May 28, 2001

Lacklustre England win against Auld Enemy

England 1 Scotland 0
Sunday May 27, 2001 Attendance:3004
Reebok Stadium, Bolton, Lancashire

Scoring
England A. Banks (44 min)

Referee:C. Richards (Wales)

by Colin A. Aldis

With many of the UEFA Finals teams selecting opponents well in advance as part of their preparations to the June tournament, England have again turned to Scotland for a 'so-called' friendly match. This was the 16th meeting between the teams, a series dating back to November 1972, in which England have only lost once. Scotland have not scored against their southern neighbours since October 1986.

It was an overcast day In match 16 for the home team who had to manage without an injured Kelly Smith.
It was played at the superb Reebok Stadium, in Bolton, Lancashire.

Scotland started brightly, with a shot by the prolific Julie Fleeting (59 goals in 46 app's) going just over the bar. England then settled, and forced 4 corners on the right, all taken by Sue Smith, with one producing a looping flicked header by Angela Banks which hit the under-side of the bar, and bounced down and was cleared.

In the 13th minute, a shot was clearly handled by Scotland's Nicki Grant, but referee Ceri Richards turned down the penalty appeals. The next chance came from a cross from the right by Karen Burke, and an acrobatic volley by Rachel Yankey, which sent the ball just wide of the left post. England then had to make a change, when captain Mo Marley had to limp off, and she was replaced by Faye White.

Just before the half-hour mark, Julie Fleeting again showed her skill and strength to go clear on the right, but with no support struck a strong shot into the side-netting. Then Scotland had a good spell of pressure, and Julie Fleeting managed to get behind the defence, but her toe-poke shot from 8 metres was blocked by the boot of Pauline Cope. Following the corner, England cleared the ball upfield, to get the winner, with Karen Burke moving it inside to ANGELA BANKS, who easily skipped passed a couple of defenders, and struck a superb lob over Gemma Fay and into the net.

England made 4 changes at half-time, and soon after, Karen Walker headed a corner towards goal, and Gemma Fay did well to push the ball away for another corner. After this, Scotland had much more of the play, and created several chances, although many were long range shots.

In the 84th minute, Scotland came close to the equaliser, when Julie Fleeting had a close range shot, but Faye White managed to deflect
the ball away for a corner. Just before the end, both teams made changes, including a first appearance for Amanda Barr, who like Katie Chapman (given player of the match by Gillian Coultard) and Rachel Unitt also play for the U-18 team. Moments later, a shot from the left was an easy catch for Pauline Cope, but she let it slip, and reacted quickly to grab the ball, as it almost crossed the goal line. There was one last effort by Scotland, but a powerful shot by Nicki Grant flew just over the bar.

So England kept up a winning streak of 5 matches, and the players will have to wait until Friday, to know if they will make the trip to Germany for the UEFA Finals.

Scotland coach, and former Dutch International Vera Pauw, will have been encouraged with her team's performance, and will continue with
her task to get Scotland into the UEFA top 16, when the qualifiers start again in August.

England
NAME CLUB APPS GOALS
Pauline Cope Charlton Athletic 39 -
Danielle Murphy Univ. of Florida 19 -
Rachel Unitt Everton 4 -
Becky Easton Doncaster Belles 40 -
Maureen Marley(C) Everton 38 1
Katie Chapman Fulham 7 -
Karen Burke Doncaster Belles 48 5
Vicky Exley Doncaster Belles 15 1
Rachel Yankey Fulham 16 3
Angela Banks Arsenal 8 1
Susan Smith Tranmere Rovers 31 11
subs:
Marieanne Spacey Arsenal 88 28
(46 mins, for A. Banks)
Julie Fletcher Charlton Athletic 13 -
(46 mins, for R. Unitt)
Karen Walker Doncaster Belles 63 33
(46 mins, for S. Smith)
Faye White Arsenal 17 2
(21 mins, for M. Marley)
Sam Britton Everton 44 3
(46 mins, for V. Exley)
Amanda Barr Doncaster Belles - -
(88 mins, for K. Burke)
not used:
Leanne Hall(GK) Doncaster Belles 3 -
Head Coach: Hope Powell

SCOTLAND:
1. Gemma Fay (GK) Ayr Utd
2. Rhonda Jones Ayr Utd
3. Stacey Cook Ayr Utd
4. Nicki Grant Cumbernauld
5. Michelle Barr (C) Cumbernauld
6. Julie Smith Kilmarnock
7. Amanda Burns Ayr Utd
8. Karen Penglase Cumbernauld
9. Mhari Gilmour Hibernian
10.Julie Fleeting Ayr Utd
11.Donna James Ayr Utd
subs:
17.Alana Bruce Forfar Farmington
on 66 min, for M. Gilmour
18.Denise Brolly Ayr Utd
on 88 min, for A. Burns

Head Coach: Vera Pauw