In the third of four test matches Scotland U21 Women lost 1-0 away from home to Ireland. The previous game ended 2-1 to Scotland following a 1-0 win for Ireland, with the series moving into its final match.
It was a slow start by Scotland, with three-games in as many days appearing to take its toll, and Ireland enjoyed early success. A change to the Irish tactics from the previous matches also had an impact and Scotland struggled to outlet from deep defence.
Some over-committing in defence presented the home side with a good chance to take the lead late in the opening quarter, and an excellent finish from the top of the circle made it 1-0 to Ireland.
It wasn’t until after the half time break that Scotland began to come back into the contest, and by the final quarter the Scots looked much more like themselves.
Abbie Grant came closest to finding an equaliser; the ball was fizzed into the circle at knee height, and Grant’s lovely deflection looked goal-bound, but it was well saved to deny the Scots.
Scotland had four corners, but couldn’t capitalise, and Ireland took the win moving into the last game.
Head Coach Neil Menzies said, “Today was a tough game. Playing three games in three days is tough, and fatigue had an impact today. We were slow in the first half but in the second half we began to play more like we have been over the previous games. The last match will be another tough one, with it being four games in four days, but we’ve done a lot of really good work over this series.
