Scotland show Progress following Japan Tests

SCOTLAND coach Gordon Shepherd has food for thought after back-to-back internationals against highly-rated Japan in Glasgow, writes Nigel Duncan.

His young side won 1-0 on Monday and lost 3-1 on Tuesday against a side preparing for the Rio Olympics and which is ranked in the world’s top ten.

That was, according to the Dundee-born but Glasgow-based coach, a significant achievement.

Japan have just spent two weeks in New Zealand playing six international matches and drew and lost narrowly to Great Britain in London before jetting to Glasgow for their double-header.

Scotland’s performance is all the more creditable as the squad were asked to refocus after a dismal showing in a challenge with Edinburgh University in Glasgow on Sunday.

Ambitious Shepherd, whose squad are No 17 in the world, seven places below Japan, said: “Japan have played eight international games in four weeks and we’ve not played since the beginning of March.

“We stepped-up training in the two weeks ahead of the games and we had a bounce game against Edinburgh University on Sunday.

“I also could not put out my strongest team as some of the other girls were not available because of unavailability and injury.

“Japan are a nation in the top ten in the world and they are preparing for the Olympics.

“They also play a different style. They are not a defensive team and they are technically a very good and are really fast. It was a pleasure to play against them and a challenge but good for our girls.”

The coach was sitting at his desk at home reviewing the game on video yesterday and said: “I am very pleased with the way players stepped-up and we have two different players now who have made a mark. We’ll look at that.”

Goalkeeper Nicola Cochrane (Edinburgh University) was outstanding in the second game but Shepherd said: “Your goalkeeper needs to play well against top teams but we had tremendous performances from a number of players.

“This can only help develop the squad.”

Scotland’s women travel to Alicante to face Spain in June for a four games against a side also heading for the Olympics Games and that will produce different challenges, the heat being one of them as two games are in the middle of the day and two at night.

Spain are also in the same World League group as Scotland next February and this will give the coach a valuable insight.

Then the national side travels to Dublin for an international event in which they play four games before outdoor club commitments kick-in.

Recent posts:

Back to all news
Back to top