Wales needed to improve on their performance following their 8-1 loss against Norway on Monday and they were close to open the scoring with an intercepted break from Meesha Dudley-Jones, allowing her to take the ball upfield and into the path of Peyton Vincze but the keeper regained possession in the box before Vincze could take her shot at goal, reports faw.cymru.
Moments later Denmark opened the scoring on the 10th minute with a goal from Fie Steenburg.
Denmark were looking to extend their lead with another shot at goal on the 21st minute but Wales keeper Grace Burke managed to block their efforts before Hardel fired another from the rebound but it was a great clearance from Wales midfielder Alice Griffiths to keep the score 1-0.
Wales were creating chances and they thought they’d found an equaliser when Cassia Pike took the ball forward and took a strike at goal but the ball was hit wide before the half-time whistle.
Goalscoring opportunities from Peyton Vincze and Cassia Pike in the second half provided hope of equalising but Wales failed to get back into the game.
The final blow came when Emily Jones failed to clear the ball from the box as Denmark fired a second into the back of the net bringing the game to a close.
Wales Manager Jayne Ludlow commented on the result:
“We changed things up today in terms of selection and structure and it was effective. We lost the game 2-0 due to two points in the game that we we’ve caused ourselves our own problems. Instances like these for young players are learning curves.
“There were some situations that arose in the game that we’ve done and as individuals will never do again. That’s what these competitions are all about. It’s about being able to step on an international pitch and learn and then the next game you play, you’re better than the last game and that’s what we’ve done. We’ve proven that.
Ludlow looked back at their performance against Norway:
“The first game we played in this competition, they were dissapointed in themselves, the performance and the result and today was about getting some pride back in that shirt and making sure we’re competing at this level and we did. We created chances but unfortunately we didn’t take them but there were some fantastic individual performances and a collective performance today.
“In the first half, we created two or three good chances. Some days they go in and some days they don’t, unforuntately today they didn’t. The great thing is that we’ve created those opportunities. In the previous game we didn’t so onwards and upwards. The clearence from Alice Griffiths was fantastic but I’m quite harsh with them, we shouldn’t have put ourselves in that position in the first place but the reaction was great.
“We came out to this competition wanting to be able to compete with nations ranked alot higher than us, teams who have been in age group finals for many many years and won tournaments. I’m pleased and proud of the girls that I can come away and go ‘we did that’.”
Ludlow looked ahead to their final match on Saturday against hosts, Bosnia and Hezegovina:
“It would be really nice to get on the plane on Sunday with a win under our belt. We’re going to go hell for leather against Bosnia and Hezergovina and try and get three points out of it. The girls are learning each game we play, the things they’ve learned today they’ll take into the game on Saturday and hopefully we’ll get the result.”
Photo – faw.cymru
