News 11 May 2014
All then enws for Sunday 11 May 2014
Scotland men draw level with Wales after an end to end match
Goal scorer Michael Bremner taken by Ian Buchan
An electric match as Scotland draw 3-3 against Wales in the first of the two match friendly series at Glasgow Green.
Both sides started the game attacking well with Scotland’s Kenny Bain making a great run down the line with his cross just going wide of goal. Wales soon got the ball back and was awarded the first penalty corner of the game taking the lead 1-0 from a Richard Gay drag flick putting it bottom right of the Scotland keeper Allan Dick.
Wales had the edge moving the ball round the Scots, with Scotland attacking well on the counter but not quite finishing in the D. Soon came the equaliser after the ref playing advantage Michael Bremner took a brilliant shot in the middle of the D putting the ball into the top right corner, levelling it 1-1.
Each side were eager for a second goal and Wales were awarded for their hard work on the ball with another penalty corner. Despite Gay putting the ball into the back of the net the goal did not stand as the Welsh players were obstructing the Scottish defence.
Keeper Dick made a great save getting a stick to the ball after a Welsh shot across goal. Straight back down the other end Wei Adams hits the ball into the D from the far side for Gareth Hall to get a touch to give Scotland the lead, 2-1.
With only a minute gone after the Scots taking the lead Wales converted another penalty corner, with Michael Shaw placing the ball bottom left of the keeper underneath Forsyth, leaving it 2-2 at half time.
Scotland kicked off the second half well, keeping a strong hold on the ball, penetrating the Welsh D. With 45 minutes gone Wales were awarded a penalty corner with Gay getting is his second of the match for Wales to take the lead 3-2.
After going behind Scotland were hungry for a goal adding lots of pressure on the Welsh defence, with Michael Ross put a strong ball across goal sadly for none of the Scots managed to get on the end of it.
David Forsyth up against Matthew Ruxton captain of Wales taken by Ian Buchan
With just over ten minutes to go Scotland were awarded their first penalty corner of the game, followed by another with the referee awarding a penalty flick after a Welsh foot off the line.
Alan Forsyth coolly stepped up and simply placed it bottom right of the Welsh keeper levelling it 3-3. This spurred the Scots on taking every opportunity to take a shot on goal forcing Welsh keeper Williams to make some great saves to deny the home side that fourth goal. The last action of the match Scotland were awarded a penalty corner which was cleared confidently by the Welsh defence.
Head coach Derek Forysth was disappointed with today’s performance; “Considering we were playing best teams in the world ten days ago and the performances we put together in these games I felt we were a bit far off that which is not where we wanted to be.
“Involved we keep our standards high like we do against opposition that are better than this but we are currently not producing that consistency so we end up playing at the same level as the opposition.
“We had six new players in today, good opportunity to look at, but it was the team’s performance, we didn’t come out and set the tone of the game. The first half was end to end but the second half we played much better. Down to how the opposition played leading us to be more on the ball but we certainly created enough opportunities to win the game.
“Tomorrow the guys need to put a bitter performance in and they know that they need to up their game tomorrow, hopefully better result tomorrow than today.”
The men play again at 12pm tomorrow at the Glasgow National Hockey Centre, spectators welcome.
Scottish Hockey Union media release
Uni of St Andrews aim to carry on giant killing act
Men's Scottish Cup
After knocking out National League Division 1 champions Glynhill Kelburne in the previous round, underdogs University of St.Andrew’s face another side from the top division when they face Grange in Edinburgh. Repeating the giant-killing act may prove a bridge too far for the students but the experience of defeating last year’s finalists will stand them in good stead.
Hillhead take on local rivals PSL Team Sport Clydesdale in Glasgow; a difficult result to call after the two sides were only marginally separated in the league encounters.
Inverleith men travel north to face Grove Menzieshill. The Purple Robes hit double figures against Waverly Inveresk Trinity in an earlier round so will be full of confidence going into this quarter final.
AAM Gordonians welcome Dundee Wanderers to the North East following a narrow win over Highland in the previous round. Form may favour the Aberdonians going into the contest after a strong finish in the National League Play-Offs.
Women's Scottish Cup
Western Wildcats travel to Dundee to face a tough match against league runners-up Grove Menzieshill. The Taysiders will be heavy favourites to win the tie, but never discount an upset.
Milne Craig Clydesdale Western host Inverleith and will go into the fixture with form on their side having dispatched Glynhill Kelburne in the last round.
CALA Edinburgh take on Watsonians in an Edinburgh derby, with both sides having convincing wins in the earlier round, a winner may be difficult to call.
Dundee Wanderers play Edinburgh University at home in the final tie. Both sides will be confident after good wins previously.
Men’s Scottish Plate
After being knocked out of the Scottish Cup the men’s Scottish Plate will go straight into the Quarter Finals this weekend. Uddingston will play Falkirk GHG, these two teams faced each other twice this season with Uddingston coming out on top both times.
2020 Renewables Greenock also face fellow Division 2 team Perthshire, Greenock finished top of the table with Perthshire a close second.
FMGM Monarchs go up against Division 3 students the University of Dundee whilst Stirling Wanderers will be wanting a solid to performance if they want to go into the semis as they play Division 2 Granite City Wanderers.
Women’s Scottish Plate
An all Aberdeen affair with Granite City Wanderer’s taking on Aberdeen ladies, both sides having byes in their first round of the plate.
Stirling Wanderers had a bye in the first round and they will be keen to take on National Division One side Grange.
The students will face each other this weekend as Edinburgh University IIs take on University of St Andrews, after winning National Division 3 they will be looking for success in the Plate as well.
Aberdeen University conceded to Glasgow Accies seeing the Glaswegian team through to the semis with a bye, their second of the tournament after University of Dundee pulled out in round one.
Men’s District Cup – Semi Finals
Grange II v AAM Gordonians II
Psl Team Sport Clydesdale v II Inverleith II
Men’s District Plate – Semi Finals
Perthshire II v CALA Edinburgh II
Watsonians II v Hillhead II
Women’s District Cup – Semi Finals
Milne Craig Clydesdale Western IV v Orkney
Shetland v Erksine Stewart Melville FP II
Women’s District Plate – Semi Finals
Grange III v Quasar
Livingston & West Lothian v Madras FP
Men’s Reserve Cup – Semi Finals
Grange V v Edinburgh University III
Grange III v Hillhead III
Men’s Reserve Plate – Semi Finals
Grove Menzieshill III v Aberdeen Grammar FP III
Rottenrow Blue Sox II v Dundee Wanderers III
Scottish Hockey Union media release
Breaking down language barriers
The Korea women's captain might not speak English, but she is clear about her medal ambitions
Kim Jong Eun, the Korea women's captain, has always loved sport. From an early age she wanted to get involved in every sport going, and her first love as a child was handball. It was an injury that forced her to turn to hockey. She explains: "I played handball at primary school and middle school, but then I got a knee injury that threatened to stop me doing all sports. My mother said I could no longer play handball, so I looked for another sport to play."
It was a choice that clearly paid off as Kim Jong Eun has been a regular fixture in the Korea team since 2007, but she says that while playing for Korea gives her enormous pride, her mother still worries about her whenever she is playing.
28-year-old Kim Jong Eun is currently studying to be a physical education teacher when she finishes her hockey career. She says that while hockey is a growing sport in Korea, it is still not played as widely as she would like. This is a situation she says she can challenge, both as an international hockey player and as a sports teacher. "I hope that through our performances in tournaments like the World Cup, we can become role models to young girls and inspire them to have hopes and dreams."
As team captain Kim Jong Eun is already proving to be a role model and support to the younger players coming through. This is something that is very important for a team such as Korea because as Kim Jong Eun explains, when very few of the team speak English, they can feel very isolated. "Most of the other teams speak some English, so we struggle to communicate. This can also be a problem with the umpires, we sometimes do not understand what is being said."
Kim Jong Eun said that after every international event the team pledges to learn English but, like many good intentions, they become immersed in training, studying and everyday life and forget. "But we really like travelling and seeing new places," she added. "When I am a teacher, these are experiences that I can pass on to the students and give them a different perspective."
When it comes to the Rabobank Hockey World Cup, the Korea captain said that her team has definite medal ambitions. She says that she expects the Netherlands to win gold because "they are so far ahead of everyone else", but she believes the other medal positions are all up for grabs. The whole conversation has been carried out through an interpreter, but at this juncture Kim Jong Eun points to a silver coloured vase and smiles.
FIH site
Ismail gets the green light to play
By Aftar Singh
Malaysia’ s Ismail Abu (bottom) tussling for the ball with New Zealander Alex Shaw during the Champions Challenge hockey tournament on May 1.
KUALA LUMPUR: Experienced forward Ismail Abu thought his hopes of featuring in the World Cup, which begins in The Hague on May 31, was over after he suffered a hamstring injury in the recent Champions Challenge 1 tournament in Kuantan.
But to the Jengka-born player’s relief, the doctor informed him that his injury was not serious.
Ismail did not feature in the bronze medal playoff against Ireland last Sunday, which Malaysia won 4-2.
Ismail said he was initially worried the injury would ruin his dream of featuring in his first World Cup.
“I am prone to injuries. I was out of action for seven months last season after suffering a knee injury.
“Three months ago, I aggravated the knee injury during training in February. It took me more than a month to recover,” said Ismail.
“I was full of apprehension when I went for a medical check-up at the ISN (National Sports Institute) on Thursday. Luckily, the doctor told me it was just a minor hamstring injury and I should recover in a couple of days. I will start training on Monday,” said Ismail, who has represented Malaysia 192 times since making his debut in 2002.
“It’s my dream to play in the World Cup since I took up hockey as a young boy. I turned 30 last month and this is my last chance to play in the World Cup. My performance in the Champions Challenge 1 was satisfying as I scored two goals in five matches. Now, I have to train much harder to seal a place in the World Cup squad,” he added.
The Star of Malaysia
Important for India to start well in FIH World Cup: Onkar
MUMBAI: Onkar Singh, member of the 1975 World Cup-winning national hockey squad, feels it is important for the Indian team to win the first two games to gain momentum in the FIH World Cup starting on May 31 in Hague, Netherlands.
"It is crucial for India to win first two games. If that happens, the team will be in right spirit and will have the momentum their way. World Cup is a big tournament and a lot will depend on how the team starts," the former half back told reporters on Saturday.
India are to play Belgium (May 31) and England (June 2) in their opening games in Group A. Australia, Malaysia and Spain complete the group.
Onkar, the baby of the 1975 team that created waves by winning the World Cup in Kuala Lumpur for the first and only time in Indian hockey history, supported the decision of the world body FIH to split a match into four quarters after the World Cup.
This would help the teams in strategising and assessing the technical faults in between the quarters, he said.
Singh believes that the skill levels of the present-day players have come down and overall the country lacks quality for each position in the team.
"In our days, there was a tough competition for every spot and we had experts for every position. But now hockey has changed. Nobody knows whether they are playing back or forward. I feel this (expert players) is missing," he said.
"The skills have come down even though the fitness has improved. Dribbling is not there. The players can't hold on to the ball. Even one-on-one situation is difficult for them to overcome," he added.
"Strength-wise we can't beat the foreigners as they are very strong. They can even play the shots while standing. So skill is a must," he said.
The Times of India