McNeil Praises Scotland Players And Coaching Staff. | |
16 November 2010 Scotland Head Coach Drew McNeil praised his players and coaching staff following the narrow defeat to Ireland in the Marine Harvest Shinty / Hurling series. McNeil commented on the hard work put in by his coaching staff, saying, “The effort that everyone put in on our backroom staff was phenomenal. From Graham Cormack at the Camanachd Association who left no stone unturned, to Neil Bowman, George Hay, Kenny Ross, and then Scot McNeil and Jason Latto – they are all incredibly dedicated and professional.” Turning his attention to his players, McNeil said, “The players have also done everything within their powers to win this series and we came so close after drawing 4-4 and only losing out narrowly on aggregate scores.” “The players have reacted to every challenge from the first fitness test to last minute in the final match with a “can do mentality”. Yes, they lost by an aggregate score but they have all won in my eyes as they portrayed all the skills that make them great shinty players.” “It would be unfair for me to single any individual out but I would say: 30% played above themselves and 60% had a positive outcome on events by playing to their potential and only 10% under achieved. Our players are up against hurlers who are on personal fitness programmes so to beat them at Kilkenny in 2008 and then at Croker in 2010 is a major achievement.” Scotland were 22-21 victors at Croke Park, Dublin on 30 October 2010 which gave them a 3-1 lead in the series. The Scot’s earned 2 points for the win with both sides gaining an extra point for scoring 2 goals or more. Ireland were 21-16 winners at the Bught Park, Inverness on Saturday 13 November 2010. This gave the Irish a 3-1 triumph as they earned 2 points for the win with both sides gaining an extra point for scoring 2 goals or more. This squared the match at 4-4 but Ireland won the 2010 Marine Harvest Quaich thanks to their 42-38 aggregate score. |