Scots fall to Italians in Prague

WORLD LEAGUE ROUND 1 – PRAGUE – 14-19 AUGUST
2012

SCOTLAND  0  ITALY 2

Scotland women`s chances of finishing in pole position
in the first round of the World League in Prague took a dent when
they went down 2-0 to Italy, they are now three points ahead at the
top of the table with one game remaining. 

 Fortunately, qualification to the second round of the
competition is already assured as no fewer than four teams
progress, and earlier wins against Turkey, Czech Republic and
Belarus have already secured a top three spot for the Scots.

The first half was a fairly even affair, but the Scots failed to
find their rhythm and suffered from too many misplaced final
passes.   Two early penalty corners came to nothing, but
the Scots did create some open play chances, Nikki Lloyd hit a post
following a long ball by Vikki Bunce, and just on the interval two
scoring opportunities fell to Ailsa Wyllie, both times her
deflection went wide of the target.

There were also chances in the second half, in the opening
minute a move involving Catriona Ralph and Sam Judge found Holly
Cram whose shot at goal was blocked by a defender`s stick. 
The Scots now exerted a lot of pressure on the Italian defence, a
Nikki Kidd drag flick at a penalty corner struck a post, the same
player then sent a rebound high over the crossbar, and finally Cram
had her effort saved by the goalkeeper.

But with nine minutes left, the Italians won a set piece after
some slack play by the Scots, and the original strike from the top
of the circle was deflected past Amy Gibson by an alert Italian
forward. 

The Scots now pressed in desperation to level the scores, at a
penalty corner Bunce fed the ball to Lloyd whose shot was blocked
and a rebound drive by Bunce was also saved by the Italian
keeper.   With two minutes remaining coach Gordon
Shepherd replaced goalkeeper Amy Gibson with outfield player Susan
McGilveray, but the move backfired as the Italians deflected the
ball into the empty net with 30 seconds remaining to secure the
three points.

The Scots play second bottom side France in the final match
tomorrow, Shepherd must now hope for an avalanche of goals and
Italy lose to Belarus in their last game for the Scotland to have
any chance of finishing in top spot.

Recent posts:

Back to all news
Back to top