Hockey: Malaysia a tough test for Scots

Scotland and Malaysia sit in joint pole position after the first day of the INSEP Hockey Challenge after seeing off France and Poland respectively, and the sides now clash head-to-head in the next pool encounter today.

But this fixture has a significance far beyond the Paris tournament: the sides are drawn in the same group in the forthcoming Commonwealth Games in Delhi. The Scots have yet to beat Malaysia in an official fixture.

It was close in the World Cup Qualifier last November: the Asians strolled into a 3-0 half time lead, but the second half comeback - with goals from Kenny Bain and Stephen Dick - nearly led to a share of the points that day.

"We're all looking forward to the game against Malaysia. The Asian style of hockey is totally different from what we're used to in Europe and we have Pakistan, India and, of course, the Malaysians in our pool in Delhi," said Eugene Connolly, Scotland's manager.

With the Malaysians beating Ireland 2-1 in a recent four-match test series, the magnitude of the task facing the Scots is evident.

In the French encounter, the Scots powered into a 4-1 half-time lead with strikes from Mark Ralph from a penalty corner, Gavin Byers, Gareth Hall and Kenny Bain.

France came more into proceedings after the interval and reduced the score to 4-3, but a strike by Alan Forsyth with eight minutes left killed the game off as a contest. The French scored again in an overtime penalty corner but it little more than a consolation.