Scots malaise

Scotland were knocked off top spot in the INSEP Hockey Challenge tournament when they went down 3-1 to Malaysia in Paris on the day that Niall Stott won his 100th Scottish cap.
Russell Garcia`s charges had it all to do when they went two down to the talented Asians in the opening seven minutes. The Scots came more into the contest but two Mark Ralph penalty corners and an open play shot from Alan Forsyth brought the best out of the Malaysian keeper.
Scotland should have clawed their way back into the contest following a deliberate foul on Stephen Dick, but Mark Ralph`s effort from the spot cannoned off the bar.
After the interval the Malaysians notched their third when a penalty corner was half cleared and the second phase shot flew past Scottish keeper Jamie Cachia.
The Scots finally found the net in the closing minutes, Kenny Bain was the subject of two crude tackles and Mark Ralph made some amends for his earlier miss by slotting a drag flick into the bottom right corner of the net from the resulting penalty corner. This proved little more than a consolation, and Cachia was called upon to make a crucial save at the death to keep the Malaysians from going further ahead.
“This was not our best performance, we didn`t reached the same heights today as our first game against France, and missing a penalty at a crucial moment in the game didn`t help either,” said Eugene Connolly, Scotland`s manager.
Today the Scots take on Poland who have only a single point from two games.

Scottish Hockey Union media release