U-18 Boys v Scotland
Wales entertained Scotland for a three test series over the half term break.
11th - 13th April 2009
Match 1: Mon 6th April
Wales 2 - Scotland 4
Wales kicked off their 2009 International campaign slowly, losing their opening test match 4-2 to an energetic Scotland. After starting sluggishly, Wales were 2-0 down within the first half, with little being offered around the pitch. The home side desperately knew that they needed to re-group at half time in order to come out in the second half and hopefully re-take the match.
Under the drizzle, Wales performance worsened straight after the re-start, as after a number of errors, Scotland were presented with a long corner. Using the new “self pass” rule, the Scottish forward dribbled his way in to the Welsh circle, and won a stroke after being taken down by the Welsh keeper. The stroke was well converted, and Wales were left 3 goals down.
This seemed to wake the home side up however, and in a brief blitz, they managed to score 2 quick goals, with debutant George Brooker opening his account with a simply magnificent strike low in to the bottom corner of the goal, leaving the Scottish keeper despairingly in its wake. Wales were later rewarded after Dafydd Bury pierced the Scots defence, and slotted the ball towards an empty goal; however, a Scottish body stopped a certain goal and gave Wales another life line in the form of a penalty stroke. Rhys Gowman stepped up, and skilfully powered the ball in to the top right hand corner of the goal, marking a tremendous turn around in performance from the Welsh.
However, as Wales pushed on to find an equaliser, Scotland took advantage of the apparent gaps, and with less than a minute on the clock, the visitors gained a penalty corner, from which the Scottish drag flicker converted, to finish the game off at 4-2, although, there were numerous positives that the newly formed Welsh team could take in to the following games.
Match 2: Tue 7th April
Wales 4 – Scotland 3
With the series on the line, Wales knew that they were going to have to put in a much improved performance in order to ensure the series decider was taken down to the last game. This time around Wales started out much the stronger team, and took and early lead through a well directed Mike Shaw drag flick, which bulleted in to the keepers left side, bulging the net. Following this, a James Kyriakedes goal doubled Wales lead, and a gap between the Welsh and the Scottish appeared. The Swansea based player exquisitely eliminated the Scottish defence, before receiving the ball back in the circle, and finishing clinically, under a tremendous amount of pressure.
The Welsh lead increased further when Kyriakedes again burst through the Scottish defence, he then squared the ball to striker Dafydd Bury, who rounded off the move beautifully, with a confident finish in to the empty goal. However, within a few minutes of Wales taking a 3 goal lead, Scotland were awarded a dubious penalty stroke, with Simon Hodgkinson appearing to have taken the ball cleanly, yet the umpire pointed to the spot, and Scotland saw a way back in to the match. The Scottish striker stepped up, and with debutant goalkeeper Rhys-Bratchie Watkins facing him, he narrowly managed to squeeze it over the line, with Watkins making a sharp save down to his left, but he was unable to stop the ball from marginally crossing the line.
The Welsh side went in at half time in high spirits, as the side had produced a far better all round performance than on the first day, but they knew that they were by no means home and dry, and that as much if not more effort would be needed in the second half in order to keep the Scots at bay. The visitors responded exactly as Wales expected, and, early on in the second half, the visitors grabbed 2 quick goals to level the game, and bring Welsh supporters’ nerves to the fore.
The Welsh players however, remained unfazed, and with only minutes to go, Wales were awarded another penalty stroke. Rhys Gowman again stepped up to the spot, and once more rifled the ball high in to the net, restoring the Welsh lead. With some dogged defending, Wales survived with their lead in tact until the final whistle, which signaled the leveling of the series, and with Welsh spirits high, a real feeling of optimism spread within the camp in anticipation of the series decider the next day.
Match 3: Wed 8th April
Wales 3 – Scotland 1
In the final game of the series, and after the previous days win, Wales went in to the game with high spirits, and with a great sense of optimism surrounding a possible series victory. In a very tight first half, both keepers were worked hard, but both managed to keep all attacks at bay, and at half time, the score was 0-0. After the interval, the home side took the initiative, and, after a Gareth Furlong drag flick had been well saved by the Scottish keeper, on form Rhys Gowman was on hand to tuck away the rebound clinically. This goal seemed to somewhat shock the Scots, and taking advantage of this lapse in the Scottish defence, Gareth Furlong proved once again to be the downfall of the visiting side, as only moments later he produced a well executed drag flick, that hit the back of the net with pin point accuracy.
However, this second goal seemed to kick start a Scottish fight back. The Welsh defence were called upon several times to defend, with Mike Shaw and Rob Trem both making saving tackles. Yet, the visitors remained persistent, and goalkeeper Andy Hughes was called upon to make some important saves. Minutes later however, the Scots had breached the Welsh defence, and after a goalmouth scramble, the ball squirmed out to an unmarked Scottish player on the back post, who had the simplest of finishes to bring the Scots back in to the game.
The Scottish goal had set up a tense finish to the series, but, through Bowdon’s Alex Humphreys, Wales were able to re-establish their 2 goal lead. After Humphreys remarkable run through the Scottish defence, he was eventually brought down by the Scottish keeper, winning Wales a penalty stroke. Once again Whitchurch’s Rhys Gowman strode forward, and sent the ball high in to the right hand corner of the goal, leaving the keeper with little chance. Gowman’s goal sealed the Welsh win, and through that an overall 2-1 series win, which was met with joy and relief within the camp, as well as a strong feeling of anticipation, as the squad now look towards the European Championships in July.
