Scotland Women 2 - 1 Italy Women: Scots Cyprus Cup glory

By ALAN CAMPBELL
Published on 12/03/2013 01:18

SCOTLAND completed a memorable 24-hour double over Italy when goals from Jane Ross and Rhonda Jones sealed a 2-1 Cyprus Cup win in Larnaca.

Scorers: Scotland Women: J Ross (17), Jones (69); Italy Women: Gama (73)

The victory, which reversed the scoreline in last year’s tournament, followed an outstanding 7-3 win for the under-19 side against their Italian counterparts in La Manga on Sunday. Celtic defender Jones said: “We were delighted about the under 19s’ result. Now that we have beaten Italy as well it shows that the future is really bright for Scottish women’s football.

“We actually felt a bit hard done by only drawing with England in the previous game, so it was good to get a win to go with another good performance.”

Scotland made two changes to the side that drew 4-4 with England. Hayley Lauder returned to the back four while Emma Mitchell replaced her fellow Bundesliga player, Lisa Evans.

Ross put the Scots ahead in the 17th minute, finishing off a move she had started and involving Kim Little and Jo Love. Jones made it 2-0 after 69 minutes, heading home a Little free- kick.

The Italians, who have qualified for this year’s European Championship finals in Sweden and are ranked eleventh in the world, pulled a goal back through Sara Gama four minutes later.

Scotland coach Anna Signeul said: “Italy had their best team out and were desperate to win but we played very well, especially in the first half.

“The back four was very solid and Italy only had one real chance before half time, when Gemma Fay made a good save. It was good to see Jane Ross get another goal after also scoring against England. She and Kim Little have been excellent in the last two games. It was a really good free kick from Kim for the second goal and Rhonda was hanging in the air before scoring with the header. We played fantastic football from time to time, and following up from the England performance it feels like we are stepping up.”

The goal for Ross, who now plays for Swedish club Vittsjo, was her 15th for Scotland.

Despite the win Scotland finished third in Group A having lost their opening game 1-0 to New Zealand. England topped the group after coming from behind to beat the New Zealanders 3-1, and will now play Canada in tomorrow’s final.