Wales Win Against France
29 Jun 2008
The rain stopped and the sun came out to see Wales' women record their first victory of the 2008 Junior Celtic Cup. Going into the final day of the tournament Wales were without a win or a draw, and this was to salvage some pride. France's under 21 side had had a mixed tournament
so far, so this was their chance to end on a high. But it was the girls in red to come away with the win, courtesy of two second half goals from their captain Sophie Robinson to beat the French 2-1.
Wales opened the game well, with a brilliant chance early on. Emma Batten took advantage of a gap in the French defence and charged down the middle, however a slightly scuffed shot allowed the ball to be diverted away from the goal and Sarah Richards who was waiting couldn't get a good follow up shot away.
The majority of chances were falling to France after this, but they were just snatching at them, it was the Welsh that had the better quality of chances, however they couldn't make the most of them. France had a great chance which they should have done better with when Louise Poulenc disposessed Hannah Richardson of the ball, but instead of going herself she cut inside to wait for support which enabled the Welsh defence to regroup and stifle the attack. Shortly after France were awarded a penalty stroke when a shot was blocked on the line by the body of a Welsh defender. French captain Elise Preney stepped up to take the stroke, but the Welsh goalkeeper Angela Ninian made a fantastic save to keep the scores 0-0.
The momentum then swung in Wales' favour a little, with red shirts putting pressure on the French, and a penalty corner leading to a stinging shot towards the goal, but the ball was knocked over by Preney. Another chance fell to Batten, who stole a march on the French defence, but goalkeeper Chevalier rushed out to smother the attack before the Welsh forwards could offer support.
Half time arrived with Wales having edged ahead in terms of play, with France simply trying to grab at half chances, so the scores remained at 0-0.
The second half saw Wales start on the back foot and France have a little more purpose about them, but the girls in red put in some good defensive play. France's efforts eventually paid off when a nicely worked move sees the ball hit the back of the goal on 45 minutes. The ball was played in perfectly from the edge of the D to find Louise Poulenc waiting. She made no mistake in putting it away, smashing the ball in low to hand her team the lead, 1-0.
Wales hit back almost immediately with some pressure, really testing the opposition defence, however the end product wasn't quite there and they couldn't find the back of the goal. But on 60 minutes Wales found their equaliser with a great team goal. A move involving four Welsh players, it was rounded off by captain Sophie Robinson who made sure she wasn't going to miss the chance to put her team level and knocked the ball into the goal to make it 1-1.
Five minutes later and Wales were awarded a penalty stroke for deliberate use of the back of the stick. Robinson steps up to take it, and confidently puts the ball to the right of the goalkeeper to edge ahead 2-1.
France mount some late attacks, but the Welsh defence handle them well, and the clock runs down to hand Wales their first win.