A 10-2 victory over Croatia for Scotland men saw them get off to a great start at the EuroHockey Qualifier in Vienna.
Croatia took an early lead when Josip Krezla struck from a penalty corner to go 1-0 up. It took Scotland five minutes to equalise and it was Tommy Austin who levelled the scores. On the brink of the first quarter ending AJ Lochrin put Scotland ahead. Struan Walker made it 3-1 for Scotland as half time neared, and put some daylight between the teams.
Croatia held Scotland until midway through the third quarter and Olympian Lee Morton fired home for 4-1. The fourth goal was quickly followed by a fifth and it was Cammy Golden who bagged the goal from a penalty corner.
The final quarter saw Scotland hit their goal scoring stride as Cammy Golden made it 6-2 at the start of the final quarter. Then Andrew McConnell made it 7-2 from the penalty spot before Jamie Golden fired a penalty corner into the net for 8-2.
Head Coach Jonny Caren said, “The game started as expected. It’s been a long time getting to this point, with over 12 months of preparation time, so there was some nervous energy in the first ten minutes that we needed to get out of our system.
“A few small adjustments to our plan at quarter time allowed us to create better passing options, which started to help us grow in confidence.
“Overall, I’m very happy with how we went about our business on the pitch today. We pressed well, and the energy we brought to our off ball movement was good. There is always room for improvement, for which we’ll need, when we come to play a tough opponent in Ukraine. The team has earned its rest day tomorrow and we’ll focus on recovery, do our homework on what we need to improve and go again on Saturday.”
