Beat the drop /Scotland begin bid to avoid relegation with Welsh clash
Scotland meet Wales in Antwerp today as a four-way fight to escape relegation from the men’s Eurohockey Championship begins, writes Craig Madden.
As England and Ireland arealsoinvolved, Pool C amounts to a miniature Home International tournament. The top two nations will survive in the top flight, the bottom pair will compete in Championship II next year,and the battle so far could not be any tighter. With the teams carrying points forward from any matches they had against each other in the previous group stage, all four have a point apiece – Scotland and Ireland’s from their 3-3 draw in Pool B, England and Wales’s from their 2-2 tie in Pool A.
The initial aim for all teams in the tournament was to finish in the top two in the pool and thus qualify for the last four but, besides drawing with the Irish, Scotland suffered hefty defeats at the hands of Germany and the Netherlands to finish bottom of Pool B on goal difference.
Derek Forsyth’s squad would have taken a significant step towards safety in the Ireland game if they had managed to hold on to the 3-1 lead they held going into the final five minutes of the contest. Instead, they lost the momentum and conceded two late goals.
If that poor finish against the Irish augured ill for the relegation battle to come, national coach Forsyth and his players can possibly take heart from the result of a match against Wales two years ago. That was in the Championship II final at Glasgow Green, when a couple of goals from Surbiton’s Alan Forsyth gave the home side a 2-1 victory.
A similar result in today’s lunchtime match would put Scotland top of Pool C, at least for the couple of hours before England and Ireland play their game. England still had a chance to qualify for the semi-finals going into their last pool game, but they could only draw 2-2 with Spain.
“It was an absorbing game given the stakes,” was the verdict of England coach Danny Kerry. “Some good lessons on being a bit calmer will be learned.”
Scotland meet England on Saturday hoping for a first win against them in the Championships since 2005, when they triumphed 4-2 .