Wales v Scotland: Match Report

Scotland were the first to settle and right up until David Edwards scored for Wales they looked very dangerous. After a while, Wales began to look a bit more comfortable after a while, with good play from Gareth Bale, Ashley Williams and Joe Ledley in particular but I had a horrible feeling Scotland were going to score. So when Wales scored it was the most wonderful surprise. Aaron Ramsey’s improvement over the past few months has been almost frightening to watch and he played a huge part in Dave Edwards’ goal. When the ball went in I was so happy. I jumped to my feet and jumped up and down and it was only then I realised I’d let go of my topless water bottle and given the man next to me a nice cold bath.

He didn’t kill me. I think he understood why I was so excited. All the Wales supporters were thrilled to see their country take the lead. I wasn’t that sure it was going to last though. I’ve never seen either of my teams win in person. This is the first time I’ve seen Wales play and I’ve never seen Arsenal win, not once, in thirteen years of supporting them. Even when I went to the Emirates for my Big Brother audition Arsenal went on a four-match run without a win. I’m like the female Arsenal equivalent of Gareth Bale. I’ve got the hair clip and everything.

Scotland seemed a bit shocked after that (I don’t blame them, so was I) and Wales took advantage of this. Aaron was at the centre of things as Simon Church scored his first goal for Wales. He pointed to the sky after he scored his goal, dedicating it to his father who died recently. It was a happy and sad moment all at once.

After being such a key figure in the match, it seemed only right that Aaron should score a goal too. And he got it. But it wasn’t any ordinary goal. It was an amazing solo piece of play that took him apparently effortlessly past Scotland players before putting the ball into the net with a perfect finish. He ran towards the edge of the pitch then did a knee slide. He was almost level with me when he came to a stop. The other players jumped on top of him and I really wanted to join them.

There weren’t any more goals after that but both Wales and Scotland had chances. Scotland looked very lively again when they came back for half-time but again they faded when the Wales defence proved to be as strong as ever. John Toshack did play with three centre backs (which I’m usually against) but Ashley Williams played in front of Lewin Nyatanga and Craig Morgan, more a defensive midfielder than a defender, which gave Wales a more attacking formation. For once there were two strikers and with Aaron coming forward to join in the attacks it was a much more positive performance than the ones I’ve seen on TV recently.

It could have been a lot worse for Scotland. Wales could have had a penalty when Simon Church was brought down by Graham Dorrans – some sources say it was Ched Evans but I think it was Simon unless Dorrans went for both of them. I wasn’t completely sure at the time if it was a penalty but it looked like one when I saw the close-ups on TV. But if Wales had got a penalty, they might have missed it again so in some ways it was probably better for them not to get it. It is thought by many that penalties should be taken by the experienced players. But Wales didn’t really have any! Robert Earnshaw, who scored Wales’ last penalty, was on the bench at the time.

Scotland’s goalkeeper David Marshall, who was only playing because one of Gareth’s Tottenham team-mates broke Craig Gordon’s arm (a coincidence, I’m sure), could have been sent off after handling the ball outside his penalty area, denying Sam Vokes a goalscoring opportunity. The general consensus is that he was allowed to remain on the pitch partly out of sympathy for the Scots and partly because it was a friendly. I personally think Marshall should have gone. It was a friendly but in committing a red card offence, Marshall wasn’t showing friendliness towards the Welsh team, so really the referee shouldn’t have shown friendliness towards him by letting him stay on the field of play. It doesn’t matter too much though, maybe I would have been more fired up about it if Wales hadn’t won but they did so never mind.

And if Aaron, who had a back injury, hadn’t come off after 57 minutes, it’s easy to believe he could have created and scored even more goals for Wales.

Even one goal for Scotland could have given them a lift and there was at least one moment when I thought they were certain to score. But with goalkeeper Wayne Hennessey in such fine form for Wales – some of his saves were outstanding – it really wasn’t Scotland’s day. Gareth, Ashley and Sam Ricketts in particular supported him well in their defensive roles.

However, maybe Scotland shouldn’t have expected too much. The last time Scotland beat Wales, I think of the current Wales side, only Sam Ricketts, Danny Gabbidon and Robert Earnshaw (along with unused substitutes Jason Brown, Jermaine Easter and Andy Dorman) had been born.

The only real disappointments were the booing and the fact that Andy Dorman didn’t come on as a substitute. I don’t want to be mean about Andy, I think he’s amazing but I’m really not sure if he’d get in the squad if all the first-choice midfielders were available. Andy has dreamed of playing for Wales and this could have been his only chance. Wales were 3-0 up and everything. He could have gone one for the last few minutes, he’d have had the experience of playing for Wales and his passion for the country just might have got us a fourth goal. But I hope he really enjoyed just being part of the squad and even more than that I hope I’m wrong and that he’ll get many more chances to play for Wales.

As for the booing, it was really disgusting and unfortunately it came from Cardiff supporters, who booed both Wales’ captain Ashley Williams and substitute Joe Allen, who was making only his second appearance for Wales. I think it was really mean to boo them – and I don’t think the Swansea fans booed Cardiff’s Joe Ledley. I don’t like Swansea but I would never boo Ashley and Joe Allen when they were playing for Wales. Yes they play for Swansea but there aren’t any Swansea players in Wales matches – or Cardiff players either. They’re all Wales players and nothing else matters.