London - Scotland women’s hockey team head coach Gordon Shepherd has come out in praise of the South Africa women’s hockey team’s attacking midfielder Shelley Russell following the four-match Test series that ended on Tuesday night in Edinburgh.
“I felt Russell was on great form and her pace was used well, and I think her skill set has got better since I last saw her. My players also commented on this,” said the Scotland mentor in reflecting on his team’s 2-1 loss in the series.
SA lost the first Test 3-2 before winning the second and third Test matches 4-1 and 5-2 respectively. The fourth Test was 10-goal thriller with the spoils shared evenly.
Shepherd also feels South Africa should make more use of Russell’s fellow midfielder, fellow double Olympian and Western Province team-mate, Tarryn Bright. “Bright was good at times but I think they could use her more.”
Another one of the aspects that the canny Scot was impressed with were the SA forwards. “I thought the forwards did very well throughout the series.”
Shepherd said the SA forwards’ basic skills were good, as was South Africa’s success in playing long balls through to the strikers.
The girls in green and gold tackle England in London on Saturday (20:00) to start their Investec World League tournament campaign.
“I felt Russell was on great form and her pace was used well, and I think her skill set has got better since I last saw her. My players also commented on this,” said the Scotland mentor in reflecting on his team’s 2-1 loss in the series.
SA lost the first Test 3-2 before winning the second and third Test matches 4-1 and 5-2 respectively. The fourth Test was 10-goal thriller with the spoils shared evenly.
Shepherd also feels South Africa should make more use of Russell’s fellow midfielder, fellow double Olympian and Western Province team-mate, Tarryn Bright. “Bright was good at times but I think they could use her more.”
Another one of the aspects that the canny Scot was impressed with were the SA forwards. “I thought the forwards did very well throughout the series.”
Shepherd said the SA forwards’ basic skills were good, as was South Africa’s success in playing long balls through to the strikers.
The girls in green and gold tackle England in London on Saturday (20:00) to start their Investec World League tournament campaign.