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This is what the sides are playing for this afternoon, it is Sinn T | :00:19. | :00:28. | |
versus hurling, Scotland against Ireland in a truly unique sporting | :00:29. | :00:33. | |
event. The winner takes all match in a truly unique sporting | :00:34. | :00:37. | |
confrontation with Scotland looking to make it a hat-trick of victories. | :00:38. | :00:45. | |
Stand-by, I hope you are sitting comfortably. | :00:46. | :00:57. | |
What a strike. You could see that coming. Scotland hoping to make it a | :00:58. | :01:19. | |
hat-trick of victories over the Irish this afternoon, it is the | :01:20. | :01:27. | |
shinty reach hurling final here in Inverness. It is glorious here this | :01:28. | :01:32. | |
afternoon, the sun has come out. Hard to believe it is October but it | :01:33. | :01:38. | |
is time for the shinty hurling international and a beautiful day in | :01:39. | :01:43. | |
Inverness. Shinty against hurling, it does seem a bit baffling, we will | :01:44. | :01:48. | |
get the three Wise men of shinty to guide us this afternoon. Former | :01:49. | :01:54. | |
Scotland international is, welcome to you all. Fraser, I will start | :01:55. | :01:59. | |
with you, shinty versus hurling, if someone has not heard of this | :02:00. | :02:03. | |
before, it does sound slightly crazy. Ella macro it does, but I | :02:04. | :02:08. | |
think the rules are there to be the best of both sports. We have had | :02:09. | :02:12. | |
good matches in the last couple of use and we hope to have more today. | :02:13. | :02:18. | |
Eddie, you have represented Scotland in the past, it is a proud occasion | :02:19. | :02:22. | |
to be Scotland players. In terms of the cream of the crop in shinty, it | :02:23. | :02:27. | |
is your own chance to represent your country. The sense of pride is | :02:28. | :02:31. | |
enormous, you only have one chance in the whole season to play this | :02:32. | :02:37. | |
game. To get selected above other players and put in the hard work and | :02:38. | :02:42. | |
the training, it boils down to this. Gary, you represented Scotland many | :02:43. | :02:48. | |
times, how is it for you? Talk about the intensity of this game? Two | :02:49. | :02:53. | |
different codes against each other, that must be challenging? It can be. | :02:54. | :03:00. | |
This game doesn't suit a lot of shinty players but with the rule | :03:01. | :03:03. | |
changes of the last couple of years it is coming through and it is | :03:04. | :03:07. | |
suiting a lot more shinty players than in the past. It is their only | :03:08. | :03:12. | |
chance to get together and represent their club and country in this | :03:13. | :03:17. | |
sport. It is a great occasion. One of the great names of shinty is | :03:18. | :03:22. | |
Ronald Ross, he is the man who is now in charge of the Scotland team. | :03:23. | :03:27. | |
The short time ago he spoke to our reporter. It is a beautiful day here | :03:28. | :03:31. | |
in Inverness, how much are you looking forward to getting the game | :03:32. | :03:37. | |
started? The preparation is done now, the coaches are desperate for | :03:38. | :03:40. | |
it to start, we have done the hard work, it is a case of getting going. | :03:41. | :03:46. | |
With it being a one-off match this year, does that suit you? Yes. Over | :03:47. | :03:52. | |
two legs, they become stronger, the first game is our best chance. | :03:53. | :03:57. | |
They're not allowed to kick the ball or handle also it takes some time to | :03:58. | :04:01. | |
get used to that. Asked experience has shown that over two games it is | :04:02. | :04:04. | |
difficult to beat them. We pushed them last year in the state game at | :04:05. | :04:11. | |
Croke Park. How do you like the make-up of your squad? We need a bit | :04:12. | :04:17. | |
of experience as well. The boys that have come in have played really well | :04:18. | :04:24. | |
for their clubs. It is competition in all departments, that is | :04:25. | :04:30. | |
important. Thank you for your time. There are the Scotland players this | :04:31. | :04:35. | |
afternoon, warming up. Fraser, Ronald Ross is a name so synonymous | :04:36. | :04:39. | |
with shinty, a bit of greatest player of all-time, much of an | :04:40. | :04:43. | |
impact does that have on the Scotland players? It is a special | :04:44. | :04:49. | |
honour to be selected by Ronald, the greatest player there has ever been. | :04:50. | :04:53. | |
He has played against many of these guys so for him to say that you are | :04:54. | :04:57. | |
good enough to play in his team, it will give them a lot of pride. Good | :04:58. | :05:02. | |
continuity this year because he has a good group of players together and | :05:03. | :05:08. | |
got them into a good system. Some key players on display for Scotland | :05:09. | :05:11. | |
this afternoon. Kevin Bartlett, he has been hugely good for Scotland in | :05:12. | :05:21. | |
recent years? Here we see him doing what he does best, a fantastic goal | :05:22. | :05:28. | |
and he practices this and has scored more points for Scotland than any | :05:29. | :05:33. | |
player in history. This is where Scotland will make most of the | :05:34. | :05:37. | |
points today, from his threes if he is on form. If Ireland flick trying | :05:38. | :05:43. | |
to minister to two points and one point, but it is where Scotland will | :05:44. | :05:51. | |
look to pick up their most points. He is a key player for driving and | :05:52. | :05:55. | |
keeping the scoreboard ticking over. That is what you need to do and he | :05:56. | :06:00. | |
will be their danger man today. Let us hope he puts plenty of points on | :06:01. | :06:04. | |
the board this afternoon. You are interested in seeing Glenn Maxwell | :06:05. | :06:08. | |
.com are significant for his club side but also the national team. We | :06:09. | :06:14. | |
saw him last month getting the only goal in the cup final. He holds the | :06:15. | :06:19. | |
ball up and what he wants to do is shoot and put it in the back of the | :06:20. | :06:22. | |
net but it will be important for Scotland to supply him with the ball | :06:23. | :06:25. | |
today and let him do what he does best. A player of a similar vintage | :06:26. | :06:30. | |
to yourself but still doing the business on the pitch? I was | :06:31. | :06:35. | |
surprised to find out he was the same age as me. He is still doing it | :06:36. | :06:40. | |
exactly. Plenty of miles left on the clock. He is doing well and | :06:41. | :06:48. | |
McDonald, another player, a very athletic player and a younger player | :06:49. | :06:55. | |
as well. A big matchwinner, his team have not had a great season, they | :06:56. | :06:59. | |
did win the Celtic society but they didn't really feature, it has been | :07:00. | :07:09. | |
his biggest day of the season today, people see Rory, physically he has | :07:10. | :07:12. | |
changed, stronger than before. Interesting to see if he can make | :07:13. | :07:18. | |
that count today. What is the key thing from the Scotland squad that | :07:19. | :07:23. | |
they need to do to win? They can give away silly fouls, that is where | :07:24. | :07:29. | |
Ireland punish Scotland. Stay strong and keep the ball as much as they | :07:30. | :07:34. | |
can on the ground because Ireland are used to playing in the air, | :07:35. | :07:38. | |
there are hurdles are bigger as well, Scotland are best on the | :07:39. | :07:42. | |
ground. A while ago we heard from Ronald Ross but what about the | :07:43. | :07:47. | |
island camp? We have been talking to their manager. How much have you | :07:48. | :07:52. | |
been looking forward to this day? For three or four weeks, training | :07:53. | :07:57. | |
with the lads, it is a special time of year. It is near the end of the | :07:58. | :08:02. | |
season, we have had a long hard year, many of us but the next thing | :08:03. | :08:08. | |
is to play for Ireland coming up to Scotland. It is a fixture they | :08:09. | :08:15. | |
enjoyed. A disruption to lose the McGrath brothers? Won we know they | :08:16. | :08:23. | |
have commitments to football. We knew it couldn't happen, what will | :08:24. | :08:33. | |
be the key to getting the grips of this game? A lot of the lads have | :08:34. | :08:38. | |
played it, 16 or 18 have experience to it and that will help a lot. The | :08:39. | :08:42. | |
first 15 or 20 minutes are vitally important to get a hold. That is the | :08:43. | :08:51. | |
Ireland manager. You take a keen interest in the gale exports in | :08:52. | :08:55. | |
Ireland, a thriving scene and hurling is a key part of that. -- | :08:56. | :09:07. | |
Gaelic sports. Tipperary won the All-Ireland this year and it is an | :09:08. | :09:11. | |
honour to have Michael playing in this match. He is against Waterford | :09:12. | :09:18. | |
taking a fantastic goal. In the line-out, he played in the midfield | :09:19. | :09:22. | |
in the All-Ireland final, now he seems to be forward. He will be | :09:23. | :09:27. | |
looking to get points and goals for them but we have had big stars in | :09:28. | :09:31. | |
this game in the past and I have not managed to cope, we will see how he | :09:32. | :09:36. | |
does today. Give us a sense of the regard that these players are held | :09:37. | :09:42. | |
in Ireland? People not used to it may not grasp the scale of it and | :09:43. | :09:46. | |
how important it is to Irish life? It is huge. There are over 2500 | :09:47. | :09:53. | |
clubs in the world, and they are held in greatest team by their | :09:54. | :09:57. | |
communities because they play for their parish and if they are good | :09:58. | :10:02. | |
enough, they go on to play for their county team, today it is the | :10:03. | :10:05. | |
national side. It is a fantastic sport and it is great we can get a | :10:06. | :10:10. | |
composite game here where they can play each other. How tough are these | :10:11. | :10:13. | |
athletes that have come over from Ireland? How much of a challenge is | :10:14. | :10:20. | |
it? When you start the game, it is barely even but the fitness really | :10:21. | :10:25. | |
shows later in the game. They built pretty well, their stamina is really | :10:26. | :10:28. | |
good and their strength. They get better as the game goes on. It is | :10:29. | :10:33. | |
important for Scotland to get a lead before they get to grips with the | :10:34. | :10:39. | |
game and put points on the board. It is shinty versus hurling, it makes | :10:40. | :10:44. | |
havoc, chaos and mayhem but are significant rules that make this | :10:45. | :10:48. | |
compromise event take place and this is how it works. | :10:49. | :11:27. | |
Almost time to get things under way, a quick prediction from the guys | :11:28. | :11:33. | |
before we get to the action. How do you see it going this afternoon? | :11:34. | :11:38. | |
After last year 's performance, if Scotland can perform near that, | :11:39. | :11:41. | |
island will have become whip up with it, they did not score a point from | :11:42. | :11:45. | |
open play last years and that is a huge thing. Confident? I think | :11:46. | :11:52. | |
Scotland will do it but it will be a close run thing. I think Ireland | :11:53. | :11:56. | |
will come but strong later in the game. What is your prediction? 21-15 | :11:57. | :12:06. | |
Scotland. Sounds good to me, we will chat more to you throughout the show | :12:07. | :12:09. | |
but things are about to get underway here in Inverness. | :12:10. | :12:14. | |
COMMENTATOR: A warm welcome on a magnificent autumnal day in | :12:15. | :12:28. | |
Inverness. It has been island's day so far. The Dublin women winning the | :12:29. | :12:32. | |
women's match earlier this morning. The Irish under 21s overpowered | :12:33. | :12:39. | |
Scotland with a strong finish, more on that later. It is up to the | :12:40. | :12:43. | |
Scotland seniors to rescue the situation in this magnificent | :12:44. | :12:50. | |
setting as they try and establish a formidable record of a hat-trick of | :12:51. | :12:56. | |
home wins at the home of shinty in Inverness. The Royal British Legion | :12:57. | :13:08. | |
pipe band from Inverness and gaudy Stroud, warming things up. | :13:09. | :13:18. | |
They are introducing the formal party. | :13:19. | :13:32. | |
Being introduced to the teams. A wonderful atmosphere here. The | :13:33. | :13:44. | |
women's match attracted quite a substantial audience this morning in | :13:45. | :13:50. | |
the mist, which had descended, it was chilly and cold but plenty of | :13:51. | :13:55. | |
entertainment on offer. The Irish women winning by 11-2. Then the day | :13:56. | :14:01. | |
has improved as the forecast suggested it would. And it has | :14:02. | :14:06. | |
presented us with absolutely perfect playing conditions. Slightly greasy | :14:07. | :14:12. | |
on top of the grass, the groundsman has produced a wonderful playing | :14:13. | :14:15. | |
surface. He says he has never seen the grass grow at this time of year | :14:16. | :14:24. | |
at the way it is growing. The change in the weather or the climate but | :14:25. | :14:27. | |
all to the good full for these players. I am joined by Fraser | :14:28. | :14:36. | |
Ingles, who has come from that turf, is it greasy on top? It is a bit. A | :14:37. | :14:41. | |
lot of missed here in Inverness today. As the sun rises and | :14:42. | :14:45. | |
hopefully the temperature rises and it should burn off and the grass is | :14:46. | :14:50. | |
a good length, that is very important in this fixture. In | :14:51. | :14:54. | |
shinty, you don't want it too long. Ireland would want it longer. | :14:55. | :15:00. | |
Conditions are fair for both teams. Absolutely perfect setting. Many | :15:01. | :15:07. | |
international team captains do not have their father on their shoulder. | :15:08. | :15:12. | |
Being introduced to his playing compatriots. Looking down at the | :15:13. | :15:19. | |
geography of the situation, the town is to the right as we watch the max. | :15:20. | :15:31. | |
The big screen keeping the crowd entertained. Ronald Ross is the team | :15:32. | :15:41. | |
manager. And a formidable management trio as the teams line up for the | :15:42. | :15:49. | |
national anthems of the two competing nations. And first of all, | :15:50. | :15:54. | |
our visiting friends from Ireland. Their sport in Ireland has been | :15:55. | :17:05. | |
dominated by some very sad news, always a stirring rendition of the | :17:06. | :17:08. | |
national anthem and to take the Scots away, it is Robert Robertson. | :17:09. | :17:15. | |
# O flower of Scotland # When will we see your like again # | :17:16. | :17:21. | |
That fought and died for # Your wee bit hill and glen # And stood | :17:22. | :17:26. | |
against him # Proud Edward's army # And sent him homeward # Tae think | :17:27. | :17:41. | |
again # Those days are passed now # And in the past they must remain # | :17:42. | :17:49. | |
But we can still rise now # And be the nation again # That stood | :17:50. | :18:11. | |
against him # Proud Edward's army # And sent him homeward # | :18:12. | :18:18. | |
Tae think again. # | :18:19. | :18:28. | |
APPLAUSE Not a breath of wind hardly around | :18:29. | :18:38. | |
Bught Park as the lengthening shadows of autumn introduce us to | :18:39. | :18:44. | |
this fantastic contest between Scotland and Ireland. The two teams. | :18:45. | :18:49. | |
Scotland has a strong team, a clutch of award winners from last night. | :18:50. | :18:55. | |
Performance of the annual awards. Steven MacDonald and Finlay MacRae, | :18:56. | :19:00. | |
the two national Player of the Year award winners. | :19:01. | :19:09. | |
Kevin Bartlett and Glen MacKintosh are the men who will be finding the | :19:10. | :19:12. | |
net for Scotland. Freeman of Mayo out. Keep your eye | :19:13. | :19:31. | |
on Michael Breen of Tipperary. The captain is the goalkeeper, Reilly. | :19:32. | :19:35. | |
The referee today is Innes Wood. The ball put in between the two | :19:36. | :19:54. | |
competing sides as ever, Ireland are in green and are hitting from left | :19:55. | :19:59. | |
to right. Be warned, do not do any of this at home and strap yourselves | :20:00. | :20:03. | |
in for the next 80 minutes. Because this could be quite a match. Barr, | :20:04. | :20:13. | |
the skipper. I did warn you, the first few contests are absolutely | :20:14. | :20:17. | |
critical in this game. Indeed they are. They push in the back by | :20:18. | :20:22. | |
Patrick Kelly. This is a really good opportunity for Kevin Bartlett | :20:23. | :20:26. | |
already to get two points over the bar for Scotland. The Scotland under | :20:27. | :20:34. | |
21 team were somewhat profligate in their use of these free hits because | :20:35. | :20:39. | |
they didn't take their chances which were on offer. Bartlett however has | :20:40. | :20:44. | |
proven how to do it before and he has done it. It is a good start and | :20:45. | :20:49. | |
exactly what you would expect from Kevin Bartlett. That is a warning | :20:50. | :20:55. | |
for the Irish. If they want to give fouls away in that area, Kevin will | :20:56. | :21:01. | |
punish them. A nice, clean strike. The Irish defender nearly managed to | :21:02. | :21:05. | |
walk it but he just managed to get it over the bar and that will give | :21:06. | :21:09. | |
him confidence. I think it might have got a deflection but it doesn't | :21:10. | :21:13. | |
matter. Over the bar, between the posts from a dead ball, from a | :21:14. | :21:18. | |
free-hit off the ground, two points. One point from open play. | :21:19. | :21:28. | |
We saw earlier in the under 21 match also how the midfield is very often | :21:29. | :21:36. | |
bypassed here because of the length and strength of the hitting. The | :21:37. | :21:42. | |
ball being propelled for perhaps two thirds of the length of this | :21:43. | :21:44. | |
enormous pitch at Bught Park. The great glen down to our left with | :21:45. | :21:56. | |
the ball is heading. Scotland dropping it in on top of the half | :21:57. | :22:00. | |
forward, looking for the second ball coming out from the defence. Bunched | :22:01. | :22:05. | |
in midfield. Barr in the middle of it. Bartlett. Just the players | :22:06. | :22:12. | |
slipping and sliding as they get to grips with the surface. A massive | :22:13. | :22:20. | |
hit from defence. This is what the Scots are up against because it just | :22:21. | :22:26. | |
comes rocketing back. The player from Kildare goes down. This is the | :22:27. | :22:30. | |
kind of territory the Scots don't want to be giving away free hits. | :22:31. | :22:36. | |
No. I don't think Andy Mackintosh meant that, it was just his foot | :22:37. | :22:41. | |
caught the opposition's trailing foot. It will be interesting to see | :22:42. | :22:46. | |
whether Scotland decide to hit it off the ground and try to get two | :22:47. | :22:52. | |
points. Shane do leak has done his damage before so we will see if he | :22:53. | :22:57. | |
still has the radar. He has whacked it. He has put it wide. That is a | :22:58. | :23:03. | |
get out of jail card early on because we know what he can do. We | :23:04. | :23:08. | |
have seen it before. Historically, you have had a big influence in this | :23:09. | :23:12. | |
match. It is surprising he didn't manage to get it over the bar. He | :23:13. | :23:17. | |
pulled it wide unfortunately for him. Chances in the early stages. | :23:18. | :23:26. | |
Always the first quarter, our also, critical for the Scottish team that | :23:27. | :23:29. | |
they get in and they get their tackles in hard and early and they | :23:30. | :23:32. | |
put pressure on the Irish because it does take the Irish a little while | :23:33. | :23:37. | |
to settle down. Ronald Ross knows that. Two shrewd shinty-hurling | :23:38. | :23:49. | |
brains of their day. They know the men the mark. Keen to keep Michael | :23:50. | :24:00. | |
Breen under lock and key. Because if he starts to run the game, that | :24:01. | :24:04. | |
could be a very long afternoon. That is him on the far side. Up it goes. | :24:05. | :24:15. | |
This will be the pattern, the long, high ball, taste of the Scottish | :24:16. | :24:18. | |
defence and they need to clear it better than that. Finlay MacRae, | :24:19. | :24:24. | |
last night's national Player of the Year, one of three brothers in the | :24:25. | :24:30. | |
Scottish pool. His brother Keith is up in the forward line in the | :24:31. | :24:36. | |
starting line-up. Two best fullbacks in the game. This year's Premier | :24:37. | :24:42. | |
League Player of the Year. Steven MacDonald alongside Finlay MacRae | :24:43. | :24:48. | |
and Steven MacDonald tells me he is carrying an injury, he has his knee | :24:49. | :24:53. | |
strapped. When I asked him how he thought it was, he said we will soon | :24:54. | :24:59. | |
find out. I am sure we will. One of the best hitters in the game. There | :25:00. | :25:04. | |
is the evidence. Looking for Keith MacRae but it is too long. Not a | :25:05. | :25:10. | |
breath of wind here. Normally a very strong wind left-to-right but today, | :25:11. | :25:15. | |
it is absolutely still. Perfect condition because often, the wind | :25:16. | :25:19. | |
can spoil a match so it is good it is calm and not an advantage to | :25:20. | :25:24. | |
either team. That is a wasted ball straight out from the Irish keeper. | :25:25. | :25:30. | |
The captain Reilly. No stranger to Bught Park. Not happy obviously, | :25:31. | :25:43. | |
with that. That is beyond midfield. Good chance for Scotland. Certainly, | :25:44. | :25:54. | |
Reilly's distance is good. He will be looking to do something about | :25:55. | :25:58. | |
that. Distance wise, he got a good distance on it. This is so difficult | :25:59. | :26:07. | |
for the Scottish team to tackle. Dylan taking the ball. One-handed. | :26:08. | :26:17. | |
So easy to flick the ball on with an arm and a battle like stick. | :26:18. | :26:23. | |
Scotland trying to use their mobility and their pace and play the | :26:24. | :26:31. | |
ball along the ground. We found some of the under 21 players had | :26:32. | :26:37. | |
difficulty with the surface. These top guns should manage it well. Look | :26:38. | :26:45. | |
at that, taken clean out and away. But it is wide. The game is almost | :26:46. | :26:52. | |
as if an early change here, just below us we see the Irish making a | :26:53. | :26:59. | |
substitute. Seem to be making a change, a tactical switch. Rolling | :27:00. | :27:03. | |
substitutes as the game goes on and we will see this happen all the | :27:04. | :27:09. | |
time, players coming and going. I would say early on, Ireland were | :27:10. | :27:13. | |
quite dangerous upfront although they have not scored, they have | :27:14. | :27:16. | |
settled in fairly well and I think the warning signs. The need to be | :27:17. | :27:20. | |
historically, you have to rack up the points against Ireland because | :27:21. | :27:22. | |
they do get stronger as the game goes on. I think that will be the | :27:23. | :27:27. | |
case, Scotland will have to get in front because Ireland have started | :27:28. | :27:31. | |
quite well and you can only see them getting better as the game goes on. | :27:32. | :27:36. | |
Steven MacDonald has taken a run-up and that can only mean one thing, he | :27:37. | :27:41. | |
is going to go for a goal from her. At the very worst, he will drop it | :27:42. | :27:44. | |
right in front of Reilly in the goal. This is basically from the | :27:45. | :27:53. | |
middle of the field, halfway. Almost by the tunnel. He has got the range | :27:54. | :27:57. | |
and the distance but not quite the accuracy so there is a message. If | :27:58. | :28:02. | |
he's going to do that, he has to start scoring. A good effort from | :28:03. | :28:06. | |
Steven, that is a big distance he is hitting and it wasn't far away. If | :28:07. | :28:12. | |
you can get it in line, the goalkeeper has to deal with it if it | :28:13. | :28:16. | |
drops short. If you're going to be short, it is not a disaster. | :28:17. | :28:23. | |
Dwyer fitting it into midfield, that was a beautiful touch and a high | :28:24. | :28:33. | |
ball but it is wide once again. They asked beginning to pick up the | :28:34. | :28:40. | |
rhythm. The Irish team, fantastically athletic. A nice turn | :28:41. | :28:47. | |
by Michael Breen, he gets the shot off but he just pulled it wide. The | :28:48. | :28:51. | |
signs are there already that Ireland will be strong this year and they | :28:52. | :28:54. | |
will start getting points on the map over the bar. They haven't so far. | :28:55. | :29:01. | |
Steven MacDonald, Scottish full-back, when the ground. That is | :29:02. | :29:07. | |
wide again. That is the threat. Once the momentum is there for the Irish | :29:08. | :29:10. | |
players, as they roll forward, this is what happens. Dwyer with the | :29:11. | :29:17. | |
effort and he seemed to go for the goal, not the points over the bar. | :29:18. | :29:23. | |
Just wide. If that had been a foot inside, it probably would have been | :29:24. | :29:27. | |
an open score for Ireland. The interplay with the Irish forwards is | :29:28. | :29:32. | |
good. The natural instinct of an Irish player is to flick the point | :29:33. | :29:36. | |
through, not be too bothered about the goal at this stage. They like to | :29:37. | :29:42. | |
keep that school -- score board ticking over. They are on the move. | :29:43. | :29:52. | |
Look at that, beautiful skill. Stuart MacDonald in the goal. | :29:53. | :29:59. | |
Scotland had to be very careful because that was dropping right in | :30:00. | :30:09. | |
front of them. Chat has been in the game quite a lot already, picking up | :30:10. | :30:15. | |
a lot. Bain has been told by the Scotland coaching tough, tighten up. | :30:16. | :30:24. | |
-- the Scotland coaching staff. You need to get as close to your man as | :30:25. | :30:27. | |
possible. The closer you are, the less dangerous it is. If you stand | :30:28. | :30:35. | |
off halfway, you are in trouble but if you go right in, it swings right | :30:36. | :30:40. | |
round you and it is all fine. John Barr. | :30:41. | :30:47. | |
You get the feeling the Irish will be content to hold this opening | :30:48. | :30:55. | |
phase of play and then cut loose once they have mastered the | :30:56. | :30:56. | |
conditions. Last year, Scotland started strongly | :30:57. | :31:08. | |
but after 11 minutes here, island have been the better team, despite | :31:09. | :31:16. | |
Scotland having a two point lead. Has dropped into the danger area and | :31:17. | :31:20. | |
flipped over the bar by the keeper. That counts as a point in play. A | :31:21. | :31:28. | |
good effort off the ground. Fantastic effort and on target. We | :31:29. | :31:36. | |
mentioned before, Dwyer is a capable player and Scotland will have to | :31:37. | :31:40. | |
watch him closely. Tipped over the bar, that counts. It is the Irish on | :31:41. | :31:53. | |
the mark with their first point. So the danger signs are there but even | :31:54. | :31:57. | |
from that distance, hitting off the ground, it is a skill the Irish have | :31:58. | :32:01. | |
developed and worked on over the years, hitting off the ground. | :32:02. | :32:06. | |
Certainly looks more difficult than it does in shinty terms but with the | :32:07. | :32:12. | |
angle of the stick and the flick of the wrist takes it up in the air. | :32:13. | :32:18. | |
McDonald had to be careful but again, just wide. Again, the play | :32:19. | :32:22. | |
going left to right more often than not. Fantastic sideline cut, the | :32:23. | :32:28. | |
distance he got on it creates an opportunity. At the moment it is all | :32:29. | :32:35. | |
Ireland and that is ominous for Scotland, traditionally, Scotland | :32:36. | :32:38. | |
have gone into the lead but at the moment, island are pushing forward. | :32:39. | :32:48. | |
This might be one of the answers, McRae, there are three macro blue | :32:49. | :32:55. | |
shirts here. Kevin Bartlett just a bit slow off the mark there. A good | :32:56. | :33:02. | |
tackle. Two Irish players, they are moving in twos, cleverly. If one | :33:03. | :33:05. | |
misses the ball, there is way someone else. Len McIntosh slips | :33:06. | :33:12. | |
outwards. Takes the nudge in the back, knew exactly what he was | :33:13. | :33:15. | |
doing, drawing in the Irish player for a book -- push in the back and | :33:16. | :33:22. | |
get a free hit. Scotland have not been in the game much but Kevin has | :33:23. | :33:25. | |
an opportunity here for another two points. It would not be a reflection | :33:26. | :33:31. | |
of the game so far but you need to take your chances. 14 minutes in or | :33:32. | :33:43. | |
thereabouts. The referee, a bit of off the ball there, I think he felt | :33:44. | :33:47. | |
the Irish player was getting too close and tried to push him back. | :33:48. | :33:52. | |
The defending player, if we call it that, is allowed to charge once the | :33:53. | :33:57. | |
ball is flicked up at all. If they flick it up to run it on, the | :33:58. | :34:03. | |
incoming player can have a go. It is taking your life in your hands. That | :34:04. | :34:11. | |
was our friend from lasted, Damien Healy, he seemed to be involved in | :34:12. | :34:15. | |
every physical tussle and he is back at it again this year. I am sure | :34:16. | :34:21. | |
Roddy will help him out in that respect. Heading on for 15 minutes. | :34:22. | :34:28. | |
He went the goal that time. Well dealt with by Reilly. Always a | :34:29. | :34:35. | |
gamble but from that distance, very difficult to beat the Irish people. | :34:36. | :34:40. | |
Does it surprise you he didn't take the points? I think Kevin would have | :34:41. | :34:44. | |
gone over the bar here but as the first one, he didn't seem to get the | :34:45. | :34:49. | |
height on it so I don't think it was a deliberate effort to go for goal | :34:50. | :34:52. | |
just that he didn't strike the ball as he would like and it dropped | :34:53. | :34:58. | |
short and the keeper dealt with it. Plenty of action off the ball. All | :34:59. | :35:07. | |
kicking off all over the place now. Almost literally nothing between the | :35:08. | :35:13. | |
sides. No goals sent two points to Scotland, no goals and 1.2 Ireland. | :35:14. | :35:19. | |
15 minutes in, 40 minute duration in each half. Slightly shorter than the | :35:20. | :35:28. | |
shinty version of 45 minutes. That is due to the intensity of the game. | :35:29. | :35:33. | |
It is intense and the substitutes will all be used. It is not going to | :35:34. | :35:40. | |
run out. Makes a good job of the clearance. Makes sure he gets it up | :35:41. | :35:50. | |
to virtually halfway. Always really come under pressure, Stuart | :35:51. | :35:53. | |
McDonald, confidence in his own ability, he does the simple thing | :35:54. | :35:55. | |
and gets rid of the ball. Damien Healy, didn't quite get hold | :35:56. | :36:09. | |
of that one. Slightly spongy, the surface. Not getting the whole | :36:10. | :36:15. | |
underneath it. The grass shorter than they are used to, that is well | :36:16. | :36:20. | |
taken. That is a good score from open play. Cha Dwyer again, making | :36:21. | :36:28. | |
it count, the ball breaks across, he is on to it quickly and takes the | :36:29. | :36:33. | |
point for Scotland. If the chances are taken... That takes the scores | :36:34. | :36:48. | |
level, 0- two, 0- two. McRae. Oh, and again. You could see the first | :36:49. | :36:54. | |
tackle, I can see how the player was just late coming in but the second | :36:55. | :37:03. | |
one... The ball comes out, he swings through, to be fair, he didn't carry | :37:04. | :37:07. | |
the swing through, it is the next one on Damien Healy, the whistle had | :37:08. | :37:10. | |
gone when Damien Healy swung there so that was definitely not right. We | :37:11. | :37:17. | |
will see how Kevin hits is, can he get more height on the effort and | :37:18. | :37:22. | |
get it over the bar. The last one, he didn't get it high enough to | :37:23. | :37:27. | |
clear the goalkeeper. That is the view, directly in line, we will get | :37:28. | :37:30. | |
a good view of this because we will see exactly where it is going. The | :37:31. | :37:35. | |
Irish player charging in and he drifted, a little bit of a cut to | :37:36. | :37:39. | |
make sure but a good two point, that is more like we expect from him. | :37:40. | :37:48. | |
Well done by Bartlett. Island are trying to close down sooner is they | :37:49. | :37:52. | |
can and it was be down to Kevin not to let that distract him. A | :37:53. | :37:55. | |
beautiful is like by Kevin, head down over the ball and swing | :37:56. | :38:00. | |
straight through. Wish I had a swing like that. It them and hope. | :38:01. | :38:07. | |
Meanwhile, at the other end, sweet movement off the ball, that is the | :38:08. | :38:10. | |
kind of tackle you need from Stephen McDonald. The stick extended and | :38:11. | :38:16. | |
protecting himself but also catching the Irish man before delivering the | :38:17. | :38:22. | |
ball. And that is when the pressure leads to mistakes. | :38:23. | :38:39. | |
Stephen McDonald again on the sideline, this time he will probably | :38:40. | :38:45. | |
look to drop it into the final third and reach from there. He will be | :38:46. | :38:51. | |
looking to bring Glenn into play. They all have numbers on them and | :38:52. | :38:55. | |
the numbers relate to the players numbers on them back so they will | :38:56. | :38:59. | |
know right away. In the coaches here from Ireland won't necessarily know | :39:00. | :39:03. | |
some of these players because they are from all over Ireland so they | :39:04. | :39:08. | |
will have the number to know that. There was a day where you would be | :39:09. | :39:13. | |
given one and told to get on with it. The facilities are there. We | :39:14. | :39:21. | |
heard the message there, they are on top, that is what they think. And I | :39:22. | :39:26. | |
think they are right but the school doesn't reflect it. 4-2, Scotland | :39:27. | :39:35. | |
lead. -- the score. Another opportunity now for Scotland on the | :39:36. | :39:37. | |
far side, from the touchline. Stephen McDonald taking all due care | :39:38. | :39:45. | |
and attention. Inside the Irish half, just. Drop six short this | :39:46. | :39:52. | |
time. And Scotland, you see the tactic, even if it is dropping wide, | :39:53. | :39:57. | |
it was possible to have a go and knock it back into play. It was, it | :39:58. | :40:03. | |
goes to the right-hand side of the goal. McRae does really well but the | :40:04. | :40:07. | |
ball was out of place even before he could get on it. Scotland have to | :40:08. | :40:11. | |
make these opportunities count. If you knock them over the bar, you | :40:12. | :40:18. | |
have to try and keep them in play. Up it goes again. They've got the | :40:19. | :40:25. | |
distance on the measure of that but not the accuracy we would quite | :40:26. | :40:28. | |
expect of the Irish team at this stage. Another opportunity goes | :40:29. | :40:34. | |
wide. At the moment, the game is that way where both sides are | :40:35. | :40:38. | |
playing OK, island certainly with the best of it but neither team is | :40:39. | :40:44. | |
really making it count on the scoreboard. No player sticking his | :40:45. | :40:51. | |
hand up and causing havoc yet. Here is a chance for Scotland. Bartlett | :40:52. | :40:56. | |
pulls down. Look where the ball ended up in the net eventually. It | :40:57. | :41:03. | |
was done and dusted but he is claiming his shirt was pulled as | :41:04. | :41:09. | |
well. 61, half a dozen of the other. Kevin did well, it is a 50-50 and | :41:10. | :41:14. | |
Kevin wrapped his arm around Irish players and it looks like the Irish | :41:15. | :41:19. | |
player had fouled him. They are complaining a bit, he certainly | :41:20. | :41:22. | |
didn't think it was a foul but Kevin has the ball. Again, this is what | :41:23. | :41:28. | |
makes it count, if he can get this two points, Scotland will have a 6-2 | :41:29. | :41:32. | |
lead and they can barely justify that with the possession Ireland | :41:33. | :41:37. | |
have had. The foul would have been all and sundry on the big screen as | :41:38. | :41:40. | |
well so everybody knows that Bartlett has got away with one here. | :41:41. | :41:48. | |
Now that took a touch so it is only one point four that. You can see how | :41:49. | :41:57. | |
the Irish player rushed him there. It is the second player who got the | :41:58. | :42:02. | |
deflection. It was indeed. He just catches the top of his Hurley. That | :42:03. | :42:08. | |
was a good intervention because it saved Ireland a point. Small | :42:09. | :42:17. | |
margins. I did see in the under 21 match, players and the elevation of | :42:18. | :42:23. | |
the dead ball, it is like the surface is sticky in some way. The | :42:24. | :42:27. | |
players will just have to combat that. No prisoners being taken and | :42:28. | :42:36. | |
no quarter given or asked. Just a little touch, sending the ball 30 or | :42:37. | :42:43. | |
40 yards up the field. The Scotland defence standing firm. And he gave | :42:44. | :42:49. | |
it everything there. That is a very sore Irish lake there. Have a look | :42:50. | :42:55. | |
at it, a chance for Scotland, Roddy McDonald. High and between the posts | :42:56. | :43:01. | |
and you would have expected a little bit better. I think psychologically, | :43:02. | :43:08. | |
the Scotland players, Kevin's swing, the ball was there, he got away with | :43:09. | :43:13. | |
it, played it through. Glenn tries to move in and Roddy is onto it, now | :43:14. | :43:17. | |
it is a big chance, he stretches really well but just too high. It is | :43:18. | :43:22. | |
a point but they would have been looking to get three points for | :43:23. | :43:25. | |
Scotland by hitting the back of the net. You would expect them to get it | :43:26. | :43:37. | |
on target. A chance gone begging. Some of the off the ball stuff is | :43:38. | :43:41. | |
very interesting actually. The players trying to get the upper | :43:42. | :43:45. | |
hand, it all counts to the next tackle I suppose. Look at the number | :43:46. | :43:51. | |
of players in midfield, it is astonishing. A nice turn again. But | :43:52. | :43:56. | |
you have to put that down to technique. The wind is not | :43:57. | :43:59. | |
interfering with play at all. Definitely not. Dwyer again going | :44:00. | :44:06. | |
forward, pressed by Daniel Cameron. From an Irish perspective, the | :44:07. | :44:09. | |
shinty stick is a bit longer and when you get hit by the shinty | :44:10. | :44:15. | |
stick, it is far more painful, it is laminated, a more solid stick. Some | :44:16. | :44:22. | |
guys are thoroughly bit wary of the stick getting close to them and is | :44:23. | :44:25. | |
affecting their composure when it comes to points. A great run and | :44:26. | :44:30. | |
McDonald comes out. The ball goes to ground, it is in the ruck of | :44:31. | :44:34. | |
players, Stephen McDonald trying to get it away. Not the biggest man on | :44:35. | :44:41. | |
the field, the goalkeeper and that he certainly punched above his | :44:42. | :44:44. | |
weight there and fired back in from the side. That is a point from open | :44:45. | :44:50. | |
play, a fantastic point from a way out there. It is Shane Dooley with | :44:51. | :44:54. | |
the point from the touchline out there. It was actually Shane Nolan | :44:55. | :45:01. | |
who ran through Rhyl you well. Stuart McDonald came at and blocked | :45:02. | :45:05. | |
him, Scotland struggled to get it clear and Shane Dooley from that | :45:06. | :45:08. | |
angle, a really good single point he took there. Flicking it up, best to | :45:09. | :45:14. | |
close him down, you can see the acute angle he is shooting from, a | :45:15. | :45:19. | |
well taken point. Absolutely nothing the goalkeeper can do that. The | :45:20. | :45:30. | |
referee lets it go. Scotland get it away. This time just a little bit | :45:31. | :45:36. | |
obvious. Shoulder to shoulder is fine. Most other things are fine but | :45:37. | :45:45. | |
not a push in the back. This is a save from earlier. Watch the | :45:46. | :45:52. | |
goalkeeper. He made sure that either the man or the ball was not getting | :45:53. | :45:58. | |
past and he got both. Eventually, the McDonald completes the | :45:59. | :46:06. | |
clearance. He liked that. Pick on someone your own size. Just a | :46:07. | :46:13. | |
question as to whether Ronald Ross was making a substitution there, no | :46:14. | :46:17. | |
was the answer. McDonald delivers bound into the corner trying to | :46:18. | :46:18. | |
stretch the Irish defence. Scott Law wasting some of the | :46:19. | :46:31. | |
possession at the moment. There is a substitution here though. -- | :46:32. | :46:36. | |
Scotland wasting some of the possession. Trying to see who has | :46:37. | :46:48. | |
gone off, somebody has or is. I can't see anyone going off, | :46:49. | :46:59. | |
actually. There is MacRae going off just behind us. | :47:00. | :47:05. | |
Lovely play by the Irish. It is not all big blasts and knocks, there are | :47:06. | :47:16. | |
some lovely touches, superb skills. This is the direct approach though, | :47:17. | :47:22. | |
dangerous ball, well taken. Through the midfield. Just this lack of | :47:23. | :47:29. | |
precision in the Scottish passing at the moment. Andy Mackintosh having | :47:30. | :47:32. | |
to come back and work very hard. The Irish colour on the far side, | :47:33. | :47:42. | |
Michael Breen, a touch of something special. Technically, I think he is | :47:43. | :47:48. | |
allowed to get away with it but this is what he did, keep your eye on the | :47:49. | :47:52. | |
helmet. It is his face guard actually. Brave man! In shinty, that | :47:53. | :48:00. | |
would normally be a foul. Because you put yourself in danger. Another | :48:01. | :48:08. | |
sideline cut for Ireland and audibly, if he strikes it well, it | :48:09. | :48:14. | |
is in a reachable distance for him. Scotland defender get with three men | :48:15. | :48:18. | |
at the back. Once Bearman to try to pick up the second bowl is the first | :48:19. | :48:20. | |
offenders get it. Didn't quite get a handle on that | :48:21. | :48:27. | |
one. He has got it again. Still comes | :48:28. | :48:39. | |
away with the ball and he has got it up on his stick, danger for | :48:40. | :48:45. | |
Scotland. Turning the wrong way, facing the goal and the sticks are | :48:46. | :48:51. | |
flying. The referee says it is a Scottish free-hit. | :48:52. | :48:57. | |
Lee Bain goes to clear land Divilly grabs him by the arm. That was a | :48:58. | :49:07. | |
foul and Scotland benefit to clear their lines. Good play by Chabert | :49:08. | :49:15. | |
wire. That is the kind of pressure you see in hurling all the time. | :49:16. | :49:29. | |
All part of the trick of having to adapt to the compromise rules. The | :49:30. | :49:37. | |
Irish not allowed to kick or catch the ball as they would normally be | :49:38. | :49:42. | |
allowed to do. Sometimes, you see a hand going up or a kick. Just by the | :49:43. | :49:48. | |
nature of the custom and practice from their own game. That is a huge | :49:49. | :49:57. | |
hit again. Ten minutes left for one of these teams to make a mark in the | :49:58. | :50:05. | |
first half. Again, just snatching at it, Dwyer, again but he is key in | :50:06. | :50:10. | |
midfield, getting a lot of the ball. He seems to be finding a lot of | :50:11. | :50:15. | |
space and Scotland haven't really taken advantage of the spacey sound | :50:16. | :50:19. | |
because he has had a lot of opportunities in goals but most have | :50:20. | :50:22. | |
gone wide. The worry is how much space is finding. Why is he finding | :50:23. | :50:29. | |
it? If he is taking these opportunities, Scotland would | :50:30. | :50:30. | |
probably be behind at the moment. The crowd are very close to the | :50:31. | :50:45. | |
action. Good gathering of folk sprinkled all around the field. | :50:46. | :50:52. | |
Pleasant conditions. Three matches at Bught Park, it has brought a lot | :50:53. | :50:56. | |
of people out, and encouraging crowd. One of the key things in this | :50:57. | :51:04. | |
game is to be first to the ball, you must do that. At the moment, when | :51:05. | :51:09. | |
the ball comes through, Ireland are first to all the breaking balls and | :51:10. | :51:12. | |
Scotland are having to chase them. Scotland need to try to come around. | :51:13. | :51:18. | |
You must be first to the ball. At the moment, Ireland are making the | :51:19. | :51:22. | |
most of that. They are hunting impacts as well. | :51:23. | :51:29. | |
Beautiful skills from the back. Launching it. James Toher a | :51:30. | :51:40. | |
commanding presence at the back. There are three ships around John | :51:41. | :51:46. | |
Barr because they know they need to control him midfield. That is maybe | :51:47. | :51:52. | |
slightly soft. Paul Divilly put a bit of pressure on him but again, | :51:53. | :51:55. | |
that experience of John Barr, pressure on him and this would give | :51:56. | :52:04. | |
him the foul. If Kevin Bartlett puts this over the bar, it will be 8-3 to | :52:05. | :52:13. | |
Scotland. Another good view of Kevin Bartlett's hit, look at the Irish | :52:14. | :52:16. | |
player going to launch himself at him. This time there is no doubt at | :52:17. | :52:23. | |
all, it is that beautiful golf swing of Kevin Bartlett, and other two | :52:24. | :52:28. | |
points to him, eight points to Scotland. They lead 8-3. Exceptional | :52:29. | :52:37. | |
hit by Kevin Bartlett. I am not backed up on golf terminology but he | :52:38. | :52:43. | |
has hit that with a slight fade. Here egos, plans his foot and head | :52:44. | :52:49. | |
over the ball, swings right through. -- here he goes. Let's see the | :52:50. | :53:02. | |
balance of the Irish attack. Scotland seem to have conceded | :53:03. | :53:07. | |
midfield and just left it. Acres of space in midfield for both teams to | :53:08. | :53:11. | |
exploit but they are just not using it, just taking midfield out of the | :53:12. | :53:16. | |
equation entirely. The wood is flying. Bang. Up it goes. Some | :53:17. | :53:35. | |
tackling. It is just ferocious. The referee is stepping in here because | :53:36. | :53:38. | |
that is a little bit over the line, I think. Michael Breen was involved | :53:39. | :53:46. | |
in the two instances. He challenged with Cameron and I think he got | :53:47. | :53:50. | |
caught in the face by Michael. He just gets him in the mouth. Frasser | :53:51. | :53:56. | |
Heath comes in and tackled him and gets the tackle in but there is a | :53:57. | :54:00. | |
kick by Michael Breen and that is worthy of a booking certainly. | :54:01. | :54:07. | |
Michael Breen, he is a big, powerful athlete from Tipperary and making | :54:08. | :54:15. | |
his presence felt. You suspect he has another year as well because I | :54:16. | :54:19. | |
don't think we have seen the best of him so for. A beautiful hit again. | :54:20. | :54:27. | |
MacDonald is on Twitter but not quite quickly enough. The Irish | :54:28. | :54:36. | |
under pressure. -- McDonald is on it. | :54:37. | :54:40. | |
They will hope they can create space freighter goal or another point. Put | :54:41. | :54:51. | |
them under pressure. Now, you will try from the sideline, Bartlett and | :54:52. | :54:54. | |
he is taking it back, understandably, as far as he can. To | :54:55. | :55:00. | |
get a better angle. This, from the shape of his shot, is difficult but | :55:01. | :55:09. | |
not unachievable. Look at the right-hand post, Kevin Will aim at | :55:10. | :55:12. | |
that and look to fade it to the left. That will be his line. Cut it | :55:13. | :55:25. | |
in on the left-hand side. The Irish goalkeeper waggling the posts, | :55:26. | :55:29. | |
trying to make it as difficult as possible. And he has done it, a | :55:30. | :55:34. | |
spectacular finish, he bent it around between the two posts. | :55:35. | :55:40. | |
Exceptional, head down, the ball is up on a nice if -- divot. Kevin | :55:41. | :55:52. | |
Bartlett is proving to be the difference in this game so far. He | :55:53. | :55:58. | |
did the opposite of what we expected, hitting it pretty | :55:59. | :56:04. | |
straight. Two points, Scotland lead 10-3 heading for the interval. That | :56:05. | :56:10. | |
might... But hasn't... It is again wide. Not quite got the accuracy at | :56:11. | :56:17. | |
all. We expect better of the Irish forwards in the midfield. I think | :56:18. | :56:25. | |
another thing we must be aware of the major thing is that they can't | :56:26. | :56:28. | |
handle the ball and usually when they would go to hit the ball over | :56:29. | :56:32. | |
the bar, they would take it from their hand and distribute it to the | :56:33. | :56:36. | |
sticks. They have to use the stick to get the distance over the bar and | :56:37. | :56:40. | |
it is not coming that easily to them at the moment. But they get there, | :56:41. | :56:45. | |
we have seen before. You wait coverage to the second half, they | :56:46. | :56:48. | |
will find their range when they have to do. That is a good tackle. It is | :56:49. | :56:54. | |
the kind of tackle you need at the back to keep the ball... That is a | :56:55. | :57:00. | |
lovely touch into Steven MacDonald. And again, again... If I was being | :57:01. | :57:05. | |
cynical, I would say the Scotland are playing for this, they know the | :57:06. | :57:11. | |
Irish players will be at their back. He is first to the ball, close to | :57:12. | :57:17. | |
the Irish player. If you get there first, your opponent has to decide | :57:18. | :57:21. | |
the jockey or try to tackle and Damien Healy put the pressure on the | :57:22. | :57:26. | |
back and over went Thomas. This is again within distance for Kevin. The | :57:27. | :57:32. | |
referee indicated there are two and a half minutes left. Ronald Ross had | :57:33. | :57:38. | |
a wry smile, pacing up and down, he knew exactly what had happened. You | :57:39. | :57:44. | |
can imagine him schooling his young prodigy Borthwick. Off it goes. This | :57:45. | :57:52. | |
time, it is wide. He will be disappointed with that. A little | :57:53. | :57:59. | |
wide. He caught it slightly heavy. He may be just caught the ground. | :58:00. | :58:05. | |
Just pulled it slightly right, maybe distance wise, he felt he was right | :58:06. | :58:09. | |
at the end of his range and tried a bit harder. Any further out than | :58:10. | :58:15. | |
that and you would expect Steven MacDonald the come forward and take | :58:16. | :58:22. | |
it. A debate I think, someone has suggested the ball went through and | :58:23. | :58:34. | |
in -- Innes Wood was checking. No goals for Scotland but they will | :58:35. | :58:42. | |
come. There is a classic shot, I almost said a classic score. It | :58:43. | :58:49. | |
looked good. As it left the club. As it left the caman. But score. This | :58:50. | :58:56. | |
is what you would expect. It just goes wide and that is the key | :58:57. | :59:00. | |
factor, they are having to play it from their stick into the air. | :59:01. | :59:06. | |
Usually, they would catch it and distribute it and clean strike it. | :59:07. | :59:10. | |
At the moment, it is costing them because these missed opportunities | :59:11. | :59:14. | |
are the reason why they are behind. The only thing against Scotland at | :59:15. | :59:18. | |
the moment is the sun. Thinking ahead, that could be important in | :59:19. | :59:25. | |
the second half of this glorious autumn of Inverness because Scotland | :59:26. | :59:28. | |
will have the advantage in the second half. You can see the kind of | :59:29. | :59:32. | |
effect it has on the shadow of Ronald Ross. MacDonald already has | :59:33. | :59:41. | |
his cap on, having to deal with it, so the Irish goalkeeper will have to | :59:42. | :59:45. | |
deal with it in the second half. Particularly with dropping balls. | :59:46. | :59:48. | |
These three are dropping just under the bar and they will be difficult | :59:49. | :59:52. | |
to deal with because he is trying to find the ball and players coming in | :59:53. | :59:54. | |
on top of him and challenging him. Innes Wood has called it a day | :59:55. | :00:07. | |
because that is it in terms of the first half. Scotland have exceeded | :00:08. | :00:10. | |
all expectations in terms of the possession. A succession of points, | :00:11. | :00:17. | |
well taken by Bartlett who has been the key to Scotland's position in | :00:18. | :00:21. | |
the first. Under the cosh for part of the time but never really in | :00:22. | :00:28. | |
trouble in terms of threats. Scotland have defended well and | :00:29. | :00:31. | |
conceded three points, only three separate scores, a single point and | :00:32. | :00:36. | |
double point and then another double. Shane Dooley getting the | :00:37. | :00:41. | |
third one which has taken us to the interval where the score at Bught | :00:42. | :00:46. | |
Park in Inverness at the Marine Harvest international is Scotland | :00:47. | :00:47. | |
10-3 Ireland. Our three wise men have become two | :00:48. | :01:06. | |
because of phrase of being in the commentary box. Your thoughts on the | :01:07. | :01:12. | |
first half? Well played Scotland. They have dealt with challenges. | :01:13. | :01:16. | |
Ireland have been physical and have had a hands-on approach. Scotland | :01:17. | :01:21. | |
have adapted and taken that in their stride and come back and Kenny | :01:22. | :01:24. | |
Bartlett has been on form when needed. The significance for the | :01:25. | :01:31. | |
Scotland team at the start of this match, it was what we predicted at | :01:32. | :01:39. | |
the start of the programme. The we knew what we were talking about. He | :01:40. | :01:44. | |
started well, one of the free hips, it was taken back and he didn't | :01:45. | :01:47. | |
actually get it over the bar. But on a number of occasions, doing his job | :01:48. | :01:52. | |
and what he does best the fade inside the post and he his having an | :01:53. | :01:58. | |
excellent day for Scotland. What did you think of his early contribution? | :01:59. | :02:04. | |
He has more points than anyone else, stayed true to form, kept on scoring | :02:05. | :02:10. | |
the points and getting the points on the board for Scotland at half-time. | :02:11. | :02:18. | |
It was heartening for the crowd to see him, and we were talking about | :02:19. | :02:22. | |
the start of the programme as well, Roddy McDonald has played his part. | :02:23. | :02:29. | |
Unlucky not to get bought -- goal when the ball fell to him. Scotland | :02:30. | :02:34. | |
playing well at the moment. If they can carry this for the next 40 | :02:35. | :02:38. | |
minutes it will be a good win for Scotland. How heartening has it been | :02:39. | :02:45. | |
to watch? It has been wonderful. You can see a great team spirit and the | :02:46. | :02:48. | |
Scotland team this year. They are working for each other and the big | :02:49. | :02:52. | |
thing that is disappointing is when you work so hard and get an | :02:53. | :02:56. | |
opportunity to convert points and don't convert them, that sends | :02:57. | :03:01. | |
messages to the team of uncertainty. But each time that is happening, | :03:02. | :03:05. | |
Kevin partnered is there to foot it over the bar. It comes out with in | :03:06. | :03:13. | |
waves through the team. The island got on the scoreboard, what have you | :03:14. | :03:17. | |
made of their showing? They will be disappointed they haven't converted | :03:18. | :03:23. | |
more, they have had a lot of wides. It is a great skill from the hull to | :03:24. | :03:29. | |
cut as high as that, going full two points instead of one. They might be | :03:30. | :03:33. | |
better to try and flick and put it over for the one and keep the | :03:34. | :03:37. | |
scoreboard ticking over. But the more they do that, the more it works | :03:38. | :03:44. | |
in Scotland's favour. Island have had their chances in this match, but | :03:45. | :03:48. | |
on occasion, they have not been able to take all of their chances. It has | :03:49. | :03:53. | |
been uncharacteristic of them because if they have half a chance | :03:54. | :03:56. | |
in the Scotland half usually, they will put points on the board. They | :03:57. | :04:00. | |
have had a lot of chances but been missing them. We will see something | :04:01. | :04:04. | |
in the second half where they try and get more points. They kept on | :04:05. | :04:10. | |
trying their chances and it didn't quite come for them, that must be | :04:11. | :04:15. | |
frustrated for them? Get when you work hard and not take your chances, | :04:16. | :04:21. | |
it creates a wave through the team. Ireland are playing extremely well, | :04:22. | :04:24. | |
they are passing well. Another opportunity snatched, you can see | :04:25. | :04:29. | |
them getting frustrated with each other and their efforts. McDonald | :04:30. | :04:33. | |
watches that one go by without any threat. It is not just the senior | :04:34. | :04:38. | |
shinty hurling international taking place today, earlier before this | :04:39. | :04:44. | |
match took place it was the under 21 team, the Scottish under 21 shinty | :04:45. | :04:52. | |
team taking on the Irish under 21 hurling team. Went pretty much as | :04:53. | :04:58. | |
expected, always a big gap between the sides physically because the | :04:59. | :05:02. | |
Irish side seem to be more developed physically. The first Irish goal and | :05:03. | :05:07. | |
was taken well by Jack Sheridan, outstripping the Scotland defence | :05:08. | :05:10. | |
and not giving them any chance to defend the goal at all. Then a lot | :05:11. | :05:15. | |
of pressure leading to this fantastic run from Tom Fox of | :05:16. | :05:19. | |
Tipperary who finished in some style to put the Irish well ahead. Really | :05:20. | :05:24. | |
he was one of the key differences between the two sites. The pressure | :05:25. | :05:29. | |
was incessant on Scotland but they stood firm. Watch this for a save | :05:30. | :05:34. | |
from the Inveraray goalkeeper, Scott McLaughlin. He was like the Dutch | :05:35. | :05:42. | |
boy with his finger in the dying, eventually it came 28 minutes into | :05:43. | :05:46. | |
the half, scrambled goal eventually but it was Will Cowie who forced the | :05:47. | :05:52. | |
ball over the line to give the Scottish team some heart because by | :05:53. | :05:56. | |
then they were under the cosh. The Irish were relentless in their | :05:57. | :06:01. | |
pressure. This time it was a Tipperary man, Andrew Coffey with | :06:02. | :06:07. | |
the third goal at half-time, Ireland had scored three goals to one and | :06:08. | :06:11. | |
led 16-9. Scotland hit back again with Charlie McDonald, number 13 for | :06:12. | :06:19. | |
the Scottish team, who got them back in the game. Still hope but the | :06:20. | :06:23. | |
Irish extinguished that eventually after they had traded points. They | :06:24. | :06:31. | |
made it 17-23 and then it finished 17-30 with Ireland celebrating in | :06:32. | :06:38. | |
the under 21 international. That didn't go so well. And and did not | :06:39. | :06:43. | |
go well for Scotland in the women's version of hurling. It was a | :06:44. | :06:47. | |
Scotland team up against the Dublin selector and unfortunately the | :06:48. | :06:53. | |
Scotland they lost 12-2. That took place earlier today. So far things | :06:54. | :06:58. | |
going better for the men's senior team. The silverware going to the | :06:59. | :07:05. | |
Irish there though. A quick break from the match itself because last | :07:06. | :07:09. | |
night was a big night in the world of shinty with a big awards ceremony | :07:10. | :07:14. | |
for the season 's best players. The best player of the shinty season | :07:15. | :07:18. | |
went to Finley Macrae, I caught up with him last night. It means a lot. | :07:19. | :07:25. | |
A lot of good players have got this in the past, to be amongst that I am | :07:26. | :07:31. | |
delighted. A good year. How would you sum up this year? It has been | :07:32. | :07:38. | |
quite a momentous one? Brilliant for everyone involved. We felt in the | :07:39. | :07:41. | |
last few years that we under achieved a bit so this year, we | :07:42. | :07:46. | |
upped it a bit and we should be challenging for cups and at the top | :07:47. | :07:50. | |
of the league. It has been a good day for everyone involved and hope | :07:51. | :07:54. | |
it will continue with more hard work. What does it mean to have | :07:55. | :07:58. | |
Sonny Kenwood shield players involved in the Scotland team in | :07:59. | :08:02. | |
this massive match? It is always good to be with your team-mates at | :08:03. | :08:08. | |
club level for an international. There is a whole buzz around our | :08:09. | :08:12. | |
area. I don't think we have ever had so many internationals in the team. | :08:13. | :08:17. | |
It is a proud feeling and it is really good. Scotland have done well | :08:18. | :08:21. | |
in recent times, how confident are you ahead of the match? Very | :08:22. | :08:26. | |
confident. All of the players know what they are doing and well | :08:27. | :08:32. | |
drilled. We just have to show it on the day that we can do it and we | :08:33. | :08:37. | |
have proved that in recent years. It will not be easy but we are | :08:38. | :08:44. | |
confident. The second half is about to get underway. COMMENTATOR: And | :08:45. | :08:50. | |
the referee has changed T-shirt just to make it a little bit clearer that | :08:51. | :08:56. | |
he is the official in charge. He was looking much like the Scottish team | :08:57. | :09:00. | |
in the first half. Scotland defending the goal to our left, | :09:01. | :09:03. | |
Scotland hitting from left to right as we watched the match. 10-3 at | :09:04. | :09:11. | |
highest time, no goals at all in the first half. That in the way is a bit | :09:12. | :09:15. | |
of a surprise but we know the goals will come. Yes, defensive times, you | :09:16. | :09:22. | |
want the ball to go in the net, I think Ireland will come out really | :09:23. | :09:25. | |
hard in the first ten minutes of the second half and try and get back in | :09:26. | :09:30. | |
contention. To be fair, there has not been anything in it with the | :09:31. | :09:35. | |
territory, but the scoreboard tells a different story. Ireland will be | :09:36. | :09:39. | |
really determined to get back into this game and try and win it. Some | :09:40. | :09:47. | |
shenanigans at midfield between the Scottish captain... There you go, | :09:48. | :09:58. | |
sorted. Just like that. Interesting exchange and maybe an indication of | :09:59. | :10:03. | |
the intensity of the game as the referee struggles, I wouldn't say he | :10:04. | :10:08. | |
is struggling but trying to exert his authority with his new yellow | :10:09. | :10:12. | |
shirt and yellow boots, matching colours. I notice he hasn't tucked | :10:13. | :10:21. | |
his shirt in. Some flying would there. Shattered timber on the far | :10:22. | :10:31. | |
side. Carry on is the cry. You get the feeling that the pace has been | :10:32. | :10:37. | |
upped straightaway. Steven McDonald was under that and gets a second | :10:38. | :10:43. | |
chance. The Irish picket up in midfield. A helmet flying now. Down | :10:44. | :10:53. | |
they come, Cha Dwyer did not quite get hold of the player going for the | :10:54. | :11:00. | |
12. And a hefty challenge, the Scottish defenders are losing their | :11:01. | :11:04. | |
composure slightly here. Another shattered stick and even with a | :11:05. | :11:07. | |
broken stick, what a save and a second time. The second time, it is | :11:08. | :11:14. | |
disallowed, the goal is disallowed. What a period of play that was. | :11:15. | :11:18. | |
Starting with a shattered stick and I think I am right in saying, it was | :11:19. | :11:22. | |
the broken stick he used to fire the shot in. Michael Green takes the | :11:23. | :11:29. | |
first shot, great save by Stuart McDonald. And number 18 was in an | :11:30. | :11:34. | |
offside position, he was in the circle before the ball. The swing in | :11:35. | :11:41. | |
by Michael Breen, number two get the shot and a fantastic save. The | :11:42. | :11:46. | |
intensity definitely upped at the start of the second half, the | :11:47. | :11:49. | |
challenges even more ferocious than the first. The Irish have fired a | :11:50. | :11:57. | |
few cannons already, some meaty challenges. There is another one. I | :11:58. | :12:01. | |
don't know what they put in the tea at half-time but it has worked. | :12:02. | :12:07. | |
Scotland battling away. The sun has gone so that is not as much of an | :12:08. | :12:16. | |
advantage as we thought it might be. It is all happening on the far side. | :12:17. | :12:23. | |
Some great entertainment for people just a few feet away from it. They | :12:24. | :12:31. | |
are right in the line, James Taylor I think not it over the line, there | :12:32. | :12:40. | |
is the line there. Another chance for Kevin Bartlett from the side. | :12:41. | :12:44. | |
This is certainly within his range. Patrick Kelly from Kerry coming out | :12:45. | :12:48. | |
to try and block him and put pressure on him. Bartlett from the | :12:49. | :12:59. | |
far side. A tight angle. Fires it low and it is wide. Didn't quite get | :13:00. | :13:06. | |
a grip of it. We will look at the disallowed goal again. Already you | :13:07. | :13:12. | |
will see the left-hand side, number 18 in the circle. You are not | :13:13. | :13:16. | |
allowed to be in that circle before the ball enters the circle. He was | :13:17. | :13:21. | |
in it before the first initial shot came in so he was completely | :13:22. | :13:25. | |
offside. Not just a little bit. That is why the goal was disallowed. You | :13:26. | :13:29. | |
have to have the patience for the ball to go into the circle before | :13:30. | :13:35. | |
you enter. All a matter of timing, split-second decision to go in and | :13:36. | :13:39. | |
anticipate or not. The Irish, Glenn McIntosh has been kept very quiet. | :13:40. | :13:45. | |
They know the threat he poses. Probably the best finisher in the | :13:46. | :13:53. | |
Premier League at the moment. Another helmet or some sort of | :13:54. | :13:56. | |
protection gone there. Maybe a hand guard. It is a boot actually. Damien | :13:57. | :14:04. | |
Healy did well, driving forward, then he came under quite a bit of | :14:05. | :14:09. | |
pressure from the Scotland players. He goes forward there. He slips but | :14:10. | :14:14. | |
he kept going and not putting pressure on him and try to retain | :14:15. | :14:17. | |
possession of the ball. At that stage, Scotland fouled him and a | :14:18. | :14:22. | |
chance for over the bar from Ireland, quite far out, he will do | :14:23. | :14:26. | |
well to reach and get it over the bar from there. Shane Dooley | :14:27. | :14:30. | |
certainly capable of putting it over the bar from here but we will see | :14:31. | :14:34. | |
how he gets on. Watch the balance and rhythm as he flicks it up and | :14:35. | :14:39. | |
leeches the shot, he has kept it low, making it looking for a | :14:40. | :14:45. | |
deflection. Stuart McDonald was quick off his line to dispatch the | :14:46. | :14:51. | |
ball out to the side. That is an interesting tactic that they didn't | :14:52. | :14:54. | |
go to take the point but create the opportunity for the goal. I am not | :14:55. | :15:00. | |
convinced, I think what has happened with Ireland, when they flicked the | :15:01. | :15:02. | |
ball up, they would normally step forward with the ball and the | :15:03. | :15:07. | |
momentum and they would put the ball up maybe two metres in front of | :15:08. | :15:10. | |
them, step forward onto it, you cannot do that here, you have to | :15:11. | :15:13. | |
lift and strike so they can't generate the same amount of power | :15:14. | :15:20. | |
into the strike. The Scottish defenders are onto it, they have | :15:21. | :15:24. | |
forced the mistake, the ball coming into midfield and then the second | :15:25. | :15:33. | |
tackle. One-handed hurling there. Just a small bodycheck to create the | :15:34. | :15:39. | |
space. They are quite intent and quite happy to play it backwards if | :15:40. | :15:43. | |
it means playing another player into a better position. The ball | :15:44. | :15:49. | |
underneath the body and deemed to be a foul, stopping the play. This is | :15:50. | :15:54. | |
great skill. Beautiful composure on the ball, sales around Roddy | :15:55. | :15:59. | |
McDonald, Roddy gets back at him though, managing to get the | :16:00. | :16:04. | |
challenge in and blocks it. This is a good opportunity, well within... | :16:05. | :16:13. | |
The referee explaining what Fraser Ingles explained earlier that if he | :16:14. | :16:17. | |
picks it up, he can't move and uses own weight and momentum, he has to | :16:18. | :16:21. | |
do it from a standing start and there is the result, it is not so | :16:22. | :16:26. | |
easy. Not the natural inclination or the natural way of playing it. It | :16:27. | :16:29. | |
makes it very difficult for them to do what they normally would do. | :16:30. | :16:36. | |
He went to the ground strike and it was a poor effort. Ireland paying | :16:37. | :16:42. | |
the price for not making the most of the set pieces. That is vital and | :16:43. | :16:48. | |
that really is the difference so far today. Scotland have made the most | :16:49. | :16:52. | |
of theirs whereas Ireland simply have not and that is the difference | :16:53. | :16:58. | |
in the score line. Steven MacDonald, another one on the left hand side | :16:59. | :17:02. | |
and the far side in front of the main stand and that has taken a | :17:03. | :17:08. | |
deflection. It was off and Irish caman and Kevin Bartlett trots over | :17:09. | :17:15. | |
and I think the rolling subs, both sets of management teams are allowed | :17:16. | :17:19. | |
to chop and change their teams, very important they do that. This is | :17:20. | :17:25. | |
Bartlett here, having a look to see what particular change the Irish are | :17:26. | :17:28. | |
making but we will keep an eye on Bartlett. Innes Wood has stopped the | :17:29. | :17:33. | |
game to clarify how many players we have on or not. The changes, Shane | :17:34. | :17:41. | |
Nolan has gone up front, from Kerry, gone up into the forward line. This | :17:42. | :17:45. | |
is Bartlett. Off it goes and again, I think it | :17:46. | :17:58. | |
got a deflection. Another hefty challenge and this is closer, well | :17:59. | :18:07. | |
within his range. On initial viewing of that, I don't know if there was | :18:08. | :18:12. | |
much in it. The swing from Patrick Kelly but the ball was certainly | :18:13. | :18:17. | |
there. It was a strong challenge but Scotland were slightly fortunate to | :18:18. | :18:21. | |
get that I would say. The Irish not happy with that decision. There is a | :18:22. | :18:27. | |
ball in the net so we get that one out so there is no confusion. | :18:28. | :18:33. | |
Bartlett with a great chance here. Still a debate about the decision | :18:34. | :18:38. | |
but it is too late now because the ball is at Bartlett's feet ready to | :18:39. | :18:44. | |
go. This time, he sends it high, straight and handsome. That gets | :18:45. | :18:49. | |
Scotland up and running in the second half. 12-3. Again, close | :18:50. | :18:58. | |
range for him, get it up quickly so the Irish defender can't walk in and | :18:59. | :19:01. | |
it sails between the posts, climbs really quick and in between the | :19:02. | :19:07. | |
posts. The Irish have set it in motion again and they will want to | :19:08. | :19:11. | |
respond to that. Stuart MacDonald weights and takes it down, beautiful | :19:12. | :19:16. | |
play, beautifully sent out where Steven MacDonald could pick it up. | :19:17. | :19:23. | |
Safety first but well dealt with, he can't catch it but just slap it down | :19:24. | :19:28. | |
and knock it away and he did it all in one movement, almost like a | :19:29. | :19:34. | |
hurling goalkeeper. These tackles are enormous. There is a shinty | :19:35. | :19:39. | |
stick on, Andy Mackintosh creating the chance and it is just behind but | :19:40. | :19:42. | |
unfortunately having to turn which gives the Irish defender a chance to | :19:43. | :19:51. | |
take it. Brought to a shuddering halt, a bone shuddering halt. Down | :19:52. | :19:57. | |
on the touchline. Innes Wood will have word. James Toher had a | :19:58. | :20:04. | |
beautiful run. Frasser Heath completely takes him out of the run. | :20:05. | :20:12. | |
Another opportunity for Ireland, getting the points over the bar. | :20:13. | :20:20. | |
Stuart MacDonald just knocked it out knowing the full-back would deal | :20:21. | :20:24. | |
with it. It is not a traditional corner, if you put it out over the | :20:25. | :20:28. | |
sideline, it is a good opportunity to get points over the bar so great | :20:29. | :20:31. | |
presence of thought from Stuart MacDonald. Smart play and good | :20:32. | :20:36. | |
coaching I think. It will have been drummed into them not to give away | :20:37. | :20:42. | |
what we would call corners. Because they are effectively free-hits. That | :20:43. | :20:49. | |
is a mistake in the Irish defence. A chance here. Scotland trying to put | :20:50. | :20:55. | |
pressure on and they managed to take three Scottish players out with one | :20:56. | :20:59. | |
movement. Scotland have it again, Roddy MacDonald. Brought the ground. | :21:00. | :21:13. | |
Every time Kelly goes near the ball he seems to get a foul against him. | :21:14. | :21:22. | |
Not a lot in it. I think Scotland know it is vital to get first | :21:23. | :21:25. | |
possession of the ball and they knew for sure opponent to try to get the | :21:26. | :21:29. | |
ball off you and if he does put any pressure on you, it is a chance to | :21:30. | :21:34. | |
go over and asks the question of Innes Wood, am I getting a foul and | :21:35. | :21:40. | |
so far, he has given a lot of fouls in these situations and Scotland | :21:41. | :21:41. | |
have cottoned onto that. Steven MacDonald fires it away and | :21:42. | :21:54. | |
fires wide as far as I can see. Yes. And again, a chance missed, chance | :21:55. | :22:03. | |
goes begging. He has got the length without a doubt and the technique, | :22:04. | :22:06. | |
everything bar the finishing accuracy. That is good play. Almost | :22:07. | :22:16. | |
a good tackle by Roddy MacDonald. You only get one chance to get the | :22:17. | :22:21. | |
ball away in this game. Flashing sticks. This is a one-on-one with | :22:22. | :22:33. | |
Steven MacDonald. That is good defending. A little kick out I | :22:34. | :22:38. | |
think. They will want to see this in the replay because I suspect... I | :22:39. | :22:42. | |
think he got away with it. I think they have given the free Ireland. | :22:43. | :22:51. | |
Watch how it finishes. They have given it for the foul presumably | :22:52. | :23:02. | |
because he did kick it out. He felt he had to. He was under pressure. | :23:03. | :23:08. | |
This is a good chance, will he give it a blast? He did. Well stopped by | :23:09. | :23:12. | |
the Scottish defence, they were ready for it but the chance is still | :23:13. | :23:17. | |
there and again, the second ball from play, they converted it. It | :23:18. | :23:21. | |
went over the bar from open play, one point. The first score of the | :23:22. | :23:29. | |
second half, remarkable. Micky Boyle from Kerry the first to react. | :23:30. | :23:39. | |
Mackintosh gets the clearance on it. The ball comes to Micky Boyle and he | :23:40. | :23:43. | |
gets the point over the bar. Ireland's first point which is very | :23:44. | :23:48. | |
poor for them. A few Irish men are hobbling. | :23:49. | :23:54. | |
Cha Dwyer has taken a knock. Roddy MacDonald getting involved. Now they | :23:55. | :24:04. | |
are all beginning to gather around Roddy MacDonald. He is heading for | :24:05. | :24:10. | |
the other side of the field understandably and Innes Wood has | :24:11. | :24:12. | |
warned Roddy MacDonald to be careful. This is what happened. Just | :24:13. | :24:22. | |
a careless slash, and a second swing and a third one. Scotland have to be | :24:23. | :24:28. | |
careful they don't lose their composure. Scotland teams in the | :24:29. | :24:33. | |
past have done that, they get carried away with the physicality of | :24:34. | :24:37. | |
the game. They have got away with that because that is wide. This is | :24:38. | :24:43. | |
wasteful. Ronald Ross has gone onto the pitch to have a word with his | :24:44. | :24:47. | |
players. I think he felt the temperature going and he has warned | :24:48. | :24:51. | |
them they need to win this by playing shinty, it is the only way | :24:52. | :24:55. | |
they will do it. The best way anyway. There is a lull in the game | :24:56. | :25:04. | |
at the moment after the frenetic start, the first 10-15 minutes of | :25:05. | :25:08. | |
the second half. That is a great block and the ball has gone through | :25:09. | :25:15. | |
but again, the player is in the circle before the long ball came. If | :25:16. | :25:19. | |
you keep your eye to the left, now Innes Wood has stopped the game | :25:20. | :25:29. | |
again. The ball comes in anyway and again, Shane Nolan that time, in | :25:30. | :25:35. | |
before the ball and I think for the Irish, the circle is far bigger than | :25:36. | :25:39. | |
they normally play in Ireland and they properly are not realising they | :25:40. | :25:46. | |
are offside. They need to be aware of that, when the ball comes in, | :25:47. | :25:49. | |
they need to take a look and see where the circle is. It is a natural | :25:50. | :25:56. | |
inclination from the regular game, the drift in and try to pick up the | :25:57. | :26:00. | |
pieces they are finding themselves today, a couple of times, they have | :26:01. | :26:05. | |
found themselves in the D area before the ball and that is illegal | :26:06. | :26:12. | |
in the compromised rules. A chance for Roddy MacDonald, his long arms | :26:13. | :26:17. | |
and legs, didn't quite have the final push. Bartlett holds back. A | :26:18. | :26:21. | |
crucial intervention by the Irish defender. Coming in at the back. | :26:22. | :26:28. | |
Just enough to put them off because the ball fell kindly to Kevin | :26:29. | :26:34. | |
Bartlett. Eoin Reilly having to readjust, he was going to take a | :26:35. | :26:38. | |
quick one but the ball fell off the Keep it to yourself, right? | :26:39. | :26:41. | |
Unfortunately for him. The ball was taken by Bain but plenty of pace in | :26:42. | :26:48. | |
this Irish attack. That is well cleared by Finlay MacRae. National | :26:49. | :26:58. | |
Player of the Year, the new one, from the Marine Harvest awards last | :26:59. | :27:01. | |
night. Another good chance by Bartlett, how many does he need? He | :27:02. | :27:06. | |
is certainly getting them anyway. The game has really descended into | :27:07. | :27:11. | |
set piece opportunities and we haven't seen many good attempts on | :27:12. | :27:16. | |
goal and I suspect that is detracting from the game because it | :27:17. | :27:19. | |
is just coming down to these points over the bar. The game needs a goal | :27:20. | :27:24. | |
from Ireland to make it a even contest and the game into life. | :27:25. | :27:29. | |
Someone has to start chasing it because if the game finishes level, | :27:30. | :27:34. | |
the trophy will stay with Scotland as last year's winners. There are | :27:35. | :27:41. | |
some tactics going on off the ball. Changes being made. Thumbs up from | :27:42. | :27:47. | |
the official. Kevin will do well to get it over the bar from here. He | :27:48. | :27:53. | |
has a bit of an angle to deal with. Deep breath, big swing and he | :27:54. | :27:56. | |
slashed it. You could hear the contact made with the ground before | :27:57. | :28:02. | |
it hit the ball. He made the 10-15 yards and that will make a | :28:03. | :28:06. | |
difference. It dropped short but the key thing, it was still in play so | :28:07. | :28:10. | |
Glen MacKintosh could go in and put a bit of pressure on. This now, you | :28:11. | :28:17. | |
would feel Kevin has a good chance. It is a more acute angle but | :28:18. | :28:22. | |
distance wise, it is reachable for him, so his technique doesn't come | :28:23. | :28:26. | |
under so much pressure. This is within range for him. | :28:27. | :28:32. | |
It is a great block. It is still live and Scotland were not quite | :28:33. | :28:44. | |
quick enough to capitalise on the block. They have sussed out the way | :28:45. | :28:49. | |
and pace of the ball. Look at how he jumped up, it is his body that | :28:50. | :28:56. | |
blocked it. Karl Murray got his body in the way and stopped it and | :28:57. | :29:00. | |
Scotland couldn't take advantage. Still an 8-point game, we have 20 | :29:01. | :29:08. | |
minutes left. For the two teams to sort this all out. You get the | :29:09. | :29:16. | |
feeling there is more to come. There comes a point in every game with | :29:17. | :29:19. | |
somebody decides you have to try to win this. The same applies to | :29:20. | :29:22. | |
Scotland because they cannot sit back. They can't defend 8-point | :29:23. | :29:29. | |
because it is easily manageable by the Irish, just start rattling the | :29:30. | :29:33. | |
ball over the bar if they can get near enough. This is a great chance | :29:34. | :29:41. | |
for them. What a save. You want it text book shinty goalkeeping save | :29:42. | :29:46. | |
from someone who knows what doing? Here it comes. Cha Dwyer hits it low | :29:47. | :29:53. | |
and Stuart MacDonald is down. He stopped that with his stick. He says | :29:54. | :30:01. | |
it and clears it all in one movement. | :30:02. | :30:07. | |
It is a free-hit, he scoops it up and he is looking for the second | :30:08. | :30:15. | |
shove from the players coming in but it is a breathtaking save. This man | :30:16. | :30:29. | |
won the cup for Lovat. A different style of goalkeeping, most | :30:30. | :30:32. | |
goalkeepers just go to smother that ball with their body but Stuart | :30:33. | :30:36. | |
MacDonald has the confidence to go and volleyed the ball away. Number | :30:37. | :30:44. | |
19 is Mark MacDonald coming on. And the number six Lee Bain has put in a | :30:45. | :30:50. | |
good shift and he is replaced in midfield. Probably less of a | :30:51. | :30:56. | |
defender and more of a midfielder than Mark MacDonald. Lee Bain is a | :30:57. | :31:03. | |
straight defender says Scott and needing something in the field I | :31:04. | :31:11. | |
think. Just not managing to get the ball to the forward line. We have | :31:12. | :31:15. | |
hardly seen anything from Glen MacKintosh. This is a chance. On the | :31:16. | :31:21. | |
left-hand side, cutting inside. A good ball, first touch. The defender | :31:22. | :31:27. | |
carefully, good intervention by the defender, making sure Roddy | :31:28. | :31:29. | |
MacDonald had to run further and couldn't get to the second ball. | :31:30. | :31:37. | |
That is more efficient to move, we have not seen many of those, not | :31:38. | :31:42. | |
many passing movements from either team because they have been so | :31:43. | :31:48. | |
reliant on set pieces. Here, Ireland again, Dwyer releases it and just | :31:49. | :31:53. | |
lack of composure there because he had more time than he thought I | :31:54. | :31:58. | |
think. You could see the desperation and frustration on his face. I think | :31:59. | :32:03. | |
his team-mates are getting exasperated with him now because any | :32:04. | :32:07. | |
opportunity he has, he is shooting the goals and he is not making it, | :32:08. | :32:13. | |
the two Irish players there waiting for it coming, neither a shot nor a | :32:14. | :32:18. | |
pass. As the clock ticks down, Ireland are not really closing the | :32:19. | :32:28. | |
gap at all to Scotland. Just a sense I have backed the pitch conditions | :32:29. | :32:37. | |
are slightly less manageable, with the pitch becoming slippery because | :32:38. | :32:46. | |
of the evening due. Fraser Heath trying to defend from the front. | :32:47. | :32:51. | |
Better play from Scotland, Cameron played it down to the corner flag | :32:52. | :32:56. | |
allowing them to keep Ireland on the defence. That is what Scotland need | :32:57. | :33:00. | |
to do, get the ball in the wide areas. A wasted ball from Ireland. | :33:01. | :33:07. | |
Some sloppiness coming into their play at times. Their captain, | :33:08. | :33:20. | |
shirtsleeves at the end of October, moral less, McDonald. Asking for a | :33:21. | :33:29. | |
new ball. Some stuff going on off the ball. Picked up by the referee, | :33:30. | :33:39. | |
eyes on the back of his head. Some little nudges going on here and | :33:40. | :33:46. | |
there. A few stoppages -- remarkably few stoppages in the game as well | :33:47. | :33:50. | |
and even more remarkably, very few injuries. Such a physically | :33:51. | :33:55. | |
demanding contest. Not the prettiest at times but it is hard and it is | :33:56. | :34:05. | |
tough with sticks buying. Even without them, the frustration, you | :34:06. | :34:10. | |
get the feeling the Irish team is frustrated, they haven't quite | :34:11. | :34:13. | |
adapted to the circumstances are some of the island teams over the | :34:14. | :34:17. | |
years. Michael bring carrot on to try and play without his whole, that | :34:18. | :34:22. | |
of course is a foul because he has nothing to protect him serve with. | :34:23. | :34:26. | |
Ireland have been closing down the free hits from Scotland, a good | :34:27. | :34:30. | |
tactic by them but somehow they haven't had the quality to make it | :34:31. | :34:34. | |
count in the final third, getting points over the bar and that is the | :34:35. | :34:38. | |
difference so far. Kevin Bartlett has the quality to take points when | :34:39. | :34:43. | |
Scotland have an opportunity. Had the McGrath brothers been here, I | :34:44. | :34:48. | |
think we would have seen that from them, playing up front. It is just | :34:49. | :34:53. | |
unfortunate there are other commitments didn't allow them to be | :34:54. | :34:57. | |
here. They might have had that X factor to stand out from the rest of | :34:58. | :35:02. | |
the team. Trying to close the gap from last year, Scotland were really | :35:03. | :35:08. | |
dominant and ran out worthy winners. Ireland have contested it far better | :35:09. | :35:12. | |
but when it comes to the vital aspect of scoring points and goals, | :35:13. | :35:16. | |
it has not been there for them. Kevin with another opportunity to | :35:17. | :35:24. | |
extend the Scotland lead. Giving the flag the heave Ho so he can complete | :35:25. | :35:29. | |
his swing. It is high and long and it is good. That is a good hit. That | :35:30. | :35:35. | |
has given Scotland a bit more comfort. Yes, just cutting inside | :35:36. | :35:42. | |
the left-hand post, that slight fade. I don't know if that was over | :35:43. | :35:48. | |
the bar looking at it. It looked like it cut before the left-hand | :35:49. | :35:51. | |
post, we will look again, not convinced it went over the bar. It | :35:52. | :35:56. | |
has been given, that is the point I suppose. Just in the gathering | :35:57. | :36:07. | |
gloom. Let's have a look and see if we can see that. A perfect view of | :36:08. | :36:13. | |
this. As Kevin strikes it, the ball starts to fade left and it goes more | :36:14. | :36:19. | |
and more left. That is in. I think that is in. You think? I will keep | :36:20. | :36:32. | |
quiet then. The Scotland sub, number 20, Greg Matheson, this is a man we | :36:33. | :36:37. | |
think is not fully fit. An exceptional forward, a beautiful is | :36:38. | :36:40. | |
Tiger with both hands but has a recurrent hamstring problem. He is a | :36:41. | :36:47. | |
danger. Scrapping away. Just on the field and picking a fight. Damien | :36:48. | :36:57. | |
Healy again. They are at it all the time. That is a distraction Scotland | :36:58. | :37:02. | |
can't afford really. They need to concentrate and focus but they are | :37:03. | :37:08. | |
looking for Matheson to get a goal. They are in the lead, just play the | :37:09. | :37:12. | |
game out, play it wide and take the two points when they come and try | :37:13. | :37:16. | |
and get a goal but no need to get involved and have a man sent off or | :37:17. | :37:22. | |
anything like that. Heading for the final ten minutes in very short | :37:23. | :37:28. | |
order. All of a sudden you get the feeling Scotland are getting more of | :37:29. | :37:32. | |
the ball and being more creative. McRae being up front has helped | :37:33. | :37:36. | |
that. There is a chance if Glenn McIntosh can turn it. The goalkeeper | :37:37. | :37:42. | |
is off and running and away with it. He is gone, good night. It is the | :37:43. | :37:46. | |
captain, he is off, happy. How far will he make it. He has taken it | :37:47. | :37:52. | |
well up and created a great chance and what an ovation he got because | :37:53. | :37:56. | |
that is simply outstanding from Reilly. He is a bit of a showman in | :37:57. | :38:04. | |
these fixtures over the years. He will is that if his team-mates want | :38:05. | :38:08. | |
going to do it, he would do it himself. A tremendous run, it shows | :38:09. | :38:13. | |
you the goalkeeper but how fast that fit he is to carry at that distance | :38:14. | :38:16. | |
and Scotland doing their best to chase him but he realises he had | :38:17. | :38:20. | |
better get rid of it and plays it forward. I like the look on them in | :38:21. | :38:25. | |
touch's face. They are trying to create a chance for further play but | :38:26. | :38:31. | |
Scotland have it, they don't quite get it away. This time it is gone. | :38:32. | :38:35. | |
The Irish are filling the space much better now. Quite keen and able to | :38:36. | :38:44. | |
pass it back but tempting fate because Matheson is on top of him. | :38:45. | :38:48. | |
They are starting to throw men forward, Stephen Donald basically | :38:49. | :38:55. | |
playing as a sweeper now. Just marking space, not picking up any | :38:56. | :39:00. | |
individuals. I am not sure that is a wise tactic because if you don't | :39:01. | :39:03. | |
pick up the men, Glenn McIntosh has come way back into midfield. | :39:04. | :39:09. | |
Matheson and Roddy McDonald upfront. Bartlett, McRae. Keith McRae in the | :39:10. | :39:18. | |
red helmet on the far side. They are trying to load midfield. Scotland | :39:19. | :39:22. | |
need possession, they are going to knock this back to the danger area. | :39:23. | :39:28. | |
Across the face of the goal, still live for Ireland. Scotland need to | :39:29. | :39:32. | |
get it out, rammed across the goal and it has gone what we would call a | :39:33. | :39:35. | |
corner but is a free hits to Ireland. From midfield. And again, | :39:36. | :39:42. | |
we have reached the point in the game where they decide whether to go | :39:43. | :39:48. | |
for goal or a point or create the chance up from the back. This is | :39:49. | :39:54. | |
going to go for goal. He is just asking for guidance here. I think | :39:55. | :40:01. | |
the message is, Ronald Ross intervening to try and disrupted by | :40:02. | :40:08. | |
bringing on a sub. It a clever move. He is only allowed one movement, the | :40:09. | :40:12. | |
referee has told him. Look at the Scottish player. He is getting ready | :40:13. | :40:22. | |
to pounce. Conor Cormack is a defender coming on, Scotland are | :40:23. | :40:26. | |
defending this. Conor Cormack, he injured his hand on this very pitch | :40:27. | :40:34. | |
as I recall in a semifinal and hasn't, I don't know if he has | :40:35. | :40:38. | |
played at all since then. Maybe once or twice. Up it goes, it is long and | :40:39. | :40:48. | |
it is wide. He's going to stay up, he's not going back. He's decided to | :40:49. | :40:54. | |
hang about in midfield and picked up some loose balls. Heavily strapped | :40:55. | :40:58. | |
about the leg. Maybe not quite as fit as he should be. It was not far | :40:59. | :41:04. | |
away but not but Foreign Office far as Scotland are concerned. Again, it | :41:05. | :41:17. | |
drifts out. The Irish move it quickly. They are sensing they have | :41:18. | :41:21. | |
to make a move. Time is rapidly running out. They're managed team | :41:22. | :41:28. | |
will have told them they are in the final ten minutes. That is a good | :41:29. | :41:33. | |
ball across the goal but it will run all the way into touch. That is a | :41:34. | :41:42. | |
wasted ball again. It is the lack of flair and creativity in the top | :41:43. | :41:48. | |
third beating Ireland at the moment. They haven't made the possession | :41:49. | :41:53. | |
count, it is probably 50-50 over the game at the scoreboard doesn't show | :41:54. | :41:57. | |
that. Island in open play have not taken many single points or goals | :41:58. | :42:03. | |
but to clarify that, they haven't taken any of their set pieces either | :42:04. | :42:07. | |
which is why for all of their efforts, they only have four points | :42:08. | :42:11. | |
which is a really poor return for the effort they have put into this | :42:12. | :42:19. | |
match. Some manoeuvring and substitutions being sorted out. | :42:20. | :42:30. | |
Scotland have it. The spare man is a blue shirt. Gets it away and that is | :42:31. | :42:38. | |
a good tackle. That is more like what is needed now. It was Rory | :42:39. | :42:44. | |
Kennedy, he has had a good game. He has been exceptional for Scotland, | :42:45. | :42:51. | |
as he was at Croke Park last year, doesn't put a foot wrong. He has | :42:52. | :42:55. | |
been a huge feature for the Scotland today. Down to six minutes, in the | :42:56. | :43:06. | |
closing stages. It has been an enthralling if not highly attractive | :43:07. | :43:11. | |
contest in terms of skill value but it has been competitive all the way | :43:12. | :43:15. | |
through. It is still there for the taking because a ten point | :43:16. | :43:27. | |
different, three goals and a bit. You can see plenty of opportunities | :43:28. | :43:31. | |
but they have just passed them up. I think Ireland will be disappointed. | :43:32. | :43:36. | |
They started the game a lot brighter than last year but it has not | :43:37. | :43:41. | |
materialised for them. And they don't have a second leg where they | :43:42. | :43:47. | |
can peg it back. Here is what the McDonald with his own second leg, | :43:48. | :43:50. | |
gets it to Matheson across the goal. Reilly on the move but he was caught | :43:51. | :43:58. | |
off balance. Just falling backwards but he did enough to get it away. | :43:59. | :44:03. | |
Rory Kennedy again, a crucial intervention. That is good play to | :44:04. | :44:09. | |
send it up into that area, if it is out of play, it doesn't matter, it | :44:10. | :44:14. | |
eats into the time. Ireland have got poorer and poorer at the sideline | :44:15. | :44:17. | |
cuts for some reason, Rory Kennedy reads the game and distributes the | :44:18. | :44:25. | |
ball away, he doesn't mess around. That is ironically one of the best | :44:26. | :44:28. | |
cuts they have put in from the side field in a long time. Scotland | :44:29. | :44:33. | |
having a couple of spare men floating about but that has gone, | :44:34. | :44:40. | |
the flag has changed and the referee has overruled the flag to give the | :44:41. | :44:44. | |
ball to Ireland. You can see how they are hurrying the play now. They | :44:45. | :44:50. | |
know the clock is against them. They would certainly need to score a goal | :44:51. | :44:54. | |
very quickly to get back into this game. Scotland are loading their | :44:55. | :44:59. | |
players, pulling as many of their forwards back into midfield as they | :45:00. | :45:04. | |
can. Some clever play, with some time and space. McDonald tries to | :45:05. | :45:10. | |
get it but slips. The surface beginning to be a challenge. There | :45:11. | :45:16. | |
were three Scottish defenders ready for that. There was a flag up at the | :45:17. | :45:28. | |
back. He tried to break forward but as the ball hit the ground, he | :45:29. | :45:32. | |
kicked it. For Irish players, they are allowed to kick it in the normal | :45:33. | :45:35. | |
hurling game and whether he reverted back to instinct, he kicked the ball | :45:36. | :45:42. | |
and called up for the foul. The coach still manoeuvring but Ronald | :45:43. | :45:47. | |
Ross trying to outmanoeuvre him by changing the players. Roddy McDonald | :45:48. | :45:54. | |
coming off and Thomas Borthwick of Carnoustie replaces him. He has done | :45:55. | :45:57. | |
a lot of galloping about and got his knees dirty so will heal -- he will | :45:58. | :46:01. | |
feel he has contributed all afternoon. It has not been the | :46:02. | :46:09. | |
easiest of days for him. Well the least, a good chance now for | :46:10. | :46:14. | |
Scotland. -- Pol east. The Scottish player in the bus, needs to get out | :46:15. | :46:18. | |
and Macintosh hits it and gets it the way out to the left, that was a | :46:19. | :46:22. | |
good chance but I suspect Bartlett might have been offside. | :46:23. | :46:29. | |
That doesn't matter now because the Irish on the move. There was a | :46:30. | :46:36. | |
deflection so it is Scotland's ball. They have the seed time out and | :46:37. | :46:40. | |
basically then they are home and dry. It is barely conceivable could | :46:41. | :46:46. | |
get what they need in two minutes of regular time. No, they have only | :46:47. | :46:52. | |
scored four points in 78 minutes. Hardly likely they will score ten | :46:53. | :46:59. | |
minutes in the time left. I think it is sad to say Scotland will win | :47:00. | :47:06. | |
today. Looking at it neutrally, the game has failed as a spectacle, we | :47:07. | :47:11. | |
needed goals and we needed Ireland to take more of a chance. Scotland | :47:12. | :47:16. | |
have ground it out here without being fantastic. Ireland have a bit | :47:17. | :47:23. | |
to do in terms of taking advantage of the set pieces and becoming more | :47:24. | :47:28. | |
potent in the final third. There is a chance here. Kevin Bartlett, a man | :47:29. | :47:34. | |
not in a hurry, he knows full well what the clock says. Ronald Ross | :47:35. | :47:43. | |
will be satisfied with the results, not so sure 100% satisfied with the | :47:44. | :47:49. | |
performance. The result is all that counts in the first instance and | :47:50. | :47:53. | |
Bartlett has the chance in the final minute to put the icing on the cake | :47:54. | :48:01. | |
and increase his own personal tally. Remarkable performance. It is low | :48:02. | :48:07. | |
and he tests Reilly and wryly managed to get it away from | :48:08. | :48:14. | |
Mattheson I think who snuck in at the back. Almost managed to get it | :48:15. | :48:19. | |
in. Will they get it in the net before the end of the game? Wryly | :48:20. | :48:23. | |
under pressure again, no messing that time, just sends it away. | :48:24. | :48:28. | |
Scotland will go for another goal if they can but they have wasted that | :48:29. | :48:33. | |
ball. Ironically, in the last minute, they just about reached Eoin | :48:34. | :48:43. | |
Reilly's wall. Eoin Reilly gets his stick on it. Greg Matheson comes in | :48:44. | :48:50. | |
on the ball broke. Takes another touch to compose himself but Greg | :48:51. | :48:54. | |
Matheson block set and the ball when to Glen McIntosh. He did the right | :48:55. | :49:03. | |
thing because he anticipated a drop of the ball and where it would be. | :49:04. | :49:13. | |
Ireland may very well in the last minutes, they will go for a goal. | :49:14. | :49:17. | |
They don't want to go home not having breached the Scottish defence | :49:18. | :49:20. | |
and I suspect they want to give it one final flourish. They have done | :49:21. | :49:28. | |
that with a point from open play. Five in total now to Scotland's 14. | :49:29. | :49:36. | |
Nice play by Michael Doyle and Cha Dwyer. Michael Doyle taking the | :49:37. | :49:40. | |
point. A bit of quality and composure from a player which would | :49:41. | :49:43. | |
have been nice through the whole match. They have not been able to do | :49:44. | :49:52. | |
it often enough. The result will tell the tale. The back story is | :49:53. | :50:02. | |
irrelevant for the moment. A chance again, Mattheson has been trouble | :50:03. | :50:07. | |
since he came on. Really rattled them. He has offered something | :50:08. | :50:14. | |
different because that is what the game has needed. A little spark, a | :50:15. | :50:21. | |
bit of flair. A bit of fancy footwork, whatever, something | :50:22. | :50:24. | |
different just about the run of the game. Because it has been | :50:25. | :50:32. | |
predictable in areas. Disappointing for the Irish but you will suspect | :50:33. | :50:35. | |
they will enjoy the rest of the weekend before they go home. You | :50:36. | :50:40. | |
have to look at how they can make a better spectacle of it, how can both | :50:41. | :50:46. | |
teams improve? Perhaps traditionally, ten years ago, only | :50:47. | :50:50. | |
goals counted, you didn't have any points over the bar. I think perhaps | :50:51. | :50:56. | |
going back to goals counting only might be a good thing. They | :50:57. | :51:03. | |
certainly need something. Tactically, the two teams have | :51:04. | :51:09. | |
negated so much of the other side's skills. The manager will be happy | :51:10. | :51:16. | |
enough. This is an exhibition game, an international, you want to see | :51:17. | :51:20. | |
the best of both teams and we haven't seen that today. We haven't | :51:21. | :51:25. | |
seen the best of hurling nor of shinty. It's been no control | :51:26. | :51:34. | |
incidents the game has turned out the way it has because the coaching | :51:35. | :51:38. | |
is now so intense and accurate and players are marked out for treatment | :51:39. | :51:44. | |
in the tactical sense, their skills are tied up and the scoring | :51:45. | :51:51. | |
opportunities are there, in set pieces for the great part on for | :51:52. | :51:54. | |
today, for the whole part of the game. | :51:55. | :52:00. | |
Kevin Bartlett has been excellent. Scotland B to C at the time | :52:01. | :52:10. | |
carefully now. The Irish won the women's game | :52:11. | :52:27. | |
earlier today. Mattheson will take this one himself, he won't bother | :52:28. | :52:31. | |
Kevin Bartlett who has disappeared to the far end of the pitch. Maybe | :52:32. | :52:38. | |
looking for a goal. He is by the back post looking for this at the | :52:39. | :52:42. | |
moment. Greg is a really good striker of the ball. It'll be | :52:43. | :52:46. | |
interesting to see what he tries to do. Right into the danger area but | :52:47. | :52:53. | |
the offside flag is up. He was looking forward to the back post but | :52:54. | :52:59. | |
unfortunately for Greg Matheson, he couldn't do it. The referee Innes | :53:00. | :53:03. | |
Wood has called a halt to proceedings because at the end of | :53:04. | :53:07. | |
the day, Scotland have emerged victorious and retained the Marine | :53:08. | :53:17. | |
Harvest trophy with a comfortable, if not spectacular victory over the | :53:18. | :53:24. | |
Irish. The two managers have acknowledged the excellence of their | :53:25. | :53:28. | |
own contribution to the game. That is the man of the match for me in | :53:29. | :53:32. | |
terms of getting the points, they are allocating each other's shirts | :53:33. | :53:37. | |
before they go off. Scottish captain John Barr will be delighted with his | :53:38. | :53:43. | |
team's performance no doubt and the celebrations and the rest of the | :53:44. | :53:48. | |
entertainment can begin. Let's see what the Scottish captain thought of | :53:49. | :53:49. | |
the proceedings. Congratulations, what does it mean | :53:50. | :54:00. | |
to win that game? Fantastic, it was cagey game. I don't think either | :54:01. | :54:06. | |
team were really flowing. Great effort. The man creeping over your | :54:07. | :54:15. | |
shoulder, Kevin Bartlett. Just a word on his performance. He had a | :54:16. | :54:19. | |
good game. Meeting the ball first and with free-hits, always potential | :54:20. | :54:22. | |
to put them over the bar. He did well today. Congratulations, you are | :54:23. | :54:28. | |
making a habit in this fixture of knocking over all the points. It was | :54:29. | :54:34. | |
a good game. Probably not one of our best performances but we took more | :54:35. | :54:41. | |
chances than they did. They missed a lot for them. Usually they are very | :54:42. | :54:46. | |
accurate. Probably wasn't the best game I suppose but we will be back | :54:47. | :54:53. | |
next year. Good victory for us. You seem to thrive under pressure. I | :54:54. | :54:59. | |
don't mind it, if I'm hitting well. I missed a lot today myself but | :55:00. | :55:05. | |
thankfully had quite a few to take. John, you will pick up the Marine | :55:06. | :55:10. | |
Harvest Quaich from your dad, that must be special? I asked him to do | :55:11. | :55:15. | |
it especially so I hope he has polished it! Good for the families. | :55:16. | :55:23. | |
For you, your last shinty- hurling game? That is vicious rumours, I | :55:24. | :55:30. | |
never said that! We will see! We will see how it goes. Good to see | :55:31. | :55:37. | |
the dream lives on? To represent your country is an unbelievable | :55:38. | :55:41. | |
honour. Always proud to do that and happy working with the coaches and | :55:42. | :55:45. | |
players. Many talents on the pitch. Honoured to do it. What is likely | :55:46. | :55:53. | |
you to pull on that Scotland jersey? It means a lot. It is something | :55:54. | :55:57. | |
different, you play every weekend and it is the same but this is | :55:58. | :56:01. | |
different. All the boys together and it is always fun. It is a good | :56:02. | :56:07. | |
match. Very enjoyable. Well done, enjoy the celebrations. STUDIO: | :56:08. | :56:15. | |
Glorious victory for Scotland. We should revel in the moment when we | :56:16. | :56:20. | |
can. John Barr also is, also a future politician career ahead of | :56:21. | :56:26. | |
him! A great day for Scotland and the players can sit back and realise | :56:27. | :56:31. | |
they have won the Marine Harvest Quaich. That is well-deserved. I by | :56:32. | :56:39. | |
former Scotland international 's Gary Innes and Eddie Tembo. A | :56:40. | :56:46. | |
deserved victory for Scotland? They have worked very hard. Scottish | :56:47. | :56:51. | |
defence outstanding. The forwards did their job. Kevin Bartlett gave | :56:52. | :56:57. | |
them the points when required. We just heard from Kevin Bartlett and | :56:58. | :57:01. | |
he is such a key player for Scotland. Absolutely. The | :57:02. | :57:06. | |
consistency he has got is second to none. He has got 13 points I think | :57:07. | :57:11. | |
today which is an enormous hall for him. That is what we needed to do, | :57:12. | :57:17. | |
keep on the points, going on the board and that is what he has done. | :57:18. | :57:22. | |
We spoke at the start of the show, he was just always going to be so | :57:23. | :57:28. | |
important. Always. So influential. If Kevin is hitting well, it lifts | :57:29. | :57:33. | |
the rest of the team and gives them momentum to move forward. Stuart | :57:34. | :57:37. | |
MacDonald, and other Lovat player, he played his part. He did. He did | :57:38. | :57:46. | |
his job fantastically. Keeping a clean sheet in these conditions must | :57:47. | :57:50. | |
be a hard thing to do and he managed to do it. Another consistent player. | :57:51. | :57:57. | |
He put himself on the line, it takes real guts. He is a special | :57:58. | :58:01. | |
goalkeeper. He makes an exhibition of saving the ball. He does it so | :58:02. | :58:07. | |
well. And so easy, makes it look like the most natural thing in the | :58:08. | :58:12. | |
world. Absolutely. A great day for Scotland, the players are they | :58:13. | :58:16. | |
waiting for the trophy presentation, let's go straight back to that in | :58:17. | :58:18. | |
the company of Hugh Dan MacLennan. It is not often we get the chance | :58:19. | :58:28. | |
these days to celebrate a Scottish victory and no doubt, both sets of | :58:29. | :58:32. | |
players will get together this evening and complete the job. No | :58:33. | :58:40. | |
doubt have a look forward to next year and renew the rivalry. Steve | :58:41. | :58:44. | |
bracken of Marine Harvest issuing the awards to the Irish players who | :58:45. | :58:53. | |
will have mixed feelings I suspect, going home. They may feel they did | :58:54. | :58:57. | |
not acquit themselves as well as some of their predecessors. No. Last | :58:58. | :59:03. | |
year in Inverness, they were beaten by an excellent Scotland team and | :59:04. | :59:06. | |
they were determined to come back this year, they seemed very | :59:07. | :59:11. | |
determined as we saw from the start. They were intense but the challenge | :59:12. | :59:15. | |
did not materialise and it all came down to not putting points on the | :59:16. | :59:18. | |
board. They will be really disappointed. Five points is a poor | :59:19. | :59:23. | |
return for their efforts today. All credit to the Scotland coaching team | :59:24. | :59:27. | |
for making sure that is the way it ended up as well because they | :59:28. | :59:31. | |
managed to close down Ireland and the captain, Eoin Reilly, always a | :59:32. | :59:35. | |
bit of a character. We are grateful to him for his superb run up the | :59:36. | :59:41. | |
near side of the pitch. The referee Innes Wood had a good game, never | :59:42. | :59:45. | |
reach for the card, kept the game flowing. | :59:46. | :00:03. | |
Here is the man of the moment, Ronald Ross, still able to jog up | :00:04. | :00:12. | |
the steps. Yet another medal to add to his illustrious career. | :00:13. | :00:21. | |
Ally Ferguson has also been in charge of the team. They have got a | :00:22. | :00:30. | |
good system no. They know what they are doing. I think the key with | :00:31. | :00:36. | |
Ronald taking the team is, he has got a system but also got the | :00:37. | :00:40. | |
players to play for him to make the system work. We didn't see it so | :00:41. | :00:43. | |
much in evidence today but over the last few years, they have played | :00:44. | :00:48. | |
nice shinty and moved the ball around really well. All the top | :00:49. | :00:51. | |
players are now playing for Scotland. That is what Ronald has | :00:52. | :00:57. | |
brought to the team. The question will now be whether Ronald will | :00:58. | :01:00. | |
carry on to manage Scotland for another year or not. I can't see any | :01:01. | :01:06. | |
reason for changes mind. I think he enjoys the role and the task and the | :01:07. | :01:10. | |
challenge. It is a massive challenge the pit your wits against some of | :01:11. | :01:11. | |
these players. Some of the top-class hurlers are | :01:12. | :01:26. | |
semiprofessional. Everything available to them in terms of the | :01:27. | :01:34. | |
competitive structures that we in the shinty world could only dream | :01:35. | :01:38. | |
of. There is Steven McDonald, his customary big hitting game at the | :01:39. | :01:43. | |
back. And the goalkeeper, what can we say about Stuart McCall that has | :01:44. | :01:48. | |
not been said, he proved what a good customer he is. Now the pub quiz | :01:49. | :01:52. | |
question for years to come, which Scottish captain went up to take the | :01:53. | :01:58. | |
trophy from the president who is is his father. Steve Bracken doing the | :01:59. | :02:04. | |
honours to prevent it having to take it from his father. The winners of | :02:05. | :02:08. | |
the International this year Scotland, the winning captain, John | :02:09. | :02:18. | |
Barr. And the beaming face to his left, our right, is his father Jim | :02:19. | :02:29. | |
Barr. Who has played his own part in the great history of shinty on the | :02:30. | :02:34. | |
Glenn and in terms of Scottish action. Another wonderful afternoon. | :02:35. | :02:44. | |
Fantastic stuff. How do you sum it up, a great day for Scotland? It has | :02:45. | :02:50. | |
been. A great performance, from the management, the whole squad. They | :02:51. | :02:55. | |
will have a massive party tonight. In terms of the Irish, they will be | :02:56. | :03:00. | |
disappointed, a frustrating day for them. It has, some uncharacteristic | :03:01. | :03:06. | |
misses from the Irish which I have not seen in internationals before. | :03:07. | :03:09. | |
They will be disappointed and will have to go back and think what to do | :03:10. | :03:20. | |
for next year. Intensive John Barr, vicious rumours. John has been | :03:21. | :03:28. | |
travelling the whole year to get to games, his life is changing, | :03:29. | :03:33. | |
Scotland captain last season. 32 in the programme, think that is dubious | :03:34. | :03:40. | |
as well. But what a way to bow out if this is his last match. I believe | :03:41. | :03:45. | |
the Scotland manager is with our reporter. He is indeed and is all | :03:46. | :03:53. | |
smiles, what does it mean to win the day International? Everything. We | :03:54. | :03:59. | |
have to take heart from the last couple of months, it culminated | :04:00. | :04:04. | |
today in a hard-fought victory. A special group of players, what did | :04:05. | :04:09. | |
you get today? Everything. Last year we got more of the ball and got down | :04:10. | :04:13. | |
and passed it. Ireland closes down a lot this year so it was more | :04:14. | :04:20. | |
difficult. The closest space we got, we gave it 100%. Rory Kennedy was | :04:21. | :04:26. | |
outstanding. We had no fails, the goalkeeper pulled off a couple of | :04:27. | :04:34. | |
fantastic saves. Well done. Ronald Ross was undoubtedly the greatest | :04:35. | :04:38. | |
shinty player of all time, he has turned into a fine coach as well. He | :04:39. | :04:46. | |
certainly has. He has the best players in Scotland wanting to play | :04:47. | :04:49. | |
for Scotland now and turning up to all of these training sessions. I | :04:50. | :04:55. | |
hope he carries on. Will he stay on? I hope so but I don't know. He has | :04:56. | :05:03. | |
such a great rapport with the boys. Everyone wants to play for him. I | :05:04. | :05:11. | |
hope for the sake of the sport that he does. If he tells you to do | :05:12. | :05:16. | |
something, you listen. Absolutely. He is the best in the game. Thank | :05:17. | :05:23. | |
you very much, it has been a great day for Scotland in terms of the NT | :05:24. | :05:31. | |
Sharelink -- shinty hurling international. Thanks for being with | :05:32. | :05:34. | |
us and until next time, goodbye for now. | :05:35. | :05:39. |