ALTHOUGH Scotland lost the second friendly international 3-0 against India at Stellenbosch yesterday, coach Gordon Shepherd was pleased with the overall improvement in his squad’s performance from the first game, which they lost 5-0.
It was hardly a level playing field. Shepherd is just starting a rebuilding programme of his squad for important tournaments in 2017, while India, four places above the Scots in the world rankings, are in the final throes of preparation for the Rio Olympics.
The Indians managed to score twice in the first half, yet the Scots had several chances to find the net. Robyn Collins had a couple of opportunities from penalty corners while Becky Merchant and Fiona Burnet came close from open play.
The Scots dominated the second period, with Millie Brown and Nicola Skrastin making chances, but against the run of play India added another goal.
“I’m delighted with the improvement from the first Indian game. This time I felt the score flattered them and there were not three goals in the game, so this is encouraging given we only had five players in the squad from last year’s Europeans,” said Shepherd.
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