Scotland stun Wales with dramatic fightback

 

Scotland delighted a passionate and enthusiastic home crowd with a dramatic 4-3 win over Wales in Pool A of the Men’s Hockey competition.
The Scots had trailed 3-1 at half-time following a hat-trick of penalty corner goals by Wales’ defender Richard Gay, with captain Chris Grassick getting a first half Scottish goal with a cracking run and finish low into the corner of the goal.
However, early second half goals from Gordon McIntyre and Daniel Coultas restored parity in the contest. A dominant second half display was eventually rewarded when midfielder Nicky Parkes claimed winning goal nine minutes from time, sending the home support into raptures.
A relieved Scotland Head Coach Derek Forsyth said, “We played pretty well in the first half. However, the first five minutes included two poor mistakes made and it cost us. Credit to the boys they never gave up and even at 3-1 down they said we are still in the game and we will go out and win this game and we did just that.
“Wales scored two quick goals in the first half and we scored two quick goals in the second half which put us straight back in the game, we kept our patience and we knew it would open up at some point and we took our chances.”
Goalscorer and Scotland Captain Chris Grassick commented, “I thought about what it may feel like to score in front of a home crowd before the tournament and it was an absolutely awesome feeling.
“But it doesn’t matter who scored today it’s all about us winning the match. That was our baseline to win that game and we are delighted to have done that. We have aspects we all work to; that’s believing in ourselves, working together, sticking to our game plan.
“Yes we let in sloppy goals early on but we kept playing in the exact same way and it proved that it works as we came out and won the game.”
“Against Australia, we will go out and do our best. The only way to improve is playing against the best players in the world and that is exactly that which will help us. Give it go play at that pace and believe in ourselves we can and go out and enjoy it.”
Scotland found themselves two goals down inside the first five minutes.
Wales use of the video referral paid off inside sixty seconds, the video umpire ruling that a Scottish foot had been used inside the scoring circle. Richard Gay made no mistake from the resulting penalty corner, flashing a furious drive into the top right hand corner of the net.
Two minutes later, a combination between Matt Ruxton and Nicholas Rees earned Wales another penalty corner. This time Gay elected to shoot low to the right of the goal, beating Chris Nelson’s attempted block on the goal-line to make it 2-0.
A defensive lapse in the Welsh ranks gave Ian Moodie a clear sight of goal in the 12th minute, but the Edinburgh University midfielder couldn’t capitalise on the opportunity, sending his shot into the outer sideboard of the goal.
Nevertheless, the Scots pulled themselves back into the match two minutes later, Chris Grassick collecting a pass from Chris Nelson on the left to crack a shot past Wales goalkeeper David Kettle.
A combination between Grassick, Alan Forsyth and Nelson brought a smart save from Kettle with his helmet as the Kelburne midfielder’s reverse stick effort looked goal-bound.
The Welsh shot-stopper was called into action in the 20th minute to deny Gordon McIntyre’s shot after good play between Nick Parkes and Kenny Bain.
However, Wales extended their lead back to two goals against the run of play in the 30th minute. Ross Stott was adjudged to have used a foot inside the circle and after a Wales video referral, Gay completed his hat-trick with an unstoppable drive into the top right corner.
It appeared that it might not be Scotland’s day when Daniel Coultas’ penalty corner effort rattled off the post along the goal-line to safety two minutes before the half-time break.
The national side returned to the fray with greater purpose following the interval, Alan Forsyth demonstrating his determination to beat two Wales defenders and scoop a cross to McIntyre to turn the ball home from close range.
Sixty seconds later, the Scots were level at 3-3. A penalty corner was awarded after Gareth Hall’s shot had been illegally blocked, and this time Coultas made it count, striking the ball low to the left hand corner of the goal.
Derek Forsyth’s side dominated for long periods after, chances falling to Bain and McIntyre.
Given the pattern in the match however, a nervousness emanated from the arena when Wales were awarded a penalty corner in the 54th minute. However, Nelson’s stick-block on the goal-line ruined Gay’s 100% conversion rate from the set-piece, deflecting goal-bound the shot wide.
Nine minutes from time, the winning goal finally arrived. An excellent pass from Niall Stott found Moodie in space on the right of the circle, who cut the ball back to the on-coming Nick Parkes to dive and turn the ball home to give Scotland a crucial 4-3 lead for the first time in the match.
Nelson came close to putting clear light between the two sides a minute later, but his sweetly struck shot narrowly missed the target.
With great scenes of celebrations on the park and in the stands following the full-time hooter, today’s result all but guarantees Team Scotland a place in the 7th/8th classification match later this week.
Before that, they face the might of World Champions Australia in their final Pool A match on Thursday.

Scotland delighted a passionate and enthusiastic home crowd with a dramatic 4-3 win over Wales in Pool A of the Men’s Hockey competition.

The Scots had trailed 3-1 at half-time following a hat-trick of penalty corner goals by Wales’ defender Richard Gay, with captain Chris Grassick getting a first half Scottish goal with a cracking run and finish low into the corner.

However, early second half goals from Gordon McIntyre and Daniel Coultas restored parity in the contest, and a dominant second half display was eventually rewarded when midfielder Nicky Parkes claimed the winning goal nine minutes from time, sending the home support into raptures.

Coultas v Wales

(Dan Coultas celebrates the equalising goal for Scotland against Wales. Photo Credit: Getty Images)

A relieved Scotland Head Coach Derek Forsyth said, “We played pretty well in the first half. However, the first five minutes included two poor mistakes and it cost us. Credit to the boys they never gave up and even at 3-1 down they said we are still in the game and we will go out and win this game and we did just that.

“Wales scored two quick goals in the first half and we scored two quick goals in the second half which put us straight back in the game, we kept our patience and we knew it would open up at some point and we took our chances.”

Goalscorer and Scotland Captain Chris Grassick commented, “I thought about what it may feel like to score in front of a home crowd before the tournament and it was an absolutely awesome feeling.

“But it doesn’t matter who scored today it’s all about us winning the match. That was our baseline to win that game and we are delighted to have done that. We have aspects we all work to; that’s believing in ourselves, working together, sticking to our game plan.

“Yes we let in sloppy goals early on but we kept playing in the exact same way and it proved that it works as we came out and won the game.”

“Against Australia, we will go out and do our best. The only way to improve is playing against the best players in the world and that is exactly that what will help us. We’ll give it a go play at that pace and believe in ourselves that we can and go out and enjoy it.”

Scotland found themselves two goals down inside the first five minutes.

Wales use of the video referral paid off inside sixty seconds, the video umpire ruling that a Scottish foot had been used inside the scoring circle. Richard Gay made no mistake from the resulting penalty corner, flashing a furious drive into the top right hand corner of the net.

Two minutes later, a combination between Matt Ruxton and Nicholas Rees earned Wales another penalty corner. This time Gay elected to shoot low to the right of the goal, beating Chris Nelson’s attempted block on the goal-line to make it 2-0.

A defensive lapse in the Welsh ranks gave Ian Moodie a clear sight of goal in the 12th minute, but the Edinburgh University midfielder couldn’t capitalise on the opportunity, sending his shot into the outer sideboard of the goal.

Nevertheless, the Scots pulled themselves back into the match two minutes later, Chris Grassick collecting a pass from Chris Nelson on the left to crack a shot past Wales goalkeeper David Kettle.

A combination between Grassick, Alan Forsyth and Nelson brought a smart save from Kettle with his helmet as the Kelburne midfielder’s reverse stick effort looked goal-bound.

The Welsh shot-stopper was called into action in the 20th minute to deny Gordon McIntyre’s shot after good play between Nick Parkes and Kenny Bain.

However, Wales extended their lead back to two goals against the run of play in the 30th minute. Ross Stott was adjudged to have used a foot inside the circle and after a Wales video referral, Gay completed his hat-trick with an unstoppable drive into the top right corner.

It appeared that it might not be Scotland’s day when Daniel Coultas’ penalty corner effort rattled off the post along the goal-line to safety two minutes before the half-time break.

The national side returned to the fray with greater purpose following the interval, Alan Forsyth demonstrating his determination to beat two Wales defenders and scoop a cross to McIntyre to turn the ball home from close range.

Sixty seconds later, the Scots were level at 3-3. A penalty corner was awarded after Gareth Hall’s shot had been illegally blocked, and this time Coultas made it count, striking the ball low to the left hand corner of the goal.

Derek Forsyth’s side dominated for long periods after, chances falling to Bain and McIntyre.

Given the pattern in the match however, a nervousness emanated from the arena when Wales were awarded a penalty corner in the 54th minute. However, Nelson’s stick-block on the goal-line ruined Gay’s 100% conversion rate from the set-piece, deflecting the goal-bound shot wide.

Nine minutes from time, the winning goal finally arrived. An excellent pass from Niall Stott found Moodie in space on the right of the circle, who cut the ball back to the on-coming Nick Parkes to dive and turn the ball home to give Scotland a crucial 4-3 lead for the first time in the match.

Nelson came close to putting clear light between the two sides a minute later, but his sweetly struck shot narrowly missed the target.

With great scenes of celebrations on the park and in the stands following the full-time hooter, today’s result all but guarantees Team Scotland a place in the 7th/8th classification match later this week.

Before that, they face the might of World Champions Australia in their final Pool A match on Thursday.

Team Scotland: Jamie Cachia, Gareth Hall, David Forsyth, Nick Parkes, Michael Bremner, Dan Coultas, Alan Forysth, Chris Grassick (c), Ian Moodie, Gordon McIntyre, Ross Stott, Chris Nelson, Kenny Bain, William Marshall, Iain Scholefield, Niall Stott.

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


 

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