Scotland (2-9) 19-25 (3-10) Ireland
Two late, late goals gave Scotland hope after they were beaten 25-19 in the Marine Harvest Shinty / Hurling international first test at the Bught Park, Inverness on Saturday 20 October 2012.
Scotland captain, Norman Campbell from Newtonmore, started in the middle of the park whilst Kilmallie’s John Stewart, who was called into the squad as a late replacement for Kyles Athletic’s Roddy MacDonald, led the attack.
The sides exchanges scores in the opening minutes with Cork’s Patrick Horgan shooting over for the opening point but a dead-ball between the posts from Caberfeidh’s Kevin Bartlett put the Scots (0-2) 2-1 (0-1) ahead.
With five points now on offer for each goal, as opposed to three previously, both sides were keen to find the back of the net and it was the Irish who took advantage when Patrick Horgan burst down the right wing before flicking the ball up and batting it down past home keeper Stuart MacKintosh for the opening goal.
Ireland keeper Bernard Rochford flew to his right to make a fine diving save to deny Kilmallie’s John Stewart as Scotland looked to cut the deficit.
Patrick Horgan added an almost replica second goal for the Irish shortly after as the visitors took a grip of the game.
Scotland boss Drew McNeil recognised Horgan’s threat down the Scots’ right and he replaced Kyles Athletic’s Donald Irvine with Kinlochshiel's Mark MacDonald in a bid to counter the Irishman’s skills.
Further single points from Horgan, and a single from Shane Dooley, made a further contribution to his Ireland’s points tally and they led (2-6) 16-6 (0-6) at the break. Both Horgan goals were all the separated the teams but the home side were left to rue some missed opportunities to add to their tally.
Kinlochshiel’s Keith MacRae went agonisingly close to reducing the deficit when he shot wide with the first real chance of the second half.
Kevin Bartlett added another couple of points for Scotland to make it (0-8) 8-16 (2-6).
However Ireland began to edge out Scotland with efforts over the bar and three points from Horgan again and a Neil McManus effort helped them to a (2-10) 20-9 (0-9) lead.
When Patrick Horgan burst down the Irish left wing and cut inside to beat Scotland reserve keeper Stuart MacDonald from Lovat to complete his hat-trick and make it (3-10) 25-9 (0-9) in Ireland’s favour, the Scots looked well beaten.
However, with the clock running down, the Scots rallied and Kevin Bartlett held off Tommy Walsh to fire into the net to make it (1-9) 14-25 (3-10).
Just moments later, Lochaber’s Neil MacDonald launched a massive hit into the heart of the Ireland defence which deceived keeper Bernard Rochford and dropped into the roof of the net to make it (2-9) 19-25 (3-10).
Referee Billy Wotherspoon blew his final whistle seconds later. The relevance of MacDonald’s goal was that it got Scotland a point in the series scoring system. Ireland earned two points for winning the game and they earned a bonus point for scoring at least two goals. However the late strikes from Bartlett and MacDonald meant Scotland earned a point for scoring at least two goals so Ireland take a 3-1 lead into the second series.
It was fitting that Kevin Bartlett and Neil MacDonald scored Scotland’s goals as the Marine Harvest North Division 1 duo were the home sides best performers on the day.
There's little doubt that Patrick Horgan was man of the match, eventually amassing all but two of the Irish points, and Scotland must tame him in the second leg.
So Ireland take a 3-1 lead into the second series. There were times that it looked as if they were playing within themselves. However Scotland can take encouragement from the fact that had it not been for missed opportunities from both dead ball and open play, they could have narrowed the gap or even won the game. They can also point to the fact that they have performed better away from home in recent years so the destination of the Marine Harvest Quaich is far from settled.
(Full match report to follow)