In a vital win, Scotland U18 Boys beat Austria 2-1 at the U18 EuroHockey Championships in Krefeld. The result put the Scots in third spot of the pool, and awaiting the results of other games to find their fate for the latter stages of the tournament.
It was a good start by Scotland as they controlled possession and looked threatening in attack.
As the quarter continued Austria did a good job of closing down Scotland’s out ball, and the first chance of the quarter came from this. A burst through on the Scottish goal finished off with a shot wide of the mark.
Scotland then came close when a penalty corner effort shaved the post on its way wide.
In the second quarter it was very even, and very competitive. Austria got the ball in the Scotland net but it was ruled out for a foul in the build-up.
Scotland pressed hard after half time and had Austria pinned back for long spells, but the crowded circle was a tough nut to crack.
On a rare counter Austria won a penalty corner, and were denied by a tremendous save low at the right post. It led to a succession of corners, which were met by solid goalkeeping.
Scotland had a penalty corner of their own in the final quarter, but the effort was saved on line and scrambled clear.
Eventually, Scotland got what they deserved, and grabbed the vital goal via Andrew Lobb, with ten minutes to play, through a powerful low shot across the goalkeeper into the bottom left corner. 1-0.
Less than two minutes later it went to 2-0 with a thunderous shot on the turn by Oliver Wilson, cracked off the post and in.
Austria pulled one back with just over a minute left to play but Scotland saw the game out and took the victory.
