Scotland women’s coach, Chris Duncan, expressed his satisfaction at the performance as his squad fired six past Malaysia with none in reply, and his mood was in direct contrast to 24-hours earlier.
Then, Scotland beat the world ranked No 21 side 6-2 at the same venue, The University of Edinburgh Playing Fields at Peffermill. He was not happy.
The Tartan Hearts, ranked No 14 in the world, their highest ever rating, upped their game in glorious sunshine 24-hours later to lead comfortably at 2-0 after the second quarter, dominating play and territory, moving the ball around the pitch at pace, and not allowing the hard-working Malaysian team any space or possession.
There were a few brief scares in the second-half as C R Kumar’s side tried to get a foothold, but Scotland were not to be denied and fired four past the tourists to underline the difference between the teams.
Duncan, who gave debuts to Mhairi Low and Connie Roxburgh, two rising stars, in Sunday’s clash, said the two outings proved valuable information for Scotland as they build towards the FIH Hockey World Cup in Belgium in August. There they meet world No 2, Argentina, Germany, ranked No 5, and USA. No 11.
The head coach said: “I was quite frustrated and disappointed after game one, to be honest, clinical in scoring six goals, yes, but we were not at the level that we want to be defensively and, with the ball, we were a little bit below our standards.
“There were positives. We won the game so convincingly despite the fact that we were frustrated. On Sunday, we looked more like ourselves and we defended with a bit more positivity. The passing was positive.
“The way they played made it difficult for us to break down, but the reality is that we were them, ranked in the 20s in the world, a few years ago and we were trying to chase the teams above us.”
He added: “It is hard being the aggressor. Possibly, two years ago we would have won that game 2-0, but a 6-0 win is good and we played, this weekend, in different ways which we may have to play in the World Cup.”
Earlier, Scotland started on the front foot and heaped pressure on Malaysia who were, for the most part, pinned back in their own half.
Ellie Mackenzie, who netted a double on Saturday, was brimming with confidence and her direct running caused real problems for the visiting team.
However, it was Olympian, Amy Costello who opened the scoring with a fierce strike from a penalty corner with 2min 14sec left of the opening quarter, the former Inverleith member, who now plays her hockey in The Netherlands, drilling the ball low into the backboard.
Scotland continued to dominate into the second quarter and fellow Olympian, Charlotte Watson, deflected a Costello strike from a penalty corner past the Malaysian goalkeeper with 1min 16sec remaining
The scoreline stayed that way until the interval, with little respite for the tourists, and it was the same story in the third quarter as Scotland looked to add to the tally.
It was no surprise then that Ava Wadsworth smashed home another penalty corner strike to make it 3-0 with 15.9 seconds left on the clock before the third break.
Low then pounced on a penalty corner rebound to scoop home for 4-0 with 12min 42sec remaining and Scotland were not finished.
The home side just kept on coming and Belgian-based, Heather McEwan, was in the right place at the right time to prod the ball home for No 5 with 7min 38sec left of the game.
Katie Birch added her name to the score sheet with a powerful penalty corner strike into the bottom left corner for 6-0 with under five minutes remaining of an entertaining game, particularly for home fans.
C R Kumar, who is a veteran, Indian-born, hockey coach with over three decades of experience with international teams, and a former Indian player, only took over a month ago.
He takes his squad to Ireland and Wales on this trip which he described as “a learning experience” and he acknowledged that his developing squad were up against a side within weeks of appearing in the World Cup. It was tough, but they struck to the task. Commendable.
FULL VOICE: Scotland’s women in full voice at the National Anthem. All pictures Nigel Duncan
CELEBRATION: Mhairi Low (red hair) celebrates her debut goal with teammates at Peffermill.
