Scottish veterans lose out in semi-final contests in Singapore

It’s been a disappointing 24 hours for Scotland’s
O40s and O50s in the Singapore IMHT.  The O40s faced Malaysia
in a crucial pool game on Thursday afternoon, with a win
guaranteeing them a play off for 3rd place with Australia.  
Some excellent hockey from Jon William’s team saw them completely
dominate their opponents and establish a 2-0 lead.
 Comfortably in control of the game, they looked on course for
a win until two highly controversial penalty flick decisions
awarded by the local umpire saw the Scots pegged back to 2-2.
 That would have been enough to have seen them through to that
match with the Aussies but a defensive error saw them concede a
soft third goal after which Malaysia were content to play out time,
albeit using time wasting tactics that again should have been dealt
with more effectively by the umpires.
The O50s took on an extremely powerful England side
in the semi-final of their competition early on Friday but
unfortunately ended the wrong side of a 4-1 scoreline.  Two
goals down after only 20 minutes, the Scots fought back strongly
with Tim Walker netting a superb penalty corner following a clever
set-up from Mike Watts.  A chance to level the scores was
spurned and England took advantage of some slack midfield play and
defensive marking to bag another goal before half time.  The
Scots threw everything into attack at the start of the second half
and were always going to be vulnerable to a break.  And it
came about when England turned over a Scot’s drive down the right,
broke and scored easily to put the game beyond reach.  Credit
to the Scots, they kept plugging away, but England could afford to
sit back, soak up the pressure and save their legs for Saturday’s
final against Australia, who beat New Zealand in a penalty flick
shoot out after the game finished level at 1-1.
Well though they played at times, the Scots need to
take lessons from this defeat.  Defensive and midfield errors
cost them goals two, three and four, proving yet again that good
sides like England with quality players will punish errors
ruthlessly.  Scotland now meet New Zealand on Saturday in a
play-off for third place.

It’s been a disappointing 24 hours for Scotland’s O40s
and O50s in the Singapore International Masters Hockey
Classic.

The O40s faced Malaysia in a crucial pool game
on Thursday afternoon, with a win guaranteeing them a play off for
3rd place with Australia.   Some excellent hockey from Jon
William’s team saw them completely dominate their opponents and
establish a 2-0 lead.

Comfortably in control of the game, they looked on course for a
win until two highly controversial penalty flick decisions awarded
by the local umpire saw the Scots pegged back to 2-2.

That would have been enough to have seen them through to that
match with the Aussies but a defensive error saw them concede a
soft third goal after which Malaysia were content to play out time,
albeit using time wasting tactics that again should have been dealt
with more effectively by the umpires.

The O50s took on an extremely powerful England side in the
semi-final of their competition early on Friday but unfortunately
ended the wrong side of a 4-1 scoreline.

Two goals down after only 20 minutes, the Scots fought back
strongly with Tim Walker netting a superb penalty corner following
a clever set-up from Mike Watts.

A chance to level the scores was spurned and England took
advantage of some slack midfield play and defensive marking to bag
another goal before half time.

The Scots threw everything into attack at the start of the
second half and were always going to be vulnerable to a break.
 And it came about when England turned over a Scot’s drive
down the right, broke and scored easily to put the game beyond
reach.

Credit to the Scots, they kept plugging away, but England could
afford to sit back, soak up the pressure and save their legs for
Saturday’s final against Australia, who beat New Zealand in a
penalty flick shoot out after the game finished level at 1-1.

Well though they played at times, the Scots need to take lessons
from this defeat. Defensive and midfield errors cost them
goals two, three and four, proving yet again that good sides like
England with quality players will punish errors ruthlessly.
Scotland now meet New Zealand on Saturday in a play-off for third
place.

 

 

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