Tremendous effort by Scotland U21 women, but Ireland take the spoils

Lorna Cruickshank Scotland U21 women

On Sunday, the Scotland U21 Women’s squad faced their third and final match in their first set of international games in preparation for the Junior European Championships in July. The squad, having had a disappointing game the day before, were determined to end the weekend on a high. With tired legs and the sun beating down it was always going to be a tough game, but there was no doubt that the Scots had plenty of fight left.

The game began with a high intensity from both sides. The Scots were disciplined in defence; the forwards shuttling side-to-side, the midfield pressuring the screen players, and the defenders marking their opposition tightly. The Irish struggled to create any significant chances, despite some strong and skilful dribbling from their midfielders, the girls in blue made tackle after tackle to defy them entering the circle.

With the Scots in possession for a large percentage of the time, moving the ball well, and transitioning through the midfield and forward lines it was justified when two short corners were awarded but failure to convert meant that the score remained 0-0.  In comparison to the previous game, this was shaping up to be a fight till the final whistle.

The beginning of the third quarter initiated a 15 minute spell when there were momentary lapses in concentration, however despite this, Scotland managed to soak up the pressure, be organised in defence and prevent the conceding of a goal. This was until a quickly taken free hit outside the defending circle left a forward free to dribble into the circle and score a scrappy goal.

Learning from the mistakes of the previous game the Scots were positive and kept their heads up, putting the goal behind them. At the end of the third quarter, a fantastic 70 yard ball from Shona McNab found Millie Steiger at the edge of the circle who swiftly turned her defender, passed to Lorna Cruickshank just inside the top circle who narrowly missed the goal, and a hat-trick for the weekend.

The final 15 minutes of the weekend consisted of short corners and numerous attacks into the Irish final quarter who were under great pressure from the Scots. But again, failure to convert meant that the score remained 1-0.

With four minutes to go the Irish converted from a short corner to make it 2-0. With only a few minutes left the Scots called for a high and hard press and immediately the forwards pushed up, pressuring the full backs and winning the ball.

With good communication from everyone on and off the pitch the Scots transitioned the ball from left to right and back again, grinding the Irish girls down. All ten outfield players were in the final third of the pitch, the pressure was mounting on the opposition yet attack after attack yielded no reward.

The final whistle went with the score at 2-0, a score that did not reflect the effort that was put in by the U21 side, but a score that showed that chances must be taken when offered.

All-in-all the weekend was successful for the young squad, progress was certainly made from the first-to-third game and it was clear that there was a game plan and it was executed well for the most part. The girls move forward to their next challenges versus England and Wales, before travelling to the Czech Republic in July.

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