Tears and despair - Scotland Women suffer from missed opportunities and unease as Republic of Ireland defeat them in World Cup play-off
The Spaniard led the rendition of ‘Oh Flower of Scotland’ as passionately as anyone in dark blue but the most notable aspect of last night’s display was that his team, for large parts of this game, just were not on song.The tone was set with a missed Caroline Weir penalty just 14 minutes into this game just as Scotland were finding their feet after a whirlwind start from Ireland. That sense of unease ran deeply throughout a game that was settled by a second-half goal from Republic of Ireland substitute Amber Barrett, a return that was no less than the Irish deserved for the manner in which they dominated this affair, winning 1-0 at Hampden.The move which led to the penalty was a rare forward foray from Scotland. Weir and Erin Cuthbert linked up before Martha Thomas whacked an effort off the bar before Swiss referee Esther Staubil blew the whistle for a penalty that no-one had a clue what for.Television replays showed the use of a hand from defender Niamh Farey as she threw herself at Thomas’ shot with Weir assuming the responsibility for the penalty.The most high profile player within Scotland’s ranks, the Real Madrid midfielder’s effort was poor as she sent a tepid effort towards the goalkeeper’s left-hand side with Courtney Brosnan equal to the attempt as she dived to push the effort away. It was the only real attacking moment of note from Scotland and the meekness of the penalty was in keeping with the tone of the display which lacked the edge and aggression Scotland needed.It seemed to further unnerve and already spooked Scotland who had been on the backfoot from the opening minutes as swathes of orange shirts kept them penned in their own half in an aggressive introduction to the game.If they thought their luck was out with the scorned penalty they could thank their lucky stars that they went into the break still in the game. Ireland had an effort disallowed that came from a deep throw-in from Fahey which ended up in the back of the net. Chopped off because it had come directly from the throw, Scotland could only thank the fact that Lily Agg had not made contact to manipulate the mix-up in communication between Lee Gibson and Sophie Howard.Next up was Aine O’Gorman who stole in front of fullback Nicola Docherty but her header from close range was wildly off target.On the cusp of the interval the same tactic from a thrown in was almost Scotland’s undoing again; Campbell’s mammoth throw ball caused absolute panic. Fahey’s initial effort was headed off the line by Howard, Agg’s header palmed away by Gibson before Howard again cleared from Diane Caldwell in a frantic finale to the opening period with the sound of the whistle as grateful a reprieve as any Scotland could hope for.Grateful for the chance to still be alive in the game they were, briefly, emboldened in the second period as Cuthbert’s cross was met by Fiona Brown. On the stretch, however, she couldn’t guide her effort on target.There was no real surprise with the inevitable happened. Substitute Amber Barrett collected from Denise O’Sullivan, outpaced Howard and rifled a low right-footed effort into the bottom left-hand corner.There were tears on the pitch from Scotland, compounded by watching Ireland celebrate. The disappointment of this, on the back of a failed European Championships campaign, will not dissipate easily.