Czech mate for ‘Burne star Stephanie McInally

Jun 12 2012 by Paul Behan, Paisley Daily Express

KELBURNE player Stephanie McInally put in a superb performance to help the Scotland women’s under-21 squad maintain their unbeaten record in a three-match test series in the Czech Republic.

The young Scots had already bagged back-to-back wins against the Czech’s junior team when they took on the senior squad in the third and final encounter in Prague.

And, boosted by the skills of McInally, the visitors managed to pull off a 4-4 draw.

The games against the Czechs were part of Scotland’s build-up for the European Junior Nations Championships II event in Russia later this summer.

In the last of the three test matches in Prague, the Scots had strolled into a two-goal lead by the interval.

Nicola Skrastin opened the scoring with a deflection at a penalty corner and then Sarah Robertson opened up the Czech defence to allow Lucy Lanigan to shoot past the goalkeeper.

The Czechs pulled one back early in the second half but Dave Stott’s team put their foot on the pedal again, with Kerry Hall making it 3-1 with a powerful shot from the top of the circle.

A short time later, a cross by Kelburne ace McInally eluded the Czech goalkeeper and Fiona Bruce dived in to make it 4-1.

However, the Scots lost some of their composure and allowed the home side to score three late goals from a penalty corner and breakaways to steal a draw at the end.

Sharon Bissett, the Scotland manager, said: “We were always threatening, with some very good build-up play, and we certainly deserved to win but the loss of three late goals was a hard lesson learned.”