Wales-Cymru 4 Azerbaijan 0

Wales kept themselves in contention for a promotion play off spot with a solid performance against Azerbaijan and now need to focus minds on beating Italy on Wednesday. Wales started with a bang again with skipper Nick Rees forcing a point blank save from the Azeri keeper within the first 30 seconds and set the tone for the match. Wales dominated possession but despite a number of clear chances, failed to score while at the other end Andy Hughes in the Welsh goal made a double save to keep the score at nil nil. As the half wore on, Wales continued to dominate possession but a combination of saves, uneven bounces and poor final balls meant that a frustrated Wales went in at half time level.

Wales continued in the same vein in the second stanza with Rees, Prosser and Gowman all going close only to be denied by last ditch defending or some point blank saves from the keeper. Penalty corners had proved troublesome in the first half but it was from a set piece that Wales opened the scoring: Mike Shaw powering an unstoppable drag flick into the top of the Azeri net in the 40th minute. Within two minutes, the scoreline had doubled with Rhys Gowman drilling a ball past a despairing Azeri keeper. Wales were now full of confidence and began to play some nice hockey as their opponents tired and resorted to theatrics to give their team a breather from Wales' power play. Wales forced more penalty corners and with Shaw off the pitch for a spell, veteran U21 Ben Carless powered a low drag flick into the goal to make the score 3-0 on 53 minutes.

Wales continued to press hard and over-powered the lightweight Azeris while the Welsh full backs snuffed out any breaks made by their opponents. Wales made the score 4-0 when Shaw's replacement, Gareth Furlong, produced an identical drag flick to Shaw on 63 minutes. More chances followed but went unconverted to leave Wales with only four goals to show for their dominance.

THis was a much needed win for the Welsh team and showed that when focused, they can produce some good hockey. However, while a team can only beat the opposition put in front of it, they will reflect still on too many turnovers conceded and that the ball still needs to be respected more in their crunch game with the Italians on Wednesday.