Ulster U16 Boys were held to a 1-1 with Scotland at Lisnagarvey Hockey Club on Friday evening.
A third-quarter strike from Charlie Taylor wasn’t enough to seal the victory in the first of three matches taking place this weekend.
It was the visitors who got the game off to a flying start, with just a minute on the clock they broke down the left wing and attacked the byline before flashing the ball across the face of the Ulster goal.
However, luckily for the youthful hosts, there wasn’t a Scottish player on the back post to divert the ball goal-bound.
Just moments later it was Ulster who won the first penalty corner of the game but, an effort towards the back post went narrowly wide as the score remained 0-0.
As the quarter progressed it was the home side who had most of the possession only for a stern visiting defence to limit the amount of chances on goal.
With 15 minutes on the clock, Scotland thought they had the game-opening goal as they found the net from their first short corner of the tie.
Having picked out the corner, Umpire Aaron Donnell was forced to rule out the strike with it having gone in above the backboard, leaving the sides at a stalemate at the end of the first quarter.
A quiet second quarter saw a continuation of the theme of the first period with a sole chance for Ulster.
Youngster Cohn Henry-McCool found a yard of space in the circle but sent his effort just wide as he struck across goal in the 23rd minute.
The game finally began to open for both sides in the early stages of the third quarter with chances for both, but the score remained 0-0.
In the 45th minute, Scotland came closest to breaking the deadlock as a defender broke forward, beating four Ulster defenders before getting a reverse effort off from the top of the circle, only for it to be saved by Rory Cunningham in goal.
With the sides looking destined to go into the third stoppage at a stalemate, Charlie Taylor finally got the game-opening goal.
The forward was picked out by a brilliant ball from the left wing before picking out the bottom left corner from five yards out and giving his side a 1-0 lead at the end of the third quarter.
Unfortunately the lead wouldn’t last for long. Just moments after the restart Scotland got their equaliser leaving a nervy final period for Ulster.
The visitors then went agonisingly close to sealing the win when a forward rounded Cunngingham before finding a teammate at the back post.
However, with the ball difficult to control, the Scotland forward put his effort wide as the sides eventually played out a 1-1 draw in Hillsborough.
