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Welsh Hockey Union

Belle Vue in Manchester saw the Welsh under 18 men?s side start their international season in earnest, ahead of the European Trophy in Prague. Two test matches over the weekend were their first official international games of 2005 and completes their preparations for the European B division Tournament in Rakovnik. Playing against ?A? division Scotland the Welsh boys looked to repeat last years success. However Wales lost the first game 3 -2 with Head Coach Ian Ord disappointed with the performance. "The first half was a very poor display and Scotland deserved their victory, however we gifted them two goals. Our second half performance was much better and we managed to pull two goals back after Scotland had gone 3 -0 up soon after the restart."

The second match saw a spirited start by Wales and after Scotland opened the scoring the Welsh boys had an outstanding 20 minutes when they pressurised Scotland and outplayed them. The Welsh coaching team were happy with the performance but frustrated with the lack of goals. "We scored one good goal and created enough good chances to have been well in front. When a team is on top in international hockey, you have to take your chances. We didn't do that in the first half and regretted it by allowing Scotland to take the lead.?

The second half was fairly even but Scotland?s quick counter attacking and ruthless finishing gave them a 4 - 2 victory. Of the whole weekend Ian felt was optimistic "I am confident we can perform in the Europeans, we showed how well we can play in 20 minute periods and now we must put a match performance together.?

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