UEFA Women’s Under-17 Round 2 Qualifying
Georgia 0-4 Scotland
Tuesday, 15 March 2023
Ainslie Park, Edinburgh

Scorers

Georgia 0

Scotland 4 (Laura Berry 1’ 90’, Rebecca Taylor 43’, Mason Clark 71’)

Team News

Head coach Pauline MacDonald made six changes from the side who triumphed 4-0 against Israel last week. Lucy Inman started in goals, while Mia McArthur, Summer Laird, Lucy Barclay, Jess Linden and Sophia Martin all came into the starting eleven. Lisa Forrest missed out due to suspension and Eryn Brown was unavailable due to a hamstring injury.

As It Happened

Scotland had scored after three minutes against Israel last week and they opened the scoring even earlier against Georgia, with Laura Berry finding the net inside the first minute.

The forward exchanged passes with strike partner Martin before slotting home a left-footed finish to make it 1-0 after just 44 seconds.

As the half wore on, Scotland dominated much of the ball without creating too much in terms of chances until Berry laid the ball off for Lucy Barclay who flashed a drive just wide from the edge of the box.

The young Scots were able to extend their lead before the interval though through a penalty. After Barclay was caught late right in the corner of the 18-yard box, Rebecca Taylor sent the goalkeeper the wrong way to double Scotland’s advantage.

Pauline MacDonald made three changes at half-time. Laird, Taylor and Martin made way for J. Husband, Clark and Daniel. Scotland made a fourth change on 57 minutes with S. Black replacing Linden and A. Black entered the field in the 64th minute to replace Barclay.

It was a much calmer start to proceedings in the second half. The young side started to apply the pressure in the search for a third goal around the hour mark. Greenwood with a long-range effort from outside of the penalty area, smothered by the Georgia keeper.

Scotland continued to press down the left flank with Berry trying to make the breakthrough. Greenwood and Clark combined on 67 minutes but Clark wasn’t able to get enough power behind the shot which didn’t trouble Khachapuridze.

A minute later, Berry tried her luck from distance but the shot flashed just wide of the keeper’s near post.

The patience of the young team was rewarded with a goal in the 71st minute though. Some nice build-up play from back to front saw captain Finnie pick out Greenwood in the middle, Greenwood played in S.Black who calmly laid the ball off to Clark who grabbed the third goal of the game with a wonderful strike from the edge of the box.

Georgia pressed with intent for the first time in the last ten minutes of the game, Inman easily handling a couple of attempts on goal.

The young Scots hungry for more got their fourth goal on 90 minutes. A poor clearance from the Georgia keeper fell to Berry on the edge of the box who smashed a shot into the top corner, securing her second of the match.

Scotland confidently saw out the closing stages of the game to secure all three points and another clean sheet in this round 2 UEFA EURO qualifying tournament.

Back to back 4-nil wins means they top the group and gain promotion to Group ‘A’ for the matches in the autumn.

Teams

Georgia: Khachapuridze, Gogaladze, Londaridze, Kvirkvaia, Pavliashvili, Jojua, Chikovani, Beridze, Ambalia, Kankia, Bukhrikidze

Unused Substitutes: Sigua, Khachaturova, Tsetskhladze, Mamporia, Janezashvili, Sagirashvili, Metonidze

Scotland: Inman, E Husband, McArthur, Finnie ©, Greenwood, Taylor (Clark 46’), Berry, Laird (J.Husband 46’), Barclay (A Black 64’), Linden (S Black 57’), Martin (Daniel 46’)

Unused Substitutes: Easdon, Bradford