Ottawa Fury News Release - www.ottawafury.com
Thursday, March 1, 2012
OTTAWA, Ont. - Ottawa Fury W-League Alumni Robyn Gayle subbed on in the 70th minute and went on to score the match winner in the 92nd minute to help Canada prevail over Italy 2-1 in their second match at the Cyprus Women’s Cup. Canada carried a 1-0 lead at halftime on the shoulders of Christine Sinclair’s 131st international goal, but the Italians equalized second into the second half.
The match looked destined for a draw until Sinclair played a cross into the box where it was headed down by Chelsea Buckland, and after two players tangled for the ball, Gayle smashed home a top-corner finish for the win.
"John (Herdman) gave me the nudge to go forward," said Gayle after the game.
"I just kept my run going, Kaylyn Kyle kind of set a nice pick for me and I just placed it in."
Earlier in the day in Group B, Scotland bounced back from a tournament-opening 5:1 thrashing at the hands of Canada to defeat the Netherlands 2:1 in Nicosia.
The results leave Canada top of Group B and the favourite to advance to the Cyprus Cup Final on 6 March in Larnaca, barring a set of unforeseen outcomes on 4 March, the final day of group stage play at the tournament.
Canada sits in first place in the pool with six points and a goal difference of six goals to the good. Scotland and the Netherlands both sit behind Big Red with three points respectively, and Italy have been eliminated from contention for the final following their loss today to Canada.
It will now take a wild combination of results on 4 March for either Scotland or the Netherlands to steal first place away from Canada.
Canada’s next match is set for 4 March (14.30 local kick-off) against the Netherlands in Larnaca, Cyprus.
Throughout the 2012 Cyprus Women’s Cup, fans will be able to track the progress of the Canadian team in Cyprus via CanadaSoccer.com, as well as social media platforms on Twitter @CanadaSoccerEN, Facebook, Flickr and CanadaSoccerTV.