Scotland men defeat France in first test match

Scotland Men Seniors

Scotland’s senior men have defeated France 2-0 in Le Touquet in the first of three test matches between the two. The games are part of final preparations for World League 2, held in Belfast next month.

Scotland dominated the first half; keeping possession and playing slick hockey. The early dominance was rewarded when Alan Forsyth bagged the opening goal at the end of the first quarter. Callum Duke won the ball for Scotland and passed to Cammy Fraser, he found Forsyth in the D who took the ball past the goalkeeper to score and give Scotland a 1-0 lead.

The second quarter was similar to the first and Scotland doubled their lead half way through the quarter. The goal came from another counter attack; Forsyth lobbed the French goalkeeper, but the shot was going wide until Lee Morton turned up to finish in an attempt that resembled a slam dunk. It gave Scotland a well-earned 2-0 lead at half time.

France came back into the game in the third quarter, and probably edged the second half performance in terms of possession. David Forrester in goal for Scotland made a number of good saves from penalty corners. William Marshall also had a good game, but it was the solid team performance which was the most important thing as the French struggled to cause any serious problems for the Scots.

Scotland defended well and still managed to create chances to advance their lead – Ben Cosgrove and Patch Christie both had good chances to add a third for Scotland. The former suffered a hairline crack to his thumb in the game and will miss the remaining test matches.

In the end it finished 2-0 and it’s a promising result and performance as Scotland prepare for World League 2 in Belfast next month.

Scotland men’s Head Coach Derek Forsyth said, “It was a good team performance and I’m very pleased by the effort of the boys. I’m looking forward to the next match, and we’ll take confidence from the win, but I expect to see a different France in the next game.

“What’s important is that we improve in each game. This is our last camp before World League 2 and already we’ve made improvements from our last camp in Spain.”

Recent posts:

Back to all news
Back to top