Scotland set for European indoor challenge

Scotland Senior Men face a stern test of their indoor hockey credentials when they compete in the EuroHockey Indoor Nations Championship II in Espinho, Portugal.

Taking place from 15-17 January, the Scots find themselves drawn in Pool A alongside Croatia, England and France. Pool B features hosts Portugal, Belgium, Denmark and Ukraine.

Looking forward to the challenge of European competition for his charges, Scotland Senior Men Head Coach Derek Forsyth said,

“In Portugal we are in a group alongside England, France and Croatia. We know very little about our opposition with the exception of England, who we played twice in Belgium in December, drawing one and losing the second match.

“Although we lost the second match it was closer than the result suggested and I’m confident that the Grove Menzieshill tournament last weekend will have us better prepared for when we play them in our first group match this weekend.

“As for France and Croatia we will have the opportunity to see them play before we meet them in the group stages which will help our preparations going into these matches.

The prize for nations finishing in the top two tournament positions is promotion to the Championship division in 2018, while the threat of relegation looms large with the bottom two sides dropping into the Championship III division.

“We will be pushing to make the top two within the initial pool stage, which would take us into the promotion matches”, outlined Forsyth. “We know it’s going to be tough with the calibre of the opposition we will be facing but we have a good blend of young talent mixed with some experienced indoor campaigners within the squad.”

The national side warmed up for their European test with a first place success at last weekend’s Indoor Invitational Tournament hosted by Grove Menzieshill in Dundee, an experience that enthused Forsyth in terms of the squad’s preparations,

“It was a good weekend for the squad and nice to complete our preparation with three wins. With both Callum Milne and Mike Ross coming into the squad the tournament allowed us to look at our best playing combinations leading into the Euros.

“We had identified areas we needed to improve on from our trip to Belgium last year and the matches gave us the opportunity to make improvements within these areas. The final game against Menzieshill was our toughest test and this showed we had made good progress over the weekend.”

All of Scotland’s matches will be broadcast live on the FIH YouTube channel

Scotland Senior Men: Gordon Amour, Patrick Christie, Stephen Dick, Dan Coultas, Jamie Wong (all Inverleith), Gavin Byers (captain), Michael Ross (both Grove Menzieshill), Sean Hadfield, Callum Milne (both Grange), Murray Collins (Loughborough University), Callum Duke (Hillhead), David Forrester (Villa Primrose).

Scottish Officials: Gavin Cruickshanks (Umpire, Grove Menzieshill), Alistair Dick (Judge, Dunfermline Carnegie)

Match Schedule:

Fixtures, results and match reports can be accessed on the TMS website

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