Scots deepen Irish problems

Ireland produced a stronger performance than Wednesday’s struggle but still bowed out of the running for the one available World Cup place this afternoon in Santiago, Chile as a goal late in each half handed Scotland a 2-0 victory. They started out better, managing to find Irish sticks with a lot greater regularity than 24 hours earlier, but the Scots regrouped after a couple of early mistakes to earn the game’s first three corners in quick succession. Neither drew a save from Mary Goode and it was Niamh Small – with her first act of the tournament – who went closest in the first quarter, using one hand to flick the ball past the last defender down the right wing and aerialling a shot which Abigail Walker palmed over the endline.

Emily Maguire clattered the Scot’s third corner wide as did Kareena Marshall from their fourth effort after Emma Smyth’s excellent initial block. After soaking up their share of pressure, though, Eimear Cregan became the game’s key player. Her three-dimensional skills created a pair of chances, breaking in from the left flank. The first squeezed just away from Julia O’Halloran’s stick at close quarters. And Cregan drove forward to earn her side’s first corner but Michelle Harvey was shut down before she could connect. The game opened up further when Aimee Clark was sin-binned and Ireland produced a razor-sharp break through Nikki Symmons’ intuition and Emma Smyth’s pace, playing in Cregan to ghost back from the baseline and shoot, skewing across goal via a defender’s stick. But – still a player down – Scotland got the perfect sucker-punch when the influential Samantha Judge drove through a couple of tackles and shot. The rebound fell her way and she nudged it right of the goal where Alison Bell touched home for a half-time advantage. Cregan earned another corner soon after the break but a mix-up meant no shot accrued for a second time, much to Gene Muller’s frustration. By contrast, Scotland had two bites of the cherry from their fifth corner, demanding some excellent goalkeeping from Mary Goode in the 53rd minute before also denying Ailsa Robertson and Aimee Clark. Into the last five minutes, pushing forward, Symmons raced up from sweeper but her cross did not make passed a packed Scottish defence. And they broke at pace, creating a three-on-two which they used to perfection to eliminate the cover defence, laying up for Vikki Bunce to power home 2-0 from five yards. Emma Clarke was sin-binned for dissent in the aftermath and it almost got worse for the Irish inside 60 seconds when Laura Bartlett scrambled home but, after a lengthy discussion, the effort was ruled out. It was academic for Ireland but goal difference could be a factor later this week for the Scots.

Speaking about the fixture, coach Gene Muller was frustrated about his side’s inability to finish off the chances they created. “It was a better performance than against Malaysia. I felt we had chances early on that we didn’t capitalise on and I felt our execution was poor especially at corners – something we’ve spent a lot of time on. “Two of them broke down when we could have gone ahead. When they are one up in the last ten minutes you have to go for it. We went for it, created a few chances but got caught with just two at the back so that’s the way it goes.” His thoughts were backed up by captain Eimear Cregan: “We battled hard and were a lot more committed than we were against Malaysia but didn’t create as many chances as we should have with the possession we had and corners didn’t come off. “It’s a very hard lesson to learn but we go back to the drawing board, put it to bed and when we play Chile on Saturday give it all we’ve got.” Ireland are now out of the running for a World Cup spot but must play Chile and Australia to confirm their final ranking place in the competition and world ranking points. The Australians, meanwhile, outlined their favourite’s tag with a 9-0 thrashing of Malaysia. IRELAND: M Goode, R Flinn, C Sargent, E Cregan (capt), E Clarke, B Cleland, A Speers, J O’Halloran, N Symmons, A O’Flynn, E Smyth Subs: M Harvey, S McCay, M Frazer, L Colvin, N Small Standings (played, points, goal difference): 1. Australia 2-6pts (+14) 2. Scotland 1-3pts (+2) 3. Chile 2-3pts (-4) 4. Malaysia 3-3pts (-7) 5. Ireland 2-0pts (-5)