WHEELCHAIR WORLD CUP GAME 7

Ireland recorded their first win of the 2013 Wheelchair World Cup after a competitive 26-6 victory over their celtic counterparts Scotland in a morale-boosting display at Medway Park.

Tries from Damian McCabe, Vicky Irwin, Josh Gardner and Jodie Boyd-Ward sealed the win for the Irish with captain Nathan Clarke adding 10 points with his fist.

However, the Scottish, who took an early lead through Joey Probst, will have a chance for revenge when the two teams meet again on Saturday in the World Cup's fifth place playoff.

“We came into the game and the victory was ultimately what we wanted whether it was by one point or 50 points,” said Clarke.“We just wanted to make sure we got off the mark and didn’t go three for three in defeats.  I think today was our best performance, there were a lot of aspects of improvement and we deserved the victory at the end of it."

Both sides had been subject to heavy defeats earlier in their respective groups games but they went head-to-head and produced a great advert for the game in a hard fought 20-point victory for the Irish.Ireland opened the scoring with four minutes gone as Scotland were penalised for offside and captain Nathan Clarke converted the two-point kick.

Scotland hit back with their first try of the tournament as Probst touched down to go 4-2 in front but with 20 minutes until the halftime hooter, Ireland regained their lead through McCabe who chased down Clarke’s kick for a score. Clarke added the extras to take a four-point advantage.

Vicky Irwin extended the lead six minutes later as she crossed in the corner to increase the gap but with just four minutes to the break, Ireland were penalised and Scottish captain Graeme Stewart converted the penalty kick to make it Ireland 12-6 at halftime.

Scotland conceded another penalty minutes into the second half and Clarke made no mistake in front of goal and Scotland leaked more points through a lack of discipline as Gardner crossed unchallenged to put Ireland up by 18-6.

Half an hour of hard tackling and tight defence followed as neither side could find an effective breakthrough but Ireland were the more productive side, using their kick and chase tactics well and their determination paid off when Clarke added another two points before Boyd-Ward crossed under the posts to seal the game with only minutes left on the clock.

IRELAND
Rachael Irwin, John McGuire, Vicky Irwin, Damian McCabe, Tom Burns, Jodie Boyd-Ward, Josh Gardner, Nathan Clarke

SCOTLAND
Sean Frame, Tam Pincock, Joey Probst, Chris Calderwood, Graeme Stewart, Elizabeth Ferris, John Cairns, Adam Mould