Scotland 2 - 1 Republic of Ireland: Scots late show sinks Ireland

LATE goals by Rhonda Jones and Christie Murray gave Scotland the most dramatic of victories over Ireland at Tynecastle last night. They also took Scotland into second place in Group 4 and back on track to qualify for the Euro 2013 finals in Sweden next summer.

The Scots trailed for 82 minutes, and when Kim Little had a penalty saved on the hour it looked bad for Anna Signeul’s side. Instead their late rally delighted the crowd, who gave the players a great ovation on the final whistle. Scotland could scarcely have had a worse start. With only four minutes on the clock, Ireland’s Megan Campbell sent a free-kick into the box and Irish striker Denise O’Sullivan headed the ball past Gemma Fay. Then, almost immediately after the restart, Suzanne Grant pulled a hamstring and had to be replaced by Leanne Ross.

Ireland, with captain Ciara Grant winning her 100th cap, sat comfortably on their lead for most of the first half although the Scots went close when Little sent over a cross in the 34th minute and Jones just failed to get her head on it.

The Scots made a much better start to the second half, and an equaliser looked to be on the cards after the hour. Hungarian referee Katalin Kulcsar awarded what looked like a harsh penalty against Aine O’Gorman for handling inside the box, but Little’s spot-kick wasn’t struck firmly enough and Emma Byrne saved.

Just as it was looking as if the Scots would never salvage the night, two goals arrived unexpectedly within 60 seconds of each other.

First, Celtic defender Jones headed Ross’s corner past Byrne and then it got even better when substitute Murray sent a lobbed shot high into the net.