Chris Duncan believes the 4-0 defeat to Ireland in Belfast was a “wake up call” for Scotland’s women’s hockey squad as they continue their build-up for the EuroHockey Championships.
Ireland are also in the Euros and the squad’s Edinburgh-based head coach said: “This is a reality check and shows us the level required to play top eight teams. All the goals we lost were preventable and we never really showed our defensive identity.”
The sides clash again today (Sunday) and Duncan vowed: “We’ll be better. Saturday was tough but we’ll regroup and come out to show improvement.
“It is 100 days until the Euros, which will be a proud moment for us, and we need to reach the standard we know we’re capable of.”
The Scots were under pressure from the first minute and struggled to get into gear and it did not take long for the hosts to open the scoring. The goal arrived from a move down the right hand side of the pitch and a shot into the far corner.
The second goal arrived in the second quarter when Ireland breached the Scotland defence and exposed goalkeeper Jess Buchanan. Ireland moved further ahead with a clinical finish.
There were no goals in the third quarter was stalemate but the hosts struck twice in the final session, the first from a penalty corner which flicked off a defender and the fourth arrived following an overhead into the Scotland circle.
Disappointingly, Scotland had three penalty corner opportunities but were unable to convert, adding to Duncan’s frustration.
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