Four years after quitting football due to severe depression, Fran Kirby marked her return to health and happiness by scoring the opening goal of a desperately needed England victory.
A win which keeps the Lionesses’ hopes of progressing to the knockout stages of Canada 2015 very much alive was sparked by a combination of Kirby’s incision and the introduction of Karen Carney. After creating the Reading striker’s opener, Carney headed England’s late second in front of a capacity 13,000-plus crowd at a sun-dappled Moncton Stadium.
A stoppage-time goalkeeping error by Karen Bardsley allowed the substitute Fabiola Ibarra to reduce the deficit but Mark Sampson’s side remain optimistic before Wednesday’s decisive game against Colombia in this most open of groups.
In the wake of Tuesday’s 1-0, defensively minded defeat against France, Sampson had pledged to prove England were not a “one-trick pony”. Sure enough, containment tactics were replaced by a new found spirit of adventure reflected in a reshuffled, positionally rotated starting XI.
Fara Williams was liberated from an unfamiliar anchoring role against Les Bleues and after Tuesday’s unexpected deployment in left midfield Lucy Bronze reverted to her preferred right-back station. Toni Duggan and Kirby, making a first World Cup start, joined Eniola Aluko on an attacking mission. With unfancied Colombia astounding almost everyone by beating France earlier in the day the stakes were upped appreciably. Sampson’s players knew that overcoming Mexico had suddenly become imperative.
Amid this mood of increased urgency an initially rather jerky and disjointed England struggled to put their coach’s “front-foot” theories into practice. Without looking exactly cohesive, Leonardo Cuéllar’s side were certainly lively and Veronica Perez provoked a moment of mild panic in the Lionesses’ rearguard when she directed the most acrobatic of volleys on to the roof of the net.
There was a definite sense of relief when, with 20 minutes gone, England had a shot on target, Kirby forcing Cecilia Santiago into a fairly routine save after clever build-up play from Jill Scott and Bronze.
That cameo apart, Cuéllar’s supposedly vulnerable defence was not proving anything like as accommodating as advertised while his forwards possessed a decent change of pace. Fortunately for Sampson they were betrayed by consistently wayward final balls.
England’s coach sported a severe new haircut and, early on, he could have done with some similar sharpness from several of his personnel. Granted Kirby was giving Bianca Sierra, Mexico’s left-back, a torrid time but England struggled to establish a rhythm.
Even so they might have taken the lead had Scott not narrowly failed to connect with Kirby’s deflected shot while Williams sent an audacious 40-yard lob fractionally over the bar.
A little later Aluko was allowed to run with the ball before despatching a shot which bounced off the top of the bar from just outside the area with Santiago beaten.
With England now in the ascendant it was no surprise that Cuéllar had replaced the struggling Sierra with Valeria Miranda for the second period. That half had begun with his namesake Renae Cuéllar very nearly scoring. When Bardsley failed to deal with a back pass it ended up rebounding off Laura Bassett before falling conveniently into Cuéllar’s path. English hearts were in mouths but Bardsley atoned for her earlier misjudgment by saving splendidly with her legs.
Williams would surely have broken the impasse had her long-range shot not been deflected wide but England suffered a setback when Claire Rafferty, so important at left back, limped off following a foul by Stephany Mayor.
Canada has yet to be wowed by this World Cup; it is still a man’s game as far as the coaches are concerned; grass would give this tournament more distinction; and Fifa – unsurprisingly – has a lot to answer for
No matter, Mexico were wobbling and Santiago did well to turn Aluko’s low shot around a post and away for a corner. When another corner, at the other end, was curled in by Mónica Ocampo it eluded all-comers before grazing the bar.
Then, just as their supporters were becoming resigned to imminent disappointment, England rediscovered their cutting edge. Sampson has every right to claim this “new dawn” was down to inspired substitutions because shortly after replacing Scott with Karen Carney he watched Carney play Duggan in.
She lost possession but the ball spun free for Kirby who wrong-footed a couple of defenders before her toe-poked shot trickled over the line after striking the inside of a post.
There was still time for Carney – arguably marginally offside – to head Alex Greenwood’s fabulous cross past Santiago, and for Bardsley to spill Charlyn Corral’s shot, permitting Ibarra to pounce on the rebound. But England still have it all to play for.
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