Shinty/hurling: Scotland 19 - 25 Ireland: Late strikes gives hope for return leg

Scotland trail Ireland by six points after the first leg of the Marine Harvest Shinty/Hurling series on Saturday but no one in the Scottish camp is ready to give up.

Scotland’s 19-man squad will head for County Clare this week knowing a few new things after the game in Inverness.

First, Patrick Horgan of Cork is unlikely to be able to pull off another virtuoso display like the one that saw him claim 22 points single-handedly. Second, after finally getting to grips with Ireland’s threat in the latter stages, there really is nothing to lose.

With only minutes remaining at Bught Park, Scotland were trailing 25-9 and the series, it seemed, was all but over. Horgan’s five-point goal, seconds before, had been like a twisted knife. However, Kevin Bartlett of Caberfeidh ripped a five-point goal past Bernard Rochford.

Then, somehow, Rochford managed to allow a long-range launch by Neil MacDonald of Lochaber to enter the net although he had his body and hurley behind it. Another five points were added to the home tally and the deficit was a much more respectable six points.

Kilmallie’s veteran forward John Stewart was a late call-up last week after Roddy MacDonald of Kyles withdrew and he covered every inch of the park, making a nuisance of himself at full forward and bringing team mates into play. With time now against him, he knows Saturday may be his final bow. He doesn’t intend to go out meekly, if it is.

Stewart said: “For me, it is a real honour to play for Scotland and I just feel privileged to be involved. I am not Roddy MacDonald but I will give 100 per cent and I love these occasions. This is my ninth year of being involved and it may be my last.

“We go over there with a chance. If you’d said to us a couple of minutes before the end that we’d score two goals, we would have taken that. I feel we edged the second half so there is everything to play for.”

In recent fixtures, it has been Ireland who have taken time to get going but, from the first second on Saturday, they played at a high tempo. Horgan had six points on the board by 11 minutes and would go on to add another nine points by half-time, with Shane Dooley hitting another point over the uprights.

To Ireland’s 16, the Scots managed six by the interval. Bartlett (four) and Steven MacDonald (two) had made their mark but a switch at the break, allowing captain Norman Campbell to move back into defence, made the Scots more robust. And although Horgan’s brilliance saw him score seven more points, the half was certainly more favourable for the Scots. Bartlett took two points over the upright before his goal and Niall MacPhee of Fort William added one before MacDonald’s late goal. Ireland also had Neil McManus and Dooley to thank for adding to their tally.

Scotland manager Drew McNeil said: “We had a lot of new boys out there and, hopefully, they will learn from that.

“They looked a bit confused in the first half but we looked pretty good in the second and our fitness was good, too. If we can get an early goal in Ireland, we are right back in this tie and I was relieved to see those two goals go in at the end. I thought we had missed the opportunity with a few wasted chances but we’ll go out there and give it our best shot.”

Scotland’s two goals also gave them a series bonus point – something that may turn out to be crucial.