Shepherd goes to win in Prague

WORLD LEAGUE ROUND 1 IN PRAGUE

Gordon Shepherd, Scotland women`s coach, has laid down
his gauntlet for the first round of the inaugural World League, his
sole target is to finish first in the pool competition involving
Turkey, Czech Republic, Belarus, Italy and France in Prague over
the next week.  

Although qualification for the next round is modest, the top
four out of the six competing nations move on, Shepherd will only
be satisfied with pole position by Sunday.

Tomorrow Shepherd`s charges start their campaign in Prague with
an opening fixture against Turkey, ranked a full 23 places below
the Scots, and the coach will contemplate nothing less than a
convincing victory, but he introduced a word of
caution.     “We certainly won`t underestimate
the lower nations given that we ourselves have caused several
upsets in higher level tournaments in recent years,” said
Shepherd.

Shepherd has admitted he knows little about Turkey and the
Czechs, and sees Belarus and Italy as the main threats.  
“Italy will be a good team and hard to beat, Belarus beat us in the
pool stages of the Europeans last year but then we beat them 2-0 in
the final, while France are always capable of a good
performance.”

Shepherd believes he has the squad for the task, he has stuck to
his experienced players to the exclusion of the junior squad
members.   “There is great experience in the squad, we
are well organised in defence and carry a great threat going
forward,” he said.   The experienced backbone of the side
will include Catriona Ralph, Sam Judge, Holly Cram and captain
Linda Clement, all can boast of over a hundred Scotland caps
each.

But the Scots will have to fulfil the coach`s aspirations
without the services of Great Britain players Laura Bartlett, Emily
Maguire and goalkeeper Abi Walker who are on down-time from the
Olympics.   “Players of that quality will always be
missed, but I`m happy with the players that have come in to replace
them.”    The new players that have staked their
claim to a place in the Prague squad include goalkeepers Amy Gibson
and Nicki Cochrane along with Susan McGilveray, Aileen Davis and
Nikki Lloyd.

But Shepherd is able to include Vikki Bunce, left out of the GB
squad for the London Olympics by coach Danny Kerry, and the VWS
Dundee Wanderers` playmaker will provide some drive to the
midfield.   “It`s a real bonus having Vikki back in the
side, I didn`t think that would happen,” said Shepherd.

The build-up has given Shepherd food for thought, he was pleased
with the team performance in five tests against South Africa
despite losing all but one of the games, the Scots again won the
Celtic Cup beating both Ireland and Wales, while the two games
against China, who finished 6th in the London Olympics, were
perhaps an eye-opener for the Scottish squad.

The World League is an important tournament for Shepherd, it
leads ultimately to qualification for the 2014 World Cup in the
Hague.

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