England women beat Scotland in opening World Cup meeting.

England women beat Scotland in opening World Cup meeting.

So there you were thinking understandably that the football season was well and truly over. In a sense it has but not before the ladies tell us and besides men would never dare to argue the point. Here was conclusive evidence that far from being at an end the season is once again doing a spot of overtime. We are now here in early June and England women's footballers have showed us quite impressively that anything the men can do they can do just as well.

In England's  businesslike 2-1 victory over a brand new Scotland team, the signs were both encouraging and positive but not without the traditional jitters for the England football team. When was it ever easy for either the men or women at a football World Cup although for the men last year there was a radical departure from the norm. But there was the failure to reach a World Cup Final for the first time in 53 years which still sticks in a disappointing craw?

For the England Lionesses, as they should be rightly called, we were once again treated to another very competent demonstration of the game's finer arts. Although still in its relative infancy, the giant strides that the English girls have now made can only bode well for the future. In fact there was a technical correctness and an adherence to all of the game's forward thinking theories. For the male chauvinists who still believe that women should never be allowed anywhere near a training pitch this was the most emphatic kick in that part of the anatomy which really hurts.

In the heart of France at a time when the vineyards are producing their sweetest grapes for their wine and the boulevards of Paris are beginning to open up their cafes for cafe au lait with the best in baguettes, football is still making its grand pronouncements. Most of France is still in a state of mild ecstasy after that unforgettable footballing masterclass and 4-2 World Cup Final victory over Croatia last year. You can hardly blame them of course but for the England women this had to be the perfect chance  to claim their moment of one upmanship over their cross Channel rivals.

The current World Champions are of course the USA which almost seems barely believable given the comparative newness of the game in the country. You're almost reminded of that ill fated World Cup men's match 69 years ago when a Haitian forward named Joe Gaetjens scored the only goal of the game against an England team for whom the captain Billy Wright must have been as shocked and dumbfounded as the whole of the England team. How on earth did it come to pass that America had beaten England at English soccer? It would never be allowed to happen again but it has happened from time to time and even now an air of incredulity hovers over the result.

But now the England Lionesses were far more concerned with the brass tacks of victory in a game that had much more than fierce local rivalry with their famous Scottish foes at stake. Here there were no grandiose claims that Scotland would win the World Cup and nobody even as remotely delusional as one Ally Macleod whose haggard features will live long in the memory. Poor Ally. Somebody should have told him that Scotland were never likely to win the Jules Rimet Cup even if he thought they certainly would.

These are far more restrained times and there were never likely to be any broken Wembley crossbars or huge divots of ripped up grass as seen in England's Home International finale against the Scots in 1977. Now Scotland would appear to be far more philosophical about their current fortunes and it could never be forgotten that England boss Don Revie did once jump onto the Saudi Arabia gravy train eventually.

The England ladies though did take an enormous scrap from the male copybook with a clever and adventurous approach which often left the Scots running into cul-de-sacs. Their football had a breezy co-ordination and easy on the eye fluidity which may have taken the men by complete surprise. The passing was crisp, sharp, quick witted and almost worldly. At times you began to think that the ladies had been closely watching the likes of Jessie Lingard, Dele Alli, Harry Kane, Jordan Henderson and John Stones.

Once England had taken the lead with a penalty from the eternally spritely and nippy Nikita Parris, they were never likely to pull on the brakes because Scotland are still serving their international apprenticeship, novices and tyros with perhaps a great deal to learn about the game. Once Lucy Bronze, Millie Bright, Keira Walsh, Alex Greenwood, Jill Scott and Fran Kirby had all established a tight grip on the game with their bright and attractive passing patterns, Scotland could never really make any kind of headway back into the game.

Come the second half and the Scottish collective of  Sophie Howard, Rachel Corbie, Jennifer Beattie, Nicola Docherty, Christie Murray, Caroline Weir, goal scorer Claire Emslie, Kim Little and Erin Cuthbert bravely took the game to England. Sadly the roads were blocked, the middle of the pitch now no more than a desolate wasteland for Scotland and the match increasingly England's property if only just in the end. Scotland imposed themselves much more assertively on the game but had no way of penetrating a well equipped English defence.

Just before the end of the first half England extended their lead when Helen White picked up the ball from the neatest and most intricate of build ups just outside the Scottish penalty area. White turned, shifted the ball smartly onto her other foot and slotted the ball smoothly past the Scottish keeper.

During the second half Scotland proceeded to show the more dangerous side of their attacking character with movements that were much more threatening and constructive. And yet it was never quite good enough. Claire Emslie did finish off with a firmly struck shot that almost seemed to be passed into the net. For Scotland though the bagpipes were not skirling, there were none of those glorious flourishes of Jimmy Johnstone, Tommy Gemmell, Bobby Murdoch, Joe Jordan, Archie Gemmill or Kenny Dalglish if only because these were the Scottish ladies and the sisters were undoubtedly doing it for themselves.

But seriously this is not the place for any patronising comments because women's football is now firmly on a level playing field with their male colleagues. Still, the sight of a former Manchester United and England defender in charge of the England women's game does appear slightly amusing. You began to wonder what Phil Neville's boss Sir Alex Ferguson would have made of one of his former charges as manager of an England women's team. You could only imagine.