Cyprus Cup: Scotland beat Austria 3-1 but fail to reach final

Leanne Ross was among the Scotland scorers in the win over Austria

Scotland produced an excellent second-half to beat Austria, but it was not enough to reach the Cyprus Cup final.

Goals from Jane Ross, Leanne Ross and Lisa Evans won it, with Nicole Billa replying for the Austrians.

South Korea's win over New Zealand ensured they finished top of Group B, with the Scots having to settle for second spot.

That means Anna Signeul's side are likely to face Wales in a match to decide the fifth and sixth places.

The Scots also beat New Zealand and lost to South Korea, who won two and drew one.

Midfielder Kim Little - who had played all 180 minutes of the previous two games - was among the players rested by boss Signeul.

An early touch from goalkeeper Gemma Fay was almost a costly one as she spilled a low shot from Billa, but Austria captain Nicola Burger just failed to take advantage.

Hibernian captain Joelle Murray then made a fine saving tackle on Billa.

Lisa Evans scored a stunning goal to seal the win for Scotland

The Scots soon settled and Murray missed a great chance to open the scoring with a close-range header.

Austria, who will be at the Euro 2017 finals along with Signeul's side, ended the first half as they had started it - on the attack - and it took three excellent saves in as many minutes from Fay to keep the Scots level.

A block by the goalkeeper thwarted Barbara Dunst and, from the corner, Fay smothered a powerful Billa shot.

The duel between the two continued just before the break when the goalkeeper again got the better of the Austrian forward.

Scotland took the lead on the hour. Murray sent in a long free-kick that Jane Ross collected just outside the box before sending a low shot into the corner of the net beyond Manuela Zinsberger.

Shannon Lynn came on for Fay midway through the half, but within minutes she was beaten when Billa finally got her goal.

Evans came close to restoring Scotland's lead 11 minutes from time. She was put through on Zinsberger, but the goalkeeper stretched out a leg to divert her shot for a corner.

The goal was only delayed for a minute. Evans delivered into the area and Leanne Ross, who had replaced Fiona Brown, fired the ball home.

It got better for Scotland when Lizzie Arnot surged forward and picked out Evans, who drilled a 25-yard effort into the top corner to seal the win.

Match reaction

Scotland head coach Anna Signeul: "We're all proud. That was a great performance.

"We knew Austria were very hard to break down and very physical. We stood up for the battle and played much faster than we did against South Korea.

"It was also good for Gemma to get game time. She made three very good saves at the end of the first half.

"Lisa really played on her strengths today.

"She played with speed, got the ball in front of her and that was a great third goal. She was brilliant defending as well."