Scotland defeats Spain by 4-3 on penalty shoot-outs in FIH Champions Challenge I
The sensational results continued to happen in the recently held ESB Electric FIH Champions Challenge I tournament at University College Dublin (UCD) in Ireland as Scotland defeated their Spanish counterparts by 4-3, on penalty shoot-outs, in an entertaining
game of hockey that was played to decide the third and fourth place in the event.
Winning the bronze medal in the competition is really a surprising performance by the Scottish women who are ranked at number 21 on FIH World Rankings, whereas their rivals in the play-off game performed below their capabilities and below expectations despite
the fact that they are ranked at number 10 on FIH rankings, the second best ranked team in the event, after Japan at the ninth place.
The score remained level at 2-2 in the allotted time of seventy minutes with both teams scored one goal in each half before the extra time of fifteen minutes awarded, which also did not bring up the result. The game went on penalty shoot-outs and was decided
after 12 strikes on a sudden death rule. In first five allotted strokes, each side succeeded thrice to find the target and two of the shots were mis-fired by both the opponents. The game entered into the sudden death stage, where Spain failed to find the target
once again, but the Scottish women did it on their first of the extra penalty strikes and clinched the bronze medal.
Prior to the penalty shoot-outs stage both of the teams fought a very hard battle with Scotland opened their account in the mid-way of the first half, when Holly Cram made a beautiful strike on an open play and put her team ahead of one goal, but the lead
lasted for less than a minute and Spain scored the equaliser in the 17th minute, a beautiful field goal by Barbara Malda. Although both teams created some goal-scoring chances yet the scoreboard remained still at 1-1 till the interval.
The second half started with a great pace and just four minutes into the play, the Scottish side once again successful in finding the Spanish net in 39th minute with the help of Nikki Kidd. However, four minutes after the Scottish lead, Spain
made the equalising effort in the 43rd minute, thanks to Pilar Sanchez who scored with the help of a drag flick.
Tags: