Scotland U21 recorded their first victory on Irish soil with a 21-7 win over Ireland U21 at Pairc Esler, Newry on Saturday 25 October 2014.
This was a debut success for new Scots U21 boss Garry Reid who was assisted by Allan MacRae and Alan MacKechnie.
Scotland U21 have found it difficult in the away matches against Ireland U21 and they were without the likes of Graeme MacMillan, Donald Nixon and Thomas Borthwick. However the squad included Greg Matheson, Fraser Heath, Oliver MacRae, Arran MacPhee and Finlay MacMillan who were all adept to the cross-codes game.
Ireland were once managed by Jeffrey Lynskey and Gregory O'Kane and the duo are tipped to replace senior coach Michael Walshe when he steps down at the end of this series. The Ireland danger came from Clare’s Tony Kelly who was the 2013 GAA Senior and U21 Hurling Player of the Year.
Scotland started well in this 3pm throw-in and a Greg Matheson goal wiped out an opening point from Seanda Morey to give Scotland an early 3-1 lead. Matheson’s opener came following a long clearance from half back Zac Coley that went over the whole Ireland defence and the Lovat marksman ran onto the ball and found himself one-on-one with the Irish keeper. Matheson hit the ball first-time into the far off corner of the net to the delight of the visiting support.
Greg Matheson’s Lovat team-mate Lewis Tawse got in on the act when he scored Scotland’s second goal. Tawse picked up the ball at the back post from a Calum Stewart pass and he and neatly took the ball around the keeper before tapping it into an empty net.
Greg Matheson added four more points which left the Scots 10-1 to the good.
An Arran MacPhee goal increased Scotland’s tally after the Fort William front-man got on the end of a Malcolm Clark pass. The ball ricocheted up into the air and MacPhee flicked it over his shoulder and over the defenders and he then ran through and hit a shot from a tight angle which the keeper parried but the ball ended up in the bottom corner of the net which made it 13-1.
Two more points from Greg Matheson increased Scotland’s advantage and with Aidan Morrissey notching a point for Ireland; the score stood at 15-2.
Aidan Morrissey pulled another goal back for Ireland to make it 15-3 but the Scots were relentless and Arran MacPhee put the ball over the bar to make it 16-3.
The Irish couldn’t contain Greg Matheson and he added another two-pointer which made it 18-3 but he then left the field with a leg injury.
A late Ireland rally saw Gerry Keegan pull two single points back and Thomas Casey add another to make it 18-6.
However there was to be no fight-back and with minutes remaining, Greg Matheson, who had returned to the field of play, notched his second goal to take his haul to a superb 14 points. This time a fresh-air shot from Lewis Tawse meant the ball rolled through to Matheson around 10 yards from goal and he again slotted the ball into the far corner of the net and this made the score 21-6.
It was Matheson’s final score as he finally had to succumb to a leg injury.
Although Ireland’s Gerry Keegan got another point, Scotland were convincing winners.
There was a clean sheet in goal for Scotland goalie Innes MacDonald, just as he did for the Scotland U17s against Dublin U17 a couple of years earlier.
Scotland’s Zac Coley was named man of the match.
Scotland captain Mike Russell was presented with the trophy by Tommy Lanigan of the GAA.
Scorers
Ireland
Seanda Morey (0-1) 1
Aidan Morrissey (0-2) 2
Gerry Keegan (0-3) 3
Thomas Casey (0-1) 1
Scotland
Greg Matheson (2-8) 14
Lewis Tawse (1-0) 3
Arran MacPhee (1-1) 4
Match Referee – David Stafford
(Picture courtesy of Neil G Paterson)