Scotland
U19’s got off to a fine start in the international double header with Finland
at McDiarmid Park in Perth last night as they cruised past the Scandinavians
3-1. Jennifer Beattie scored 2 goals and made a 65-yard run with the ball to set
up the other for Glasgow City’s Jane Ross. Beattie's physical presence
and fitness levels are allied to a fantastic touch and technique which saw her
stroll through the 90 minutes last night as the right-side marker in a very
attack-minded 1-3-4-3 formation.
The young Scots took the game to the Finns from kickoff until the last minute
and a characteristic of Tony Gervaise side is that they compete for every single
ball, forcing the game to be played at a tempo that suits the Scots.
The only surprise of the evening came when Finland scored through a well
executed but speculative free-kick from the left hand side. This came after the
Scots had dominated the opening 10 minutes and nearly forced 2 goals from set
pieces with Beattie at the heart of the 18-yard box mayhem. Only a couple of
overpowered crosses prevented Scotland from taking an early lead.
The Finns then scored their free-kick, and it took another 11 minutes for the
Scots to restore parity, as Beattie picked up the ball on her own 18-yard line
and simply kept going and going before unleashing a shot towards goal that was
blocked, but Jane Ross snapped it up to make it 1-1. A great piece of individual
play from Beattie, who saw the opportunity to take responsibility and force the
Scots level.
The rest of the first half saw the Scotland front three work tirelessly.
Montgomery, Cunningham and Ross interchanged and dragged the Finnish backline
all over the park, forcing the overlap numerous times with Chloe Quinn on the
right hand side.
At half-time, the teams went in at 1-1, and Scotland re-emerged minus Hayley
Cunningham, replaced by Queens Parks Cheryl McCulloch. McCulloch's high energy
style has proved a real handful for Finland as the Finns were forced into
numerous hurried clearances.
With 65 minutes gone, A free kick wide on the left was delivered long and high
by Rachel Corsie, and a Jenny Beattie header at the back post put the Scots in
front, a lead they never looked like relinquishing. Edinburgh's Sarah Archibald
came on to partner Stephanie Handley in the midfield area and that pair looked
very assured as the Scots retained possession and looked to switch the play at
every opportunity, constantly with an eye on going forward.
In 74 minutes, the final goal of the evening came as a corner was again
delivered high and long, this time from the right, and Beattie again lurked at
the back post to finish from close range. That finished the scoring for the
night but the Scots have another game on Thursday morning against the Finns at
McDiarmid Park.
Acknowledgement - Extracted from Queens Park match report
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