World Footy News

Saturday 7th August saw the first leg of the 2010 Bute Series between Wales and Scotland take place in Cardiff, with the newly renamed Scottish Clansmen defeating the Welshmen of the Cymru Red Dragons.

This Bute Series between Wales and Scotland began in 2009, with the Welsh taking out the inaugural championship. This year's two match series is a 12-a-side competition with 4 players on the bench for rotating during the game.

Played under ideal weather conditions, the first quarter was a close affair with both sides finding their feet. Scotland did have the advantage of a slight breeze blowing towards their goal but the Welsh defence repelled their attacks on several occasions. Wales too had a few forays into the attacking zone as well and only 1 goal separated both teams at quarter time.

This report courtesy of Doug Hunter.

The new Scottish midfield started to work better as a unit and were getting first use of the ball more often than their Welsh counterparts this lead to more forward pressure and a couple of well taken goals. Wales struggled to take advantage of the wind with the Scottish defence holding them to 1 goal 1 behind for the 2nd quarter to give Scotland a 15 point lead going into halftime.

The 3rd quarter was to prove to be the defining quarter of the match. Scotland’s midfield was in full flow and getting good service into their forwards. Rob Sloan playing through the centre was particularly potent in front of goal scoring 3 for the quarter. Scotland managed to add 7 goals in total while the defence of Gamble, Hunter & Black managed to keep Wales scoreless for the quarter in a fantastic effort.

Despite being 59 points down it was actually Wales who rallied and played the more productive football in the last quarter. They managed to turn the possessions that they had into scores almost every time that they went forward and with more accurate kicking could have closed the deficit even more. Wales managed 3 goals 2 points for the quarter to finish stronger than Scotland, who managed only 1 goal 2 points.

Overall the game was played in the usual good nature that has become common between the 2 sides over the last couple of years. Scotland now take a 47 point lead into the 2nd leg at home but Wales showed in the last quarter the fighting spirit to come back and that this Series will go all the way. That coupled with the costly experience that Scotland had last year of taking a lead into the 2nd game only to lose on aggregate will ensure that they are on their toes and ready for Wales in the return match in a few weeks' time.