Lauren’s off mark for Scots
Scotland .............. 2 Philippines .......... 1
Pedro Martinez Losa was thrilled to see Lauren Davidson grab a first international goal as Scotland sparked their Pinatar Cup campaign into life.
The Glasgow City forward hit the opener just before the break then Rachel Corsie doubled the lead after the interval for Losa’s side.
Meryll Abrahamsen’s late free-kick made the Scots sweat a little but they held on to make amends for losing 2- 0 to Iceland in their opener.
Davidson’s strike gave Scotland the platform to win and Losa said: “Lauren was good in the last camp and she deserved to play today. We gave her the chance and I’m pleased with the goal and her whole performance.
“In the first half we were uncomfortable, the opponent put us under a lot of pressure and we tried to solve the difficulties they gave us.
“The second half was better, we controlled the game. We found a way to progress and to create chances. Two-nil would have been a fair result but we had the free-kick in the last minute which was disappointing.”
Scotland broke through five minutes before the interval as Davidson picked up the ball on the right and cut inside before firing a low shot into the bottom corner.
Losa made a triple change for the start of the second half, with Corsie, Caroline Weir and Kirsty Hanson coming on to replace Christie Murray, Kelly Clark and Lisa Evans.
The subs combined when Aston Villa defender Corsie doubled the lead just before the hour, knocking in a deep corner from Weir.
Christy Grimshaw saw a goal-bound effort blocked and, at the other end, Sara Eggesvik’s shot from outside the box was just wide.
The Philippines, who have qualified for this year’s World Cup, got on the scoresheet in the final minute when Abrahamsen sent a free-kick into the bottom-left corner.
Scotland, though, saw out the closing seconds to take some momentum into their final game of the tournament against Wales on Tuesday.