Scotland followed up their win against Ukraine with a 4-2 success against Albania which temporarily put them in first place of qualification Group 11 for the UEFA European Women’s Under-19 Championship in Slovakia.

With Austria not playing until later that day, Scotland had the chance to pile on the pressure on their rivals. Lia Tweedie, Kirsty Howat, Kirsty Hanson and Carla Boyce were the scorers as Scotland ran out clear winners.

Having started well in the first match against Ukraine, Scotland continued much in the same way and it took them only nine minutes to open the scoring as last game’s impact sub Lia Tweedie converted a Sarah Clelland assist.

It was Tweedie who was to play a part in Scotland’s second goal, too, as she laid on Kirsty Howat’s strike in the 20th minute.

Albania were quick to reply, though, and Franja eventually scored for them after Flaherty had just saved a shot from Behluli.

Just four minutes before half time, Scotland were clearly not ready to rest on their laurels as Hanson made it 3-1 from a Erin Cuthbert assist.

The half ended in cruel fashion for Scotland as Gjegji pulled one back in the third minute of added time.

Scotland coach Gareth Evans made two changes for the second half, with Carla Boyce in for Kirsty Hanson and Chelsea Cornet replacing Howat. It paid off as Scotland were gaining more and more control of the proceedings and forced a series of corners and saves.

Substitute Boyce more or less confirmed Scotland’s victory in the 74th minute when she tucked away a Cuthbert assist for her team’s fourth goal.

Consequently, the game became even more one-sided, with Albanian goalkeeper Raxhimi stopping a good amount of shots before the final whistle. With 12 attempts on goal compared to four and over four times more attempts than their opponents in total, no one would argue that Scotland didn’t deserve to win.

However, their hardest task yet will be facing main rivals Austria, who looked very impressive in their 8-1 routing of Albania and could yet overtake Scotland in the table if they win against Ukraine.