England Grand Masters v Scotland
at Deeside HC on Sunday 18th March 2007
England 6 Scotland 0
In the squad of 13, England GM fielded five new caps with
Major, Gill , Kimber , Stowell and Maylam making their international debuts.
It was immediately obvious that England had a much more mobile team than
Scotland and within the first ten minutes England had opened the scoring
through Mike Surridge. Following good work down the right flank by Peter
Sharpe, England won a short corner, then following a goal mouth mele,
Surridge cooly lifted the ball over the Scots keeper. England piled on the
pressure, with the midfield trio of Ballard, Maylam and Surridge controlling
acres of space to launch attack after attack, resulting in two more goals
before half time. John Maylam found Steve Stowell in space after 15 minutes
for the second and after coming on to replace John Land, David Gill roofed
the third following good work from Rod Cochrane.
On the odd occasion that Scotland were allowed to break out, the back four
of Major, Robertson, Crayford and Howlett dealt calmly and efficiently with
the threat. Colin Kember in goal had little to do, with Scotland not winning
a short corner during the whole match, but when called on to make a save, he
looked composed. After the break, England changed the forwards around and
took time to settle back into the fluid style of play shown in the first
half. Eventually, following a short corner, Maylam again found Surridge, who
lifted the ball into the net for number four and this triggered England to
push forward to increase their lead. Rolling the front players on and off
paid dividends, with Scotland not knowing whom they were supposed to mark,
and after a pacey run down the wing from Peter Sharpe, Surridge netted the
fifth. Mike Surridge completed the scoring late in the game, when he slotted
home his fourth and England's sixth, after good work from David Gill .
This was a very efficient display from the England Grand Masters, but it has to be said that Scotland asked few questions both in attack and defence.
Squad -
C. Kimber, N. Major, A.Robertson,
P.Crayford, T.Howlett, M.Surridge, J.Maylam, N.Ballard, S.Stowell,
R.Cochrane, D.Gill , P.Sharpe, J.Land
