Scotland women U21 lose final encounter with Ulster U23

Scotland Women U21 Team June 2016Scotland’s U21 women’s side lost the final of three encounters against Ulster U23 Women 2-0 at the National Hockey Centre in Glasgow. The win concluded a treble of victories for the visitors over a plucky young Scots side, many of whom gaining their first experiences of U21s hockey.

Ulster started the game strong and were rewarded with a goal in the first few minutes, taking an early lead through Zoe Wilson from a penalty corner. 1-0. The visitors were looking dangerous from the off and had a lot of success lofting aerial balls into the Scots’ half.

It took around ten minutes before Scotland edged into the game. Some good work by Frances Lonergan, who impressed over the three matches, looked promising but Ulster defended well in the shooting circle.

This third game was a much more open contest than the others with play raging from end-to-end. Both sides, however, were doing a good job of protecting their shooting circles and prevented any glaring opportunities.

Scotland’s best attempt in the first quarter came just before the hooter through a penalty corner after good work by Tess Hannah. The resulting drive was deflected over by Ulster’s Pippa Best, ensuring that her team finished the quarter with their goal intact.

The second quarter saw both sides cancelling each other out for much of the contest. Iona Armour flaunted her skill to weave through Ulster players but was stopped by the last line of defence.

Then Zoe Wilson advanced into the shooting circle for Ulster but the danger was smothered by the Scotland defence. The visitors later had a shot deflected in the shooting circle, but it looped wide of the target.

As half time approached an excellent run into the shooting circle by Ellie Hutcheson provoked excitement from the stands, but she just couldn’t find the final pass running at pace.

 

Half Ttime: Scotland U21 0 Ulster U23 1

 

Scotland U21 women v Ulster 2016Following the restart Scotland were piling forward in numbers on the hunt for an equaliser. Ulster held strong despite the pressure; their defence proving resolute and solid. Scotland’s Alison Eadie looked impressive, as did Emily Cross and Katie Hibbert.

It was Ulster who struck next, however, once again proving to be clinical in front of goal. A Scottish error gave a penalty corner to Ulster, and after a clatter of sticks Ulster’s Zara Malseed was left with a tap-in to make it 2-0.

Scotland still pressed forward looking for a goal; Hibbert went on an attacking run but was denied by the stick of a sliding Ulster defender. Scotland again came close to scoring shortly later but Ulster’s keeper did well to block Armour’s shot from close range.

Then Lorna Cruickshank did well to win the ball mid-way in the Ulster half then set up Hannah, but Ulster’s Alex Ogilby got to the ball first and took a whack on the shin for the pleasure.

With the minutes ticking down a lovely ball by Cross into the Ulster D was defended well once more with Scottish jerseys attacking. A tired end to the contest saw Ulster leave Glasgow with a superb trio of victories, and gave Scotland’s young players some international experience to build on for the future.

Full Time: Scotland U21 0 Ulster U23 2

 

Scotland women U21 2016 2Scotland U21

The squad for the matches is:

Susan Al Haddad

Megan Inch

Erin Gilchrist

Alison Eadie

Iona Armour

Lorna Cruickshank

McKenzie Bell

Drew Berry

Emily Cross

Ellie Halliday

Ellie Hutcheson

Tess Hannah

Chloe Hardie

Kerry Anne Hastings

Katie Hibbert

Frances Lonergan

Emma McDairmid

Shona McNab

Makenzie Brown

 

Ulster U23

Ashley McIlroy

Hannah Gieve

Alex Ogilby

Pippa Best

Taite Doherty

Ruth Maguire

Zoe Wilson

Chloe Brown

Zara Malseed

Kerri McDonald

Naomi Harkness

Emma Kernohan

Faye Kidd

Jane Kilpatrick

Emma Quinn

Rebecca Mercer

 

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