England finish second in Four Nations Tournament

ENGLAND U18, GIRLS

Friday 1 August, Cardiff

U18 Home Nations Tournament

In a thrilling and at times, heart-stopping, encounter England and Scotland's U18 girls served up an exciting 1st/2nd playoff in Cardiff.

The game was unlike anything we had seen from these sides the previous day when they had played out a tense and defensive match.

In an exciting first half, Scotland's Louise Flemming bagged a double before half time and England's Georgia Rawlinson grabbed her fourth goal of the week.

With England a goal down as the teams re-emerged for the second half they quickly went about looking for the equaliser. It looked as though Scotland might remain strong and hold out but England snatched an equaliser after Scotland lost a player to a 17 minute yellow card suspension and Amy Kee slotted home a penalty stroke. With the game ending 2-2 the match went to a penalty shoot-out.

The shoot-out is all about holding your nerve and it was Scotland whose nerve held strongest as they converted all of their first three penalty flicks while England failed to find the net with any of theirs, leaving Scotland 3-0 winners on flicks.

The result left England disappointed with second place but the team can be proud of their performances throughout the tournament, which included high scoring displays of attacking prowess and a showcase of their ability to adapt a game plan to defend solidly for nearly 70 minutes.