a slow start and were punished for it. The Blue Sticks gave away a penalty corner in the eighth minute and as a result lost the opening goal.

The French then doubled their advantage through a scrappy goal at the end of the first quarter to cap off a difficult opening period for Scotland.

The first quarter was dominated by France and it was where they did the most damage to the Scots. The game was fairly even from the second quarter onward, although the game didn’t present much in the way of clear cut chances for either side.

Scotland created two half chances – Wei Adams had a half chance deflected past the post. William Marshall then had a penalty corner effort run down by the French defence.

There was nothing in the game for either side, and first quarter aside the contest was stalemate.

Then in the final quarter Scotland went all out attack. There were three minutes to go when Adams finally struck from a penalty corner. He sent a great direct flick into the back of the net to make the score 2-1. It didn’t leave much time to find an equaliser, although the Scots pressed hard in search of one. In the end it finished 2-1 to France and left the Scots to rue the slow start that ultimately cost them.

Scotland men’s Head Coach Derek Forsyth said, “We’re disappointed at how we started the game, our standard was not what we set in the opening match. We gave France the upper hand and it was hard to come back from. We did really well in the final quarter but we didn’t have enough time to score a second goal.

“We have something to prove when we play again on Friday. We want to win the match and finish off the series with a win.”

Scotland will play France in the third and final test match on Friday morning in Le Touquet.

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