Kidd double not enough as Scotland held to draw by Ireland

 

Scotland (Kidd PC 30′, PC 53′) 2-2 Ireland (O’Flynn PC 2′, Jacob FG 69′)

A last minute equaliser from Ireland’s Lisa Jacob denied Scotland the opportunity to get off to a winning start in the first of six international matches this week after a 2-2 draw at Peffermill this afternoon.
Edinburgh University’s Nikki Kidd dispatched two penalty corner strikes either side of half-time to give the Scots a 2-1 advantage following an Audrey O’Flynn opening goal for the Irish in the second minute, but Jacob’s intervention in the 69th minute prevented a home win for the national side.
Following today’s encounter, Scotland Women Head Coach Gordon Shepherd said, “A mixed performance today, but I thought at times we played some really good hockey. We did get off to a slow start but after that we seemed to pick it up, moving the ball around well and we had some really good passages of play.
“But there are some areas we really need to work on and concentration is one of those areas. We did [concentrate] for the most of it but there were a couple of lapses in concentration in the second half that cost us and we need to make sure that doesn’t happen again tomorrow.”
It was Ireland who got off to a strong start in the match when Jacob’s reverse stick shot was saved well by Edinburgh University’s Nicki Cochrane in the first minute to deny them the opening goal.
The Irish only had to wait sixty seconds to make the breakthrough when a Scottish foot in the circle was penalised and Audrey O’Flynn subsequently struck a low shot past Cochrane to give Ireland a 1-0 lead in the second minute.
The Scots had started slowly and in the ninth minute they only narrowly avoided going 2-0 down when Jacob’s reverse stick drive was deflected just past the post.
Shepherd’s side then sprung into life in the tenth minute when a counter-attack by Grove Menzieshill’s Ali Bell down the right hand touchline led to a cross that should have been turned in by Amy Brodie at the back post but the CALA Edinburgh midfielder’s stick just failed to make contact with the ball.
In the 14th minute, Ireland had the ball in the net at a penalty corner, but Nicola Gray’s strike was rightly ruled out by umpire Kerri Targett for dangerous play.
Shortly afterwards, the home side forced three penalty corners in a row with new Western Wildcats’ player-coach Kareena Marshall and Milne Craig Clydesdale Western’s Cat Ralph both coming close to securing an equaliser, only for Ireland’s defence to stand resolute.
The Scots were starting to create more chances and both Nikki Kidd and Nikki Lloyd came close to getting their side back on level terms, with the Edinburgh University midfielder flashing a penalty corner strike just wide in the 22nd minute and the Sevenoaks’ striker just missing out on making contact with a Marshall drive across the face of goal just two minutes later.
However, Scotland finally registered on the scoresheet in the 30th minute after mounting pressure led to the concession of penalty corner by Ireland. Kidd stepped up to collect the injection from Alisa Wyllie and she made no mistake with a strong drag-flick low to Pamela Smithwick’s left-hand side to level the scores at 1-1.
With a minute left on the clock before half-time, Scottish and Great Britain U21 ‘keeper Cochrane ensured her side went into the break on parity after a fine block from Audrey O’Flynn’s attempt on goal.
Following the interval, it was Scotland who came out of the blocks flying and were unlucky not to take the lead in the 40th minute when Dundee Wanderers’ Vikki Bunce shimmied her way into the circle with a brilliant dribble and her snap-shot was cleared off the line by an Irish defender.
Two penalty corner opportunities for Kidd and Marshall were repelled by Ireland’s rear-guard in the 47th and 51st minute before Shepherd’s charges finally took the lead. Again, it was Kidd’s penalty corner expertise that came to the fore as she sent an unstoppable drive into the left hand corner of the net to give her side a 2-1 advantage in the 53rd minute.
With a slender lead to defend, Scotland compacted the midfield and chances were few and far between for the next ten minutes of the half.
Nevertheless, a mistake by Emily Maguire just outside the circle conceded possession to Anna O’Flanagan in the 64th minute but the Ireland forward couldn’t take advantage of the error as Cochrane again thwarted the away side with a powerful block from the effort on goal.
Ireland pushed forward in the remaining minutes for an equaliser and their efforts bore fruition in the 69th minute when Kate Dillon darted along the byeline to slip the ball under Cochrane and Jacob had the easy task of tapping the ball home to leave the final score at 2-2.
As Shepherd was keen to point out, the last minute concession left his side disappointed, “Yes, we’re always disappointed [with conceding in the last minute]”, said Shepherd.
“Don’t get me wrong, our goalkeeper had to make a lot of saves throughout the game so maybe Ireland are thinking a draw was a fair result. For us, yes we’re a bit disappointed that we’re 2-1 up with a minute to go and lose a last minute goal. It’s a tough one to take. We feel like we’ve lost, and they feel like they’ve won.
“So 2-2, but to be honest I probably would have taken that at the start of the day. This is our first game in the build-up towards the European Championships and I’m happy with the positives but plenty for me to look at for me tomorrow.”

A last minute equaliser from Ireland’s Lisa Jacob denied Scotland the opportunity to get off to a winning start in the first of six international matches this week after a 2-2 draw at Peffermill today.

Edinburgh University’s Nikki Kidd dispatched two penalty corner strikes either side of half-time to give the Scots a 2-1 advantage, following an Audrey O’Flynn opening goal for the Irish in the second minute, but Jacob’s intervention in the 69th minute prevented a home win for the national side.

Nikki Kidd vs. Ireland

(Scotland’s Nikki Kidd notched two goals against Ireland today. Credit: Duncan Gray)

Following today’s encounter, Scotland Women Head Coach Gordon Shepherd said, “A mixed performance today, but I thought at times we played some really good hockey. We did get off to a slow start but after that we seemed to pick it up, moving the ball around well and we had some really good passages of play.

“But there are some areas we really need to work on and concentration is one of those areas. We did [concentrate] for the most of it but there were a couple of lapses in concentration in the second half that cost us and we need to make sure that doesn’t happen again tomorrow.”

It was Ireland who got off to a strong start in the match when Jacob’s reverse stick shot was saved well by Edinburgh University’s Nicki Cochrane in the first minute to deny them the opening goal.

The Irish only had to wait sixty seconds to make the breakthrough though when a Scottish foot in the circle was penalised and O’Flynn subsequently struck a low shot past Cochrane to give the visitors a 1-0 lead in the second minute.

The Scots had started slowly and in the ninth minute they only narrowly avoided going 2-0 down when Jacob’s reverse stick drive was deflected just past the post.

Shepherd’s side then sprung into life in the tenth minute when a counter-attack by Grove Menzieshill’s Ali Bell down the right hand touchline led to a cross that should have been turned in by Amy Brodie at the back post but the CALA Edinburgh midfielder’s stick just failed to make contact with the ball.

In the 14th minute, Ireland had the ball in the net at a penalty corner, but Nicola Gray’s strike was rightly ruled out by umpire Kerri Targett for dangerous play.

Shortly afterwards, the home side forced three penalty corners in a row with new Western Wildcats’ player-coach Kareena Marshall and Milne Craig Clydesdale Western’s Cat Ralph both coming close to securing an equaliser, only for Ireland’s defence to stand resolute.

Kaz Marshall vs. Ireland

(Kareena Marshall advances for Scotland. Credit: Duncan Gray)

The senior side were starting to create more chances and both Nikki Kidd and Nikki Lloyd came close to getting their team back on level terms, with the Edinburgh University midfielder flashing a penalty corner strike just wide in the 22nd minute and the Sevenoaks’ striker just missing out on making contact with a drive across the face of goal by Marshall just two minutes later.

However, Scotland finally registered on the scoresheet in the 30th minute after mounting pressure led to the concession of penalty corner by Ireland. Kidd stepped up to collect the injection from Grove Menzieshill’s Alisa Wyllie and she made no mistake with a strong drag-flick low to Pamela Smithwick’s left-hand side to level the scores at 1-1.

With a minute left on the clock before half-time, Great Britain U21 ‘keeper Cochrane ensured her side went into the break on parity after a fine block from O’Flynn’s attempt on goal.

Maisie Morris vs. Ireland

(Scotland new cap Maisie Morris prevents an Irish attack. Credit: Duncan Gray)

Following the interval, it was Scotland who came out of the blocks flying and they were unlucky not to take the lead in the 40th minute when Dundee Wanderers’ Vikki Bunce shimmied her way into the circle with a brilliant dribble and her snap-shot was cleared off the line by a defender.

Two penalty corner opportunities for Kidd and Marshall were repelled by Ireland’s rear-guard in the 47th and 51st minute before Shepherd’s charges finally took the lead. Again, it was Kidd’s penalty corner expertise that came to the fore as she sent an unstoppable drive into the left hand corner of the net to give her side a 2-1 advantage in the 53rd minute.

With a slender lead to defend, Scotland compacted the midfield and chances were few and far between for the next ten minutes of the half.

Nevertheless, a mistake by Emily Maguire just outside the circle conceded possession to Anna O’Flanagan in the 64th minute but the forward couldn’t take advantage of the error as Cochrane again thwarted the away side with a powerful block from the effort on goal.

Ireland pushed forward in the remaining minutes for an equaliser and their efforts bore fruition in the 69th minute when Kate Dillon darted along the byeline to slip the ball under Cochrane and Jacob had the easy task of tapping the ball home to leave the final score at 2-2.

As Shepherd was keen to point out, the last minute concession left his side disappointed, “Yes, we’re always disappointed [with conceding in the last minute]”, said Shepherd.

“Don’t get me wrong, our goalkeeper had to make a lot of saves throughout the game so maybe Ireland are thinking a draw was a fair result. For us, yes we’re a bit disappointed that we’re 2-1 up with a minute to go and lose a last minute goal. It’s a tough one to take. We feel like we’ve lost, and they feel like they’ve won.

“So 2-2, but to be honest I probably would have taken that at the start of the day. This is our first game in the build-up towards the European Championships and I’m happy with the positives but plenty for me to look at for me tomorrow.”

Scotland Women: Nicki Cochrane, Ali Bell, Vikki Bunce, Catriona Ralph, Linda Clement (c), Ailsa Wyllie, Kareena Marshall, Leigh Fawcett, Becky Merchant, Nikki Kidd, Nikki Lloyd, Maisie Morris, Alison Howie, Emily Maguire, Amy Brodie, Sarah Robertson, Becky Ward, Amy Gibson.

 

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