Scotland U21 Head Coach Donnie Martin is looking for a real team effort ahead of the Marine Harvest Shinty / Hurling international against Ireland U21 at the Bught Park, Inverness on Saturday 29 October 2011.
Martin is looking for a real team effort from his young guns. “One of the strengths of this squad is that we are not relying on any stand-out players. We have a lot of good players and are looking for a real team performance to win the game. There has been a togetherness about the squad in the training sessions and we have a full squad to pick from. Stevie Stewart had a slight muscle tweak but he’ll be fine and Conor Cormack has a minor knock but he will be ok too.”
Turning to Saturday’s opponents, Martin said, “Ireland U21s have only three survivors from last year’s squad. However it is common for them to make so many changes as they have such a huge pool of players to pick from. There squads also tend to include players who are all around the 21 year old mark so they will be formidable opponents.”
An agonising last minute defeat to the Irish in 2009 is still fresh in Martin’s mind. “The last time we played Ireland in Inverness, we lost the game on the last hit of the ball when they scored a two-pointer to beat us by a single point. We missed some two-point opportunities earlier in that game and we want to make sure we take advantage of these situations this year.”
The conditions at Co. Kildare made things difficult for the senior side last weekend but Martin hopes there will be no such problems this week. “The weather forecast is reasonable which is encouraging and the pitch is looking good so hopefully all the games will go ahead on the Bught Park as originally planned.”
Head Coach Donnie Martin from Skye Camanachd is assisted by Ted MacDonald from Bute and Dave Stafford from FortWilliam.
The second test between the Scotland and Ireland senior sides takes place at the Bught Park, Inverness on Saturday 29 October 2011. The match starts at 2pm and, if you are unable to make the game, it will be shown live on BBC2 Scotland starting at 1.45pm.
The second test will be preceded by the meeting between the Scotland U21 and Ireland U21 sides who clash at 12 noon.
The day’s sporting feast begins with a Challenge Shinty / Camogie match between Scotland and the British Universities side and this starts at 10.30am.