Smith hands victory to England
Thursday, April 21, 2005
Article summary
England 2-1 Scotland The UEFA WOMEN'S EURO 2005™ hosts win courtesy of a last-gasp Julie Smith own goal.
Article body
England 2-1 Scotland
Fleeting moment
Scotland, who had narrowly missed out on a play-off place for the EURO, looked set to take a creditable draw from their trip south, as captain Julie Fleeting equalised Amanda Barr's opening goal for England with a fine free-kick. Barr had earlier had a penalty saved, with England leading 1-0.
'Just tipped it'
Yet any blushes were spared when Eniolu Aluko broke down the right flank deep into stoppage time, and her cross deflected in off the unfortunate Smith. England coach Hope Powell said the result was deserved on the balance of play: "The second half was a lot better than the first and I think we just tipped it. We kept believing in ourselves and went for the win, we passed it a lot better and created a lot of chances.
'Good practice'
"The disappointing thing is we didn't score more goals but I can't take anything away from Scotland. It was a hard-fought contest and good for us leading up to the [UEFA] European [Women's] Championship."
