Ulster U16 Boys suffered a 3-2 defeat against Scotland in the second game of their three-match series.
Despite taking a two-goal lead, the youthful squad were unable to hold out for the win against a strong Scottish side.
With the visitors having most of the early possession, it was Ulster who had the first chance of the game when they broke down the left wing before winning a penalty corner.
However, with the resulting effort from Riley Marney blocked, the Scots broke on the counter-attack and almost got the games opening goal with nine minutes gone.
Just a minute later Scotland won their first corner of the tie but again couldn’t break the deadlock as Rory Cunningham made a fine save to deny his opposite number.
With the sides remaining goalless at the end of the first quarter, it didn’t take long for the goals to come in the second period.
Just 90 seconds after the restart Ulster quickly broke from back to front before the ball was squared across goal for Daniel Shannon to score his first goal for the side.
Immediately after the resumption of play, Ulster were on the attack in quickly doubled their lead when Cohn Henry-McCool made it two. goals in as many minutes.
But the action didn’t stop there as the lead was just as quickly cut in half as Scotland got a goal of their own in the 21st minute.
Unfortunately, the Scots got their equalising goal before the half-time break as they won a penalty corner and the resulting strike from the top of the circle found the corner despite a touch from the defender on the line.
As the second half got underway it was Ulster who nearly re-took the lead when Daniel Shannon broke beyond the Scottish defence and flashed a ball across the face of goal, but he was unable to pick out a teammate at the back post.
With 44 minutes on the clock, the hosts won a series of penalty corners with Riley Marney going closest as he forced the goalkeeper into a handful of saves as the score remained 2-2.
Then, despite the Ulster pressure Scotland got a third goal and went into the final break with a 3-2 lead.
A quiet fourth quarter saw both sides struggle to create chances, with Marney and Finn Thompson going closest for Ulster but with no avail.
Ultimately it was the visitors who came out on top as they held on to their narrow advantage and sealed a 3-2 win at Comber Road.
The two sides will meet for the final time tomorrow morning with the game set to get underway at 10am.
