Shepherd remains focused as Scotland prepare to face Japan


Gordon Shepherd, Scottish women`s coach, knows that his squad have
surpassed themselves with a win over the United States and a draw
with South Africa, both ranked considerably higher than the Scots,
and now a victory over Japan today could see his charges top the
pool in the Champions Challenge in Dublin.

But Shepherd is too long in the tooth to get carried away by a
couple of favourable results.  “Yes, top of the pool is a
possibility, but this is not our priority,”

The Taysider already announced that a top six place in Dublin would
be a realistic target, but he also believes that the continued
progress of his side will depend on playing more and more games at
this level.   To do that, the Scots must climb up the world
rankings from the modest 21st place at present, perhaps
artificially low as Scotland is ineligible to play in the Olympics
and its qualifiers – that is the prerogative of Great
Britain.

So, given that Scotland is seeded to finish last in the Champions
Challenge, Shepherd`s success so far is a start to climbing that
world ranking ladder.

But Shepherd`s early results in Dublin are not down to chance.
 “The girls` success so far is down to adaptability, hard work
and team work,” Shepherd maintained.

But there is no room for complacency for the final pool fixture
against Japan despite the fact that they were whipped 5-1 by the
Springboks on Sunday.  “For the Japan game we will set out to
win,” he said.  “It will be a hard game as Japan are a good
side, and their score against South Africa was not a true
reflection of the game.”

The Scots lie second on goal difference behind South Africa after
two games, consequently a victory over Japan is essential to top
the pool, but Shepherd must also rely on bottom side USA taking
something from their encounter with the Springboks.

Scottish Head Coach Gordon Shepherd knows that his squad
have surpassed themselves with a win over the United States and a
draw with South Africa, both ranked considerably higher than the
Scots, and now a victory over Japan tomorrow could see his charges
top the pool in the Champions Challenge in Dublin.

But Shepherd is too long in the tooth to get carried away by a
couple of favourable results:

“Yes, top of the pool is a possibility, but this is not our
priority.”

The Taysider already announced that a top six place in Dublin
would be a realistic target, but he also believes that the
continued progress of his side will depend on playing more and more
games at this level.

To do that, the Scots must climb up the world rankings from the
modest 21st place at present, perhaps artificially low as Scotland
is ineligible to play in the Olympics and its qualifiers – that is
the prerogative of Great Britain. But given that Scotland is
seeded to finish last in the FIH Champions Challenge, Shepherd`s
success so far is a start to climbing that world ranking
ladder.

The team’s early results in Dublin are not down to chance but
there is no room for complacency for the final pool fixture against
Japan despite the fact that they were beaten 5-1 by the Springboks
on Sunday.

“The girls` success so far is down to adaptability, hard work
and team work. For the Japan game we will set out to win. It
will be a hard game as Japan are a good side, and their score
against South Africa was not a true reflection of the game.”
Shepherd maintained.

The Scots lie second on goal difference behind South Africa
after two games, so consequently a victory over Japan is essential
to top the pool, but Shepherd must also rely on bottom side USA
taking something from their encounter with the
Springboks..

Scotland vs Japan starts at 11am tomorrow morning
and you can continue to follow the action on the FIH Champions Challenge website and
via Hook Hockey’s live feed.

 

 

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