Scotland U21 Men 0-5 England U21 Men
A five goal final quarter saw Scotland U21 Men defeated 5-0 by England U21 Men at the Glasgow National Hockey Centre. The two meet again at noon on Saturday and Sunday at Uddingston.
It was a positive first quarter for Scotland. Calum Douglas made an early save at the near post to deny England a fast lead in the contest, but from that moment the Scots began to swagger.
Scotland’s best chance came when Charlie Jack sent Hamish Norval tearing through on goal but a last gasp challenge swept the ball clear.
Then Jack Adams slipped a lovely long pass down the right channel but the England defence recovered to deal with the danger.
The second quarter followed a similar pattern to the first with Douglas again denying an early goal with a solid save, and Scotland growing into the contest.
Jack came close to breaking the deadlock with a powerful low penalty corner effort, but was denied by the right leg guard of the England keeper.
Then on the stroke of half time Norval had a superb opportunity to find the net after receiving a delightful pass through the England defence, but his final effort fizzed wide of the right post.
Early in the second half Bart Kuijpers was called into action in goal for Scotland with a fantastic reaction save at the top left corner as England made another fast start.
England edged the possession in the third quarter but Scotland had a sting on the counter. The best chance in the third fell for England but Kuijpers was again a match to it; padding a rocket shot over the bar.
The heavens opened for the final quarter and then it rained goals. England took the lead through a drag flick into the bottom right corner, before doubling their advantage with a low effort from a tight angle to the left of goal.
As Scottish fatigue took hold England swept home a third, taking advantage of a loose pass for 3-0. Then with the keeper off to give Scotland an extra outfield players, an England counter was finished well for 4-0.
With seconds left on the clock a low penalty corner was slammed home for 5-0 to complete the scoring.
