On a day when Aberdeen Sports Village was visited by nearly every possible weather condition, Scotland's Women beat the Cameroon Olympic team 2-0 on Sunday. The weather was not kind to those of the 1,000 supporters who missed out on getting one of the seats in the grandstand and had to cope with the changeable weather throughout the ninety minutes. Much of the colour in the stands came from the Cameroon support who made sure their team know they were right behind them.
Jeanette Yango protects the ball from Megan Sneddon (c) GER HARLEY | SportPix
Cameroon put Scotland's back four under a lot of pressure in the first half but they stood up to the challenge without any panic. Shannon Lynn, getting a rare start for the national side in goal, relaxed as the game moved on after some rather too quick releases of the ball. Lynn was only called into action twice during the game as she was well supported by the ten players in front of her. As Cameroon were the home side of the game, it was only right I suppose that they took the game to the visitors. The game was part of their preparations for the Olympic Games so were wanting to hone their game plans. While quick and athletic, they did lack a cutting edge when chances did present themselves. Aberdeen City Council made sure the grass pitch was in immaculate condition which put Scotland at a disadvantage. The grass was left rather longer than the artificial pitches the Scottish players are used to playing on for their league games so were caught out a few times when the ball was held up during a move.
However, despite some robust tackling from the home side in the second half and what looked like a nasty head knock to Rhonda Jones, Scotland Coach Anna Signeul was pleased to report in the post game interview that Scotland came though unscathed. She was pleased to see another clean sheet recorded by her charges which will boost the confidence of keeper Lynn. There were a couple of debutants in Eilish McSorley and Lana Clelland with those players drafted into the Team GB squad posted missing. This allowed some of the rest of the squad to show that they can step up when the need arises which augurs well for the preparations for the final two EURO2013 qualification games against Wales and France.