Kosovo Women U19 V Scotland Women U19 – UEFA Women’s Under 19 Euro Championship League B Group 4 (11/04/2022)
Not the nicest of days on Falkirk today but at least the rain wasn’t too bad as I made the short five minute drive to the Falkirk Stadium for the meeting of Kosovo and Scotland’s women’s under 19’s sides. It’s a bonus of having a stadium that can hold age group international games on my doorstep, and even better that it was on my day off. Went for a walk through the Helix Park across the road from the stadium with the dog before heading to the game, a nice walk with some water for the dog to go in and just a short walk to the Kelpies.
I got to the stadium about twenty to three, went to grab a copy of the free programme and a team sheet before heading in but was told they didn’t have any, saw a programme on eBay but it had since sold. Spotted a guy handing out team sheets as I got to the seats but just missed him, luckily saw him again and grabbed a team sheet. Treated myself to a steak pie pre match which went down a treat and warmed me up nicely.
Got a seat on the halfway line at the back of the lower part of the stand which gave me a good view, and kept me out of the rain but didn’t make it any warmer with Falkirk Stadium only having three stands, as the wind blew through to the main stand.
With nine minutes gone it was 1-0 to the Kosovans after a great run from Fortesa Berisha which caused the Scotland defence trouble, the ball was turned into her own net by captain Jessica Broadrick.
A near instant reply for Scotland as London Pollard broke into the box and found herself one on one with the keeper and calmly slotted past Demiri to bring the teams level again.
With halftime fast approaching Scotland took the lead through a deflected shot from Eilidh Adams as it looked to be a harmless effort but every goal counts.
A fairly even first half with neither side really getting a firm hold on the game, Scotland just edged it as they created the more chances and deserved their 2-1 lead at half time but Kosovo gave a good account of themselves.
Managed to grab a programme as the second half started as I asked someone working for Scottish FA if they had any and she came up a cropper returning from the tunnel with a handful in her pocket. I’m not sure who she is but if on the off chance your reading this, thank you once again as she went out of her way to seek out the tournament director.
The second half started as the first had been, with both sides matching one another nicely and playing out an end to end game. Kosovo made a change with them switching keepers with Djellza Mehmeti coming on to replace Alma Demiri, the new keeper made herself know as she was very vocal when communicating to her defence.
Dog watch once again returned as with the lack of the fourth stand coming in handy as I spotted a spaniel running through the field opposite me.
In the 92nd minute following a scramble inside the Scotland six yard box Kosovo drew level as the Doruntina Kryeziu managed to strike into the bottom left corner.
Minutes later Bayley Hutchison broke the offside trap and the keeper to the ball, neatly knocking it around the keeper and passing into an empty net from outside the box to send Scotland once again into the lead.
After an uneventful 45 minutes the second half sprung into life in time added on and although Scotland came away with the win, I felt that the way the game was played a draw would have been a fair result.
So onto my ratings…
Ticket Price – Free Entry
Programme Price – Free
Programme Rating – 7/10
Refreshments – 7/10
Stadium Facilities – 5/10
Getting To Stadium – 8/10
Stadium Rating – 7/10
Thanks for reading my thoughts on Kosovo Women U19 against Scotland Women U19.
Daz Carding
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