Young Scots crushed as Dutch cruise to semi-finals
Scotland under-19 head coach Pauline Hamill praised her players despite a third defeat in the Euro finals, this time by the Netherlands, who cruised into the last four.
“It’s so tough against this level of opposition,” said Hamill. “It would have been good not to have conceded further in the second half, but it lets you see the gulf between the teams in this tournament.
“We said from day one it was going to be really hard for us and it has proved to be that. However, we have had a brilliant experience and the players will remember it forever.”
Scotland could have taken an early lead in Paisley when Jamie-lee Napier dispossessed Dutch centre half Lieske Carleer, but the defender recovered to shut down the angle and the Hibernian player’s shot was saved by Daphne van Domeslaar.
However, the Netherlands then took a seventh minute lead, Romee Leuchter the provider and right-back Lynn Wilms the finisher. The second arrived after the halfhour when midfielder Marisa Olislagers beat Sophie Allison with a shot from the edge of the box.
The second half, played in hot evening conditions and punctuated by a raft of substitutions, was much more low key. That changed in the final ten minutes when the Dutch stepped up their efforts and were rewarded with two more goals, both scored by central defender Lisa Doorn.
The other game in Group A was a Firhill thriller. Norway, who had to win and hope Netherlands didn’t, came back three times from being a goal behind. The game ended 3-3.
In Group B Germany and Spain, both already qualified, drew 0-0 at Forthbank and England won their only points of the finals in a 1-0 defeat of Belgium at Mcdiarmid Park.