Hockey: Under-21s in relegation fight after two defeats

IN A nightmare start for Scotland's Under-21 team in the European Indoor Nations Championships in Prague, they lost 6-2 to Switzerland, followed by a 3-2 reversal at the hands of hosts Czech Republic, meaning Russell Garcia's charges are consigned to the relegation pool.

The Scots lost 6-2 to a side that defended in depth and gave away very few clear scoring chances. Garcia's young charges started rather nervously and found themselves three down in the opening eight minutes. However, the Scots pulled one back in 13 minutes when Grove Menzieshill's Ollie James received the ball from the right, turned and fired a backhand shot into the roof of the net. Any recovery was effectively stifled when the Swiss made it 4-1 right on the interval.

A glimmer of hope emerged again five minutes into the second half when Josh Cairns fired a penalty corner shot through the Swiss keeper's legs to make it 4-2 but again the fightback faltered when a couple of late chances were spurned, and the Swiss added two further goals before the end.

There was a much more confident start against the Czechs, but conceding two goals midway through the first half gave the Scots a mountain to climb. However, before the interval Scotland pulled one back: a move involving Craig Falconer and Michael Bremner opened up the Czech defence and the latter scored in the resulting melee.

The Czechs made it 3-1 just after the interval but again the Scots youngsters refused to surrender, Cairns scoring from the spot after his own penalty corner effort was illegally stopped on the line by a defender. The Scots then pressed for the equaliser and in the final seconds James' shot went agonisingly wide of the post.

"Lack of experience at this level was our downfall against the Swiss in the first game, but we played much better against the Czechs and just failed to get something out of the game," said Garcia.

In this weekend's Subway indoor national league, the status quo is a likely outcome as top sides Milne Craig Western, Grove Menzieshill and VWS Dundee Wanderers take on sides from the lower reaches.

The initiative at the moment lies with Western, as they have won all seven games and lead Grove by a single point with a game in hand. However, Western have yet to play their double-headers against either of the Tayside outfits.

In contrast, the Dundonians have clashed twice, with Grove and Wanderers playing out intriguing 5-5 and 6-6 draws, with the dropped four points playing into the hands of the Titwood outfit.