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2017 Marine Harvest Shinty / Hurling Internationals …………. 2 Days To Go! | |
19 October 2017 Scotland Head Coaches Ronald Ross and Alan MacRae have their squads prepared ahead of the Marine Harvest Shinty / Hurling internationals which take place at The Bught Park, Inverness on Saturday 21 October 2017. Scotland senior Head Coach Ronald Ross said, “I am very pleased with the squad we have selected for this year’s international. We have a good mixture of youth and experience and all the players have worked well throughout the preparation sessions. We’ve had five full sessions ahead of the game and that’s important. We’ve had a great response from the players with a lot of boys keen to be part of the squad. There were some players who came very close to selection but they just failed to make the final cut this time.” The preparation sessions are vital as Ross explains, “Shinty players have to adapt their game to suit the cross-codes rules. For example, playing the ball out for a corner in shinty is a natural thing for a defender to do and it is a chance for a defence to regroup. However in the Shinty / Hurling game, it gives the opposition a free attempt to add to their points tally. Players have to be aware if these situations and not just revert to type as there are consequences in doing so.” The Scotland boss, himself a veteran of these clashes, doesn’t expect his players to be lacking in fitness. “I think we’ll be fine there. We are just at the end of our season so the players have been playing recently. Some have even been doing additional fitness work during the week so that’s encouraging.” Ross is expecting a strong Irish squad to travel for the game. “I think they fact Scotland have won the last three matches at The Bught will influence who they take,” he added. “There is no second leg to retrieve the Inverness result again this year so I expect them to be strong. They have had practice sessions of their own and they know what they are doing.”
Meantime, Scotland U21 Head Coach Alan MacRae is looking an improved performance from his side as he named his pool for the meeting with Ireland U21. This is Allan MacRae’s second year in charge of the young Scots. He said, "The players have all come through a thorough selection process which has presented us with a strong, skilful squad who will hopefully entertain and look to restore some Scottish pride after last year’s disappointing result. We are under no illusion that it will be a tough competitive match and both the coaching team and the players are looking forward to the challenge."
Throw in for the senior match is at 2pm whilst the U21 match throws in at 11.50am. These games are preceded by the Women’s Camanachd Association inaugural North U14 v South U14 match which throws up at 10.30am.
(The photograph comes courtesy of www.neilgpaterson.com) |