Scots bounce back to claim place in the semi-finals

Scotland shrugged off the disappointment of their recent Ukraine defeat to beat Russia 2-1 in the quarter-final of the women’s World League round two in Valencia yesterday.

The Scots now advance into the semi-final stages where hosts and tournament favourites Spain lie in wait.

Gordon Shepherd, Scotland’s coach, was full of praise for Robyn Collins, the Surbiton defender given the task of putting the reins on Russia’s top goalscorer Bogdana Sadovaia, who had scored in every previous game and was not given a sniff of goal for the entire proceedings.

At the other end, Collins laid on one and scored Scotland’s other goal.

The opener came in only three minutes at Scotland’s second penalty corner. Instead of shooting herself Collins slid the ball on to a diving Amy Brodie who diverted it into the empty net at the far post.

The Scots added a second at their fifth penalty corner. This time Collins elected to shoot and her powerful drag flick flew past the russian goalkeeper.

Shepherd’s charges continued to dominate in the second half and could have added a third when Nikki Lloyd went on an extended run, the Wimbledon player passed the ball on to Jen Eadie only for her shot to be blocked by the keeper.

The relieved Russians immediately rushed up to the other end and Irina Osipova slipped the ball under Nicky Cochrane to give her side an undeserved lifeline.

Cochrane, on her 50th cap, was not troubled in the final moments of the game as the Scottish defence dealt calmly with any attempt to steal an equaliser. The Russian cause was not helped by two of their players spending some time in the sin bin, leaving them short of numbers.

Shepherd said: “I was delighted with the team performance, all the players were focused and they carried out the game plan brilliantly.”