Victory for Scotland men in Cardiff as the Blue Sticks return to action

Scotland men returned to the pitch with a sensational 4-2 victory over Wales in Cardiff after battling back from being 2-0 down to win.

It was a new-look Scotland side taking to the pitch for this test match with a number of players making their debut. The match was a tight affair in the opening quarter with a lot of play in the middle of the pitch but with no breakthrough, or clean chances, for either team.

Lee Morton was offered a green card in the second quarter, and Wales followed up with an attack at goal, but the Scots held firm and there was no conversion at this time.

Then a counter attack surged forward from Scotland following a turnover in the middle of the pitch, but a solid save from Tranter in the Welsh goal kept the ball out, and denied the Blue Sticks the lead.

As the half reached a conclusion a great steal by the Welsh led to pressure applied in the Scottish circle, resulting in Wales getting the first penalty corner of the game. Again, Scotland dealt with the danger well and came away their sheet clean.

Then Scotland had a penalty corner effort of their own, and a lovely drag flick was saved superbly to keep the game goalless at half time.

Early in the second half Scotland defended another penalty corner effort well with Robert Field picking up a green card.

Then the home side struck the opener in the 38th minute through a deflection from Alf Dinnie to give Wales the lead. 1-0.

The opener was soon followed by a penalty stroke awarded to Wales but a great save by debutant Rory McCallum denied the goal.

A minute later and the Welsh doubled their advantage through a strike by Jolyon Morgan. 2-0.

Then it was Scotland’s turn to be awarded a penalty and Lee Morton stepped up to strike it home and pull one back.

Scotland continued to attack and very quickly bagged the equaliser through a lovely Kyle White strike on the reverse, with four minutes to go in a goal-laden third quarter.

In the final quarter Scotland took the lead. Another penalty stroke went the way of Scotland and Morton made no mistake to bag his second from the spot and make it 3-2 to the Blue Sticks.

Then debutant Jamie Golden sealed the win late in the fourth quarter when he pinged the ball into the top corner from a penalty corner to make it 4-2.

Head Coach Derek Forsyth said, “It was a really good performance, and to come back from being 2-0 down says a lot about the players – many of them wearing the jersey for the first time today. We got really good momentum after we scored our first and I’m delighted for the new players. It’s a really good starting point for us; we’ve got things we’ll look to improve, and we played a new system too, so it was a good start and performance.”

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