Footy Ferns vs Scotland: Two Nil Twice Over
The Football Ferns didn’t beat Scotland. They played them a couple times in Spain across the last few days and they lost both games 2-0. Andreas Heraf’s first games as the full-time manager thus end with a hint of disappointment, particularly as whatever adjustments were made between the first and second games, they weren’t reflected on the scoreboard - which was the most notable thing about the games with Thailand last year where they drew the first 0-0 then smashed ‘em 5-0 in the second. Scotland weren’t so vulnerable though.
Looking at the world rankings this was a very even matchup. World rankings are immensely deceiving however and the main lesson to be learned here is that as much as the game may be growing among women in Aotearoa, it ain’t happening in a bubble. It’s mirroring a worldwide trend and nations like Scotland get to feel that more than we do given their proximity to the scene in Europe. Don’t judge the Scots by their male team’s recent irrelevance.
See it’s not only about getting players into professional clubs, the next step is getting those players dominating at those clubs. A few out there already are. Abby Erceg and Ali Riley, for example. But there are also plenty of players in this squad who are pros without getting regular footy. No dramas there, it just shows that we’re still on the journey towards something.
Game Uno saw a couple interesting selections. Sarah Gregorius was back in there on her international return, although Abby Erceg was not. Betsy Hassett ended up missing both games through injury as well. Back four of Meikayla Moore and Rebekah Stott in the middle and CJ Bott on the right while Ali Riley returned to left back after a bit of winger stuff last time out in Thailand. Ria Percival and Katie Bowen in central midfield. Amber Hearn did her thing up top with Gregorius, Annalie Longo and Olivia Chance in various attacking midfield roles around her.
At least that’s what it looked like, it was hard to tell when the lineup was given alphabetically and the game wasn’t televised outside of an online highlights package so bear with the odd misreading of things here. Still something close to a full-strength team, Erceg walks back in there eventually (she was sick during the week, which is probably why she didn’t play game one) and you wonder where injured stars like Rosie White and Hassett fit in as well.
Anyway, Scotland had the better of the first half but the Ferns also had their moments. Particularly with the likes of Chance and Longo running forward out of the midfield. Yet when the first goal came, it did so at the other end and it was completely avoidable. Erin Nayler made a decent save to deny Jane Ross except she parried it back into danger. Ross was first to the rebound and she casually slotted it for her 54th international goal. Erin Cuthbert then hit the crossbar with a header she ought to have done better with and 1-0 was the score at the break.
Afterwards the Ferns had a bit more to deal with. Scotland were firmly in control and creating shot after shot. Nayler made a couple decent saves, then Caroline Weir dropped a shoulder to beat Percival and whacked one off the crossbar. A few subs were made by Heraf at the break, by the way. On came Anna Green for CJ Bott, Hannah Wilkinson for Annalie Longo and Liz Anton for Katie Bowen (KB who was making her 50th appearance for the Ferns). Bott had been struggling with injury but it’s cool to see the new coaching team getting players out there in these games.
Despite all that the score was still 1-0. The Ferns eventually settled after all those changes and it was one of the subs, Anna Green, who almost levelled things with a great left-footed volley after Liv Chance’s corner hadn’t been full cleared. The keeper was beaten all up but the ball came back off the crossbar. Obviously someone put a couple too many coats of paint on the goal-frames.
Another corner routine with 73 minutes gone might have led to famous moment after Wilkinson cleverly stepped over the low cross and Hearn ran onto it and gave it a sweet strike towards the goal… but Scotland’s number one, Lee Alexander, made a brilliant stretching save with her foot, turning the ball onto the post where it bounced clear. (Alexander: “I was really happy with that save. I just tried to get any part of my body on the ball and fortunately enough it’s hit off the post and then bounced away. After that we scored the second goal which really sealed the win for us.”)
Yeah, five minutes later Scotland went and made it 2-0. Lisa Evans finished it off after Cuthbert had broken the defence and that probably killed the spirits. Katie Rood came on for Gregorius for the last ten or so minutes but 2-0 was how it ended. Interesting that Ali Riley suggested the team weren’t really playing together towards the game-plan, that things were a little disjointed. It’s understandable given there’s a new manager – if anything that just reinforces the need for this team to play as many games as possible (same with the All Whites, too).
Lucky for them then that they had a rematch within a couple days. This time there were two changes, with Green coming in for Bott as a straight swap (almost, Green did switch flanks) while Longo dropped back to the bench to allow Abby Erceg to make her blessed return. Which obviously meant a bit of a switch-up elsewhere, specifically Ali Riley moving up into a wide midfield role, just as happened against Thailand in the second game. Obviously it’s not her best position but with her ability to cross the football as well as her pace it’s never going to be a bad option, particularly with so many quality fullback options. Greenie played on the left and Stott moved out to right back, which is where she plays at club level, so that Erceg could partner Moore.
It looked good, too. The Ferns started much brighter and seemed to step it up with their physicality. Anna Green had another impressive dig from distance, this one floating narrowly over the top, while it took another top stop from Alexander to deny Riley when she snuck through. Probably shoulda scored, to be fair. But good pressure, good energy from the Ferns. Winning the ball in dangerous areas and defending much more stoutly – which was crucial after a couple mistakes led to goals last time.
But then Scotland scored. The kiwi side were caught playing a little too narrow, Fiona Brown (Ali Riley’s Rosengard teammate) had heaps of room to put in a fine cross and Jane Ross turned it inside the far post only five minutes out from half-time. Rachel Corsie had already put one in the net but her strike was disallowed for an earlier foul. No such escape this time.
They say that right before the break is the worst time to concede. Realistically there’s no good time to concede, so it’s a silly cliché, but the Ferns put it to the test anyway by then conceding again soon after the resumption. Scotland came out positive and Brown, having set up the first goal, got herself the second after holding off Stott’s challenge and slamming the ball past Nayler in goal. Basically three minutes after the kickoff. Heraf had already shown his intentions by replacing Green with Katie Rood at HT and they go ahead and concede almost immediately. Conclusion: conceding right after half-time is just as bad as conceding right before it.
Nayler made a strong stop off Cuthbert later on and Steph Skilton was introduced for the Ferns in another sign of aggressive intent. Annalie Longo got a run for the last twenty but other than a couple set pieces there wasn’t a bunch of clear sights of goal for the Ferns. Victoria Esson came on and took the gloves for the last five and Emma Rolston made her senior international debut at the end. A better performance, you’d have to say, but they weren’t able to supress the individual talents in that Scottish team for ninety minutes.
Clearly nobody’s gonna be much happy with conceding four goals and scoring none in 180 minutes of footy. Competitive performances that end in narrow defeats, usually without a goal, are what we tend to see from the Ferns at major tournaments and that’s what they’re trying to improve on. This is how that happens. Gotta play these teams and test themselves at this level and hope that next time will be better.
In the meantime, big winners here would appear to include Sarah Gregorius and Abby Erceg, naturally, for easing back in so comfortably to the national team. Olivia Chance is up there too, starting both games after making a similar impact in Thailand. Nineteen different players got out there and this was with a couple of NZ’s better players injured too. Coulda done better but it’s something to build on.
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