Scotland women draw with Spain in Valencia

Scotland women v Spain June 2016 2

Scotland senior women put in an impressive performance and drew their final test match against Spain 0-0 in Valencia.

Spain were first to threaten when they won an early corner but the attack was well defended by the Scots, and the danger was palmed away by goalkeeper Lucy Camlin.

The game was end-to-end. Three attacks were stopped on the Scottish baseline, before the visitors flooded forward down the other end to win Scotland’s first corner of the game. An inventive set-piece prompted a good save from the Spanish goalkeeper to keep the score at 0-0. Then some excellent play by Kaz Cuthbert and Fiona Bruce down the left won Scotland’s second corner. A sensational piece of skill from Sarah Robertson on the reverse fashioned Scotland an opportunity but it was well blocked by the Spanish rear guard on the back post.

Scotland came close a short time later through another corner when Sarah Robertson rattled the post. Up the other end of the pitch and a fast break from Spain found Camlin facing a one-on-one but a great save denied the hosts, keeping the score 0-0 at the end of the opening quarter.

It was a war of attrition in the second quarter with lots of play in the middle of the pitch. Scotland went a player down and were forced to dig deep and defend – they survived very well. Back at full strength and Amy Costello thought she’d given her side the lead but her excellent effort was saved on the line to deny Scotland the lead before half time. Katie Robertson also came close but her powerful strike from the top of the D zipped narrowly wide.

Two minutes into the second half and Spain had the ball in the Scotland net but it was chopped off for dangerous play. Then with Spain a player down, Becky Ward made the most of the player advantage when she won the ball in midfield and found Fiona Burnet, who came close with a reverse stick attempt.

With the third quarter coming to a close an opportunity for Spain was well saved by Camlin in the Scotland goal.

Spain got off to another fast start in the fourth by winning a corner. The following set-piece was met by Camlin making a diving save to her right to keep the score at 0-0.

Moments later and some brilliant resistance from Camlin and Costello saw the duo forming a wall that the Spanish couldn’t penetrate.

Then just as the game came to close, Scotland’s Robyn Collins sent Burnet and Becky Merchant racing through two-on-one with just the goalkeeper to beat but the umpire blew a whistle when there was an advantage. It ended 0-0; a great game to watch chances for both sides, with Scotland finishing off a good series of tests against a very Spanish side ahead of World League 2.

Scotland Women’s Head Coach, Gordon Shepherd, said: “It was a very good performance for the full game – credit to the players for taking on board our comments and taking it out onto the pitch. It was a very even game and a draw was a fair result.

“I’m pleased by the effort of the players and I’m looking forward to training over the next week as we prepare for World League 2.”

 

Recent posts:

Back to all news
Back to top