Scotland U21s lose out to England over two matches

 


Coach Derek Forsyth began early preparations for next year’s Under
21 European Championships in Den Bosch (Netherlands) by welcoming
his counterparts from England for a two match test series at
Inverclyde this weekend.

The opening game on Saturday afternoon saw  England edge out a
spirited home team with a narrow  single goal victory.

The first half saw Scotland mainly frustrate an England side who
enjoyed the majority of possession but were restricted to few
chances by a diligent hard working performance by the relatively
new look Scottish side with only five players remaining from last
year’s squad.

When called into action goalkeeper Blair Fotherinham (Durham City)
was up to the task with one particular fine save with his foot to
leave the score level at the break.  Scotland had produced
some neat passages of play without being able to produce any end
product to trouble the English keeper.

The second half followed a similar pattern with Scotland continuing
to defend well but with only an Alan Forsyth (Kelburne) penalty
corner leading to any real threat to England. The only goal of the
game came with ten minutes remaining when the visitors won a set
piece from which Phil Roper sent a low drag flick past a helpless
Fotheringham  to give England a narrow but deserved win.

Coach Derek Forsyth began early preparations for next
year’s Under 21 European Championships in Den Bosch (Netherlands)
by welcoming his counterparts from England for a two match test
series at Inverclyde this weekend.

The opening game on Saturday afternoon saw  England edge
out a spirited home team with a narrow  single goal
victory.

The first half saw Scotland mainly frustrate an England side who
enjoyed the majority of possession but were restricted to few
chances by a diligent hard working performance by the relatively
new look Scottish side with only five players remaining from last
year’s squad.

When called into action goalkeeper Blair Fotherinham (Durham
City) was up to the task with one particular fine save with his
foot to leave the score level at the break.

Scotland had produced some neat passages of play without being
able to produce any end product to trouble the English keeper.

The second half followed a similar pattern with Scotland
continuing to defend well but with only an Alan Forsyth (Kelburne)
penalty corner leading to any real threat to England. The only goal
of the game came with ten minutes remaining when the visitors won a
set piece from which Phil Roper sent a low drag flick past a
helpless Fotheringham to give England a narrow but deserved
win.

In the second match yesterday, the Scots were given a lesson in
clinical finishing by an impressive England side who ran out 7-1
winners.

England made a blistering start to the game with a four goal
salvo within the first nine minutes. The first goal came courtesy
of a fierce reverse stick shot from David Goodfield and was quickly
followed when Nick Cooper netted from an acute angle.

Minutes later Scotland were caught again when a shot from James
Spain was partially stopped by keeper Sean Hadfield (CALA
Edinburgh)but still ended high in the roof of the net and from the
restart David Condon added the fourth.

England continued to dominate the half and the only glimmer of a
 chance for Scotland came minutes before the break  when
Kelburne’s Alan Forsyth was unable to get his shot off on time.

Scotland enjoyed their most creative period of the game after
the break  with chances falling to Forsyth, Watsonian’s Matt
Connor and Fraser Sands (CALA) but it was England who increased
their lead through a Phil Roper set piece.

Coach Forsyth’s men did finally did get on the score sheet when
Forsyth made his way along the bye line and his cutback was
deflected into the net by an English defender. However James Spain
and Ben Stoney added further goals to seal a comprehensive win for
the impressive visitors

Before this weekend’s series the coach had stressed “We are
using these games against England  as part of our assessment
programme for the Europeans where there are also places for the
Junior World Cup 2013 at stake.”

Next month Scotland travel to Berlin to take part in the Blau
Weiss tournament as Forsyth continues to search for the
combinations to bring future success.

 

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