After scoring two goals in the final quarter Scotland U21 Men were held to a draw by Wales in U21 Men’s EuroHockey Championship II in Lausanne.
Scotland made a strong start to the contest and for the first ten minutes of the match played some exceptional hockey.
The game was three minutes old when Tom Cahalin opened the scoring for Scotland. Some good work on the left baseline saw the ball cut back to Cahalin on the penalty spot to blast home for 1-0.
Then Wales started to gain some possession and equalised through a Patrick Cradden penalty corner.
Wales enjoyed a strong second quarter and got their noses in front Benjamin Wall sunk a penalty corner home to make it 2-1.
After half time Scotland showed great fight, control and intensity and racked up a number of penalty corners, but couldn’t convert. Instead it would be Wales to net next as John Bennett struck to a cruel blow to make it 3-1.
Scotland kept going, and in the final quarter they eventually made a penalty corner count. Charlie Jack slid the ball low into the bottom right corner to pull things back to 3-2, with Scottish intensity high.
A Scottish onslaught delivered a goal in the final minutes of the match and it was Ben Galloway who slammed a drag flick through the keeper’s legs to equalise.
Despite a late push for a winner, and two potential strokes not going Scotland’s way, there would be no further goals and it ended all square.
Head Coach Gavin Byers said, “We had numerous chances to score, and could have had more goals that our play deserved, but when you come back from two goals down it feels a bit like a win.
“It keeps things simple for us now. We have to beat the Czech’s in the next game, and if we can do that we can then focus on beating the Swiss. We took our goals well and if we can increase our conversion rate we’ll be in a really good place.”
