As the fourth official’s board was raised into the air at the start of the second half, you could almost feel the mood among the home fans inside the Joie Stadium lifting, their heartbeats stirring, their underbrewed cups of tea feeling just that little bit warmer. Not because the half-time DJ was wrapping up a rather noisy set. Well, perhaps for some. But principally because of the sight of a Dutchwoman wearing black gloves. Vivianne Miedema was coming on.
It was not that the player going off, the young winger Lily Murphy, had not played well. On the contrary, the 19-year-old held her own, starting against one of the best defences in Europe in the absence of the injured wingers Aoba Fujino and Lauren Hemp, and with Khadija “Bunny” Shaw’s hamstring problem ruling her out too, which had led to Mary Fowler playing centrally.
