Wales men defeat Scotland 1-0 in their second match at the Men’s EuroHockey Qualifiers in Glasgow.
As always between the two Celtic nations, it was a close and competitive game, with Gareth Furlong giving Wales the winning goal in the second quarter.
The first quarter was a very close affair with limited chances for both sides. Wales slightly edged it claiming the better of the quality possession but did not create any real chances on goal.
Scotland got the best chance of the opening 15, but Struan Walker couldn’t quite convert as his deflection went just wide.
As the second quarter got underway, James Carson won Wales the first penalty corner of the game, but it was deflected high and over the goal by the Scottish defence.
Rupert Shipperley saw a half-chance with a decent strike in the circle, but it was comfortably saved by Scotland’s goalie Tommy Alexander.
With half-time fast approaching, Gareth Furlong broke the deadlock and gave Wales the lead off a penalty corner. His low drag flick fired straight between Alexander and the Scottish post player into the backboard to make it 1-0.
Scotland came close to an equaliser just before the break with a penalty corner of their own, but Jamie Golden’s drag flick was denied with a great save from Toby Reynolds-Cotterill.
Hunting for their equaliser, a second penalty corner strike from Golden was met well and cleared by Reynolds-Cotterill to keep Wales in the lead in the third quarter.
An aerial from Jacob Draper gave Shipperley his second chance of the game. A good first touch brought the ball under control, but his shot was just off target and hit the side netting.
Wales held strong in the final quarter as Scotland piled on the pressure, taking their goalkeeper off for the last five minutes to throw everything they had in attack.
A series of Scottish penalty corners in the closing minutes were confidently dealt with by the Welsh defence and Reynolds-Cotterill, giving Wales the 1-0 victory at full-time.
Wales men now top the table in Glasgow with two wins from two. They play their final match against Gibraltar at 10:45 on Saturday 27th August.