Victory for Scotland in Rome
Goals from Scotland Captain Linda Clement and Vikki Bunce gave Scotland Women a 2-1 victory over Italy in Rome earlier today.
However, the Scots suffered injuries to Milne Craig Clydesdale Western pair Catriona Ralph and Morag McLellan and Scotland Head Coach Gordon Shepherd will be anxious that both players recover in time for the trip to Rio for the FIH World League next month.
Shepherd’s side had to battle back from being 1-0 down at half-time thanks to an 18th minute Italian strike. In the 42nd minute, Dundee Wanderers’ Vikki Bunce smashed the ball across goal towards the penalty spot, where Grove Menzieshill’s Linda Clement met the pass with a full length dive inside the circle to deflect the ball into the top right hand corner of the goal and level the scores at 1-1.
Scotland continued to push forward and produced further chances with Clement coming closet to adding to the score. They eventually got their reward in the 61st minute from a penalty corner set-play, where the ball was manoeuvred to Bunce inside the circle and she rifled a low drive past the Italian goalkeeper to put her side into the lead at 2-1.
Considering the early injuries to key players to Ralph and McLellan, Shepherd was delighted with the team in the way they handled adversity. His side play Italy again tomorrow morning in their final warm up match before they depart to Rio for the FIH World League Round 2 next week.
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