Defeated Scots will benefit from experience

Scotland were on the wrong end of a nine-goal thriller against world No 12 Korea and finished in bottom spot at the World League semi-finals in London yesterday.

Coach Derek Forsyth may reflect on missing out on the quarter-finals and a chance to play in the World Cup finals for the first time next year, but his young players were up against the top sides in the world and were never disgraced in any encounter.

On a positive note, the experience could be invaluable for Forsyth’s young squad as they strive for promotion at the European Championships in Glasgow later this summer.

It took the Scots only three minutes to put their noses in front with a close-range deflection by Tim Atkins.

But Jongsuk Bae, with a tapin at the back post, followed by a penalty corner conversion by Jihun Yang gave the Koreans a 2-1 lead at the end of the first quarter.

The Koreans piled on the pressure and Jonghyun Jang made it 3-1 with a vicious shot into the top right corner of the net for 3-1, and then Junwoo Jeong and Jungjun Lee added two more to their tally. When Weonki Hwang increased Korea’s lead to 6-1 early in the fouth quarter a slaughter looked likely, but in the closing six minutes Scotland striker Kenny Bain struck back with a brace to make the scoreline more respectable.