Wales 0 Czech Republic 0
Wales maintained their unbeaten record at the Cyprus Women’s Cup after a goal-less draw with the Czech Republic in an entertaining game.
Jayne Ludlow’s side had plenty of chances at the Tasos Marko Stadium through Kayleigh Green and Natasha Harding.
But Wales keeper Laura O’Sullivan also had to be in fine form to protect that unbeaten record with Wales having opened the tournament with victory over Hungary on Wednesday.
O’Sullivan made several fine forms while a block by Gemma Evans thwarted Petra Bertholdova when she looked set to score.
Rachel Rowe, Evans and and Angharad James had further chances to strike for Wales while a fine move started by Jessica Fishlock almost forced an own goal.
“I think the second game here is always the hardest because you are have such a short turn around from the first game,” said Fishlock.
“It was frustrating. We couldn’t quite get our attacking game going, which is a shame. But defensively I thought we were strong and again showed that we’re a really hard team to beat.
“I think Czech Republic were really dangerous in set plays and they were always going to pose a threat from there but Laura O’Sullivan was fantastic and came and took everything.
“She really nullified that threat for them, which was great for us.”
But it shows the progress Wales have made that they lost to the Czech Republic and Hungary in last year’s tournament.
Fishlock added: “Since last year, I think we’ve grown.
“You can see that from our performance against Hungary and again this performance. We’re growing and we’ve just got to keep moving forward, take the positives and work on the things that we probably didn’t do well enough.
“That’s normal from this tournament. All in all, I think two great games and two great results.”
Ludlow’s squad face the Republic of Ireland in their group game on Monday before final days on March 8 decides the rankings as Wales look to better last year’s sixth spot.
“I think it’s going to be a good game,” said Fishlock. “After today both teams will have two days rest, which is nice.
“I think hopefully we can get back to the way we want to play, cause some threats and who ever wins on Monday will go on to potentially win the group which is something we want to do.”
