SCOTLAND WOMEN CRUISE TO VICTORY OVER UKRAINE AT EURO II
By Colin Pike
Scotland Women began their attempt to win immediate promotion back to the top tier of the EuroHockey Championships with a convincing 7-0 win over Ukraine in Glasgow on Sunday afternoon.
Scotland were relegated after finishing eighth in Amsterdam in 2017, but only needed three minutes to take the lead on home turf over Ukraine, Charlotte Watson breaking the deadlock.
Four minutes later, Lucy Lanigan doubled Scotland’s lead. Scotland had to wait until the twentieth minute for their third goal, Kareena Cuthbert scoring the only penalty corner goal of the match. Fiona Burnet struck six minutes before half time to give Scotland a comfortable 4-0 half time lead.
The third quarter nearly finished goalless, but Emily Dark scored right at the end of the quarter to extend Scotland’s advantage to 5-0.
Lanigan scored her second goal of the game in the 48th minute before Cuthbert also notched her second goal with just five minutes to play.
Surbiton’s Robyn Collins came on as a fifth minute substitute for Scotland, alongside former Surbiton player Kate Holmes. Another former Surbiton player, goalkeeper, Amy Gibson was in the Scottish starting lineup and shared goalkeeper duties with Nicola Cochrane.
Scotland’s First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon was on hand to witness Scotland’s excellent performance. Scotland will have a rest day on Monday before tackling the Czech Republic, who were also relegated from the top tier two years ago on Tuesday.