SCOTLAND made it three wins from three in the Pinatar Cup but were pushed all the way by a tenacious and hard-working Northern Ireland side who, despite finishing bottom of the four-nation tournament, look to be on the up under Kenny Shiels.
For the third game running, Shelley Kerr mixed it up with five changes from the side which had beaten Iceland on Saturday. Caroline Weir, Hannah Godfrey and Claire Emslie, the only three players to have played in the first two games, were not in the starting line-up.
The game had barely settled down when Scotland conceded their first goal in Murcia. A fine run up the left by Glasgow City winger Lauren Wade was completed with a cross and Rachel Furness rose above the defence to beat Shannon Lynn.
Erin Cuthbert almost immediately carved an opening for Martha Thomas but the West Ham striker, who had scored two on her debut against Ukraine six days earlier, shot weakly past the far post. Despite this quick chance it was Northern Ireland who the far more threatening side in the opening 30 minutes and would have gone two ahead had Rachel Corsie not cleared another Furness header off the line.
Cometh the half hour, cometh the woman and Cuthbert completely changed the outlook of the game with a terrific strike.
Collecting the ball from a throw in she shot with the outside of her foot from 20 yards and the ball swerved away from Jacqueline Burns into the top far corner. Three minutes later, and against the flow of the half, the Scots went ahead when Abbi Grant got her second Scotland goal after scoring the winner against Iceland on Saturday.
Grant took advantage of a mistake by central defender Julie Nelson to slip the ball past Burns from near the penalty spot.
Birmingham City's Grant spurned a great chance to grab Scotland's third five minutes from half time. Set up, almost inevitably, by Cuthbert, she waited until finding a good angle but then sent her shot straight towards Burns.
Manchester Utd winger Lizzie Arnot hit the outside of the post from an acute angle six minutes into the second half as the Scots searched for the third goal which would end Northern Ireland's hopes of getting their first point of the tournament. It should have come ten minutes from time, but Thomas slipped when through on Burns and the chance was lost.
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