Watson reaches 100 caps for Scotland

Edinburgh Reporter

4 hours ago

Charlotte Watson celebrated her 100th cap for Scotland with a spectacular solo goal, but the Tartan Hearts were broken by a 4-3 scoreline in the second of two hockey Test matches with France at The University of Edinburgh Playing Fields at Peffermill.
The 27-year-old, who also has 34 caps for Great Britain and competed in the Paris Olympics last year, forced a turnover just outside the French D and drove for goal, leaving the defence in her slipstream.
Then the player, who has recently signed to join English club side, Wimbledon, calmy picked her spot before firing in the net after 22 minutes.
The home side were 3-0 down at the time and that sparked a comeback which lead to the Scots equalising at 3-3 with a deflected goal from Sarah Jamieson (Watsonians) 12 minutes later for 3-2 and the leveller arrived from Katie Birch with ten minutes remaining.
That was just after the French goalkeeper, Violette Ferront, made a superb pad save, sticking out her left leg to send the ball to safety.
The aggressive French side, who held the Scots 1-1 in the first test at the same venue on Saturday after losing a practice game 2-1 at Peffermill on Thursday, netted through Yohanna Lhopital after 52 minutes following a penalty corner to stun the home side in their last competitive outing before the EuroHockey Championships in Germany next month.
Delfina Gaspari had opened scoring after 1min 52sec, capitalising on slackness in the Scotland defence, and Eve Verzura scored again seven minutes later with LHopital making it 3-0, chipping the ball over the advancing Scotland goalkeeper, Jessica Buchanan, after 19 minutes making it a long way back for Scotland.
The narrow win is undoubtedly a boost for France who are ninth ranked in Europe, two places below the Tartan Hearts who open their EuroHockey Championship campaign against England on August 10 (9.15am) in Monchengladbach.
Then they play Spain 24-hours later (2.30) and finish their qualifying pool by squaring-up to Belgium on August 13 (11.15).
Chris Duncan, Scotland's head coach, has much to ponder as the clock ticks down towards the EuroHockey Championships, including lack of real penetration in the final third despite enjoying a large slice of possession, and also his side's failure to convert more penalty corner chances, only one taken in ten attempts.
Watson confirmed it had taken over nine years to hit three figures for Scotland but the former Dundee Wanderers player does not see herself playing on to reach 200 caps.
She started her senior international career during a Test match against South Africa in Cape Town in 2016 and progressed to being a member of the Scotland Commonwealth Games squad in 2018 in the Gold Coast in Australia.
Her CV includes scoring the second and clinching goal in the final of the EuroHockey Championships, Second Division, in Glasgow in 2019 as the home side won gold.
She then received a call from the Great Britain selectors and she made here first appearance during a Test match against Japan in Hiroshima before playing in the 2024 Olympics in Paris.
Now she is looking to help steer Scotland to a high placing in the EuroHockey Championships also in Munchengladbach. At her last appearance there she scored a memorable and game-clinching goal as Scotland edged Spain 2-1 to record one of their finest victories in recent times.
Spain were ranked No 8 in the world at the time, Scotland were No 19, but Watson was sent clear by Dunfermline-raised Eve Pearson and she slid the ball low into the right-hand corner for 2-0.
PICTURE: Charlotte Watson is applauded by team-mates as she is presented with her 100th cap by Chris Duncan, Scotland's head coach, before the second Test against France at The University of Edinburgh Playing Fields. Picture Nigel Duncan
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