Scotland face Spain in bid to retain top flight status

Scotland women face the first of two key encounters today as they await their EuroHockey Championship fate.

The youthful Scots will face Spain in Amsterdam in a Pool C clash and will need to hold their own defensively against a Spanish side seven places higher in world rankings.

Now, with their existence in the top flight on the line, it’s time for the cutting edge shown in their build-up to the Euros to be rediscovered.

The smart money is on Spain to survive the pool C relegation battle with the Czech Republic most likely to take the fall.

That would effectively leave Scotland and Ireland in opposite corners of the ring with celebration and devastation in equal measure as the loser spirals downward to B division for the 2019 championship.

Meanwhile Scot David Ralph will lead England while head coach Danny Kerry continues his rest and recovery after suffering a heart attack during the World League Semi Finals in South Africa.

In a repeat of the 2015 final the title holders are pitched against world champions Netherlands in the second semi-final, preceded by an equally combative joust between Germany and Belgium.

Elsewhere in St Albans the Caledonian Cougars squads get their GB Futures Cup campaigns up and running against England’s rising stars.

Michaela McCarthy (Kilgraston) figures for the Scottish U15s while Dundee Wanderers Emily Dark (also Kilgraston) and Ruth Blaikie line up in the U17s with Jenny Walls, Erin Stevens and Georgia Smith (Grove Menzieshill/Dollar Academy).