Wales women keep Euro 2013 play-off hopes alive

Republic of Ireland 0-1 Wales (June 16)

Wales 5-0 Israel (June 20)

Wales’s women completed a successful few days last night as they recorded a comfortable 5-0 win over Israel in their Euro 2013 qualifier Group 4 encounter at Wrexham’s Racecourse Ground.

Nearly 1,000 fans watched Wales thrash Israel at the Racecourse Ground to move to second in their Euro 2013 qualifying group, behind the unbeaten French. Picture: Flickr, blogdroed

Bristol Academy striker Natasha Harding recorded a first-half hat-trick as Israel suffered another thrashing – they have now conceded 33 goals in just seven qualifying fixtures, and even trailed Scotland 7-0 at half-time of their encounter last weekend.

Sarah Wiltshire and Hannah Keryakoplis also made their mark on the scoreboard as Jarmo Matikainen’s side moved ahead of Scotland in the Group 4 standings – although Scotland, who have two games in hand, will regain second spot if they get a point from their fixture tonight against the Republic of Ireland in Cork.

Wales win group at Algarve Cup after defeating Hungary

Wales’s women will face Norway tomorrow for seventh place in the prestigious Algarve Cup after defeating Hungary 2-1 last night to win Group C.

One goal in each half wrapped up the three points as Wales marched on with an unbeaten record, having already seen off hosts Portugal 1-0 and playing out a 0-0 draw with the Republic of Ireland.

They will play Norway, a traditional powerhouse in the women’s game and four-time Algarve Cup champions, who finished bottom of Group B, in the seventh/eighth place classification match at the Municipal Stadium in Quarteira. Only teams from Groups A and B can win the annual invitational tournament, but the Welsh will have the opportunity to stake their claim for a place in the top two groups at next year’s event.

Wales's women line up before their opening fixture at the Algarve Cup - an impressive 1-0 win over Portugal, which came courtesy of an injury time winner from Angharad James, a goal hotly dispute by the hosts

Wales, who are ranked 46^th in the world – behind all three group rivals – secured the win thanks to two goals from striker Helen Lander. The win extended Wales’s unbeaten run to five internationals following a European championship qualifying win over Israel and draw with Scotland in the autumn.

The Welsh team also topped Group C in last season’s tournament, but came through the group stage unbeaten for the first time since the competition was inaugurated in 1994.

Jarmo Matikainen’s side got off to a perfect start at the Estádio Municipal in Santo Antonio against the eastern Europeans, with Chelsea goal machine Lander notching her 21^st international goal with just 10 minutes on the clock.

The striker then doubled her tally for the match within five minutes of the second period before Fanny Vago pulled a goal back for Hungary to set up a nervy final 20 minutes.

With Portugal defeating the Republic of Ireland 2-1 in Faro, a draw would only have been enough for Wales to qualify for the ninth-place match and an encounter with China, who beat them into seventh place 12 months ago.

But Wales held on for the win, prompting Lander, 25, to praise her teammates and predict a bright future for the national side. The average age of the starting XI against Hungary was just 24 years old, and the side included two teenagers – Hannah Keryakoplis and Hayley Ladd.

“Good, professional performance today,” Lander told her Twitter followers. “Made it hard towards the end but deservedly held out. Big shout out to our kids over here.”

This post is also published at The Cardiffian.