North Wales girls dazzle in a narrow Cymru defeat in Italy

Mayzee Davies’ first start for Cymru tonight was a resounding success.

The Manchester City defender from Flint was outstanding at the back in Wales’ 1-0 Nations League loss to mighty Italy in Monza.

And the game featured another North Wales highlight as Trawsfynydd forward Mared Griffiths came on as a second-half substitute.

The 19-year-old Davies, who had previously earned three full Cymru caps as a substitute, was given a first start by head coach Rhian Wilkinson and repaid that faith with a sparkling effort in the defence which had BBC Wales summarisers lavishing praise.

She was named Player of the Match by ex-Wales international Gwennan Harries.

Former Cymru manager Jayne Ludlow and experienced Wales international Nia Jones commented in the BBC studio after the match on how well Davies handled what would have been a partisan atmosphere at the U-Power Stadio Brianteo, which has a capacity in excess of 17,000.

Wilkinson has been keen to emphasise the Nations League is preparation for Euro 2025 and that became clear when 17-year-old Mared Griffiths was handed her debut in place of Ceri Holland on 68 minutes.

Griffiths recently made major headlines when she scored twice for Manchester United in a 6-0 FA Cup victory over Wolverhampton Wanderers.

She spent a lot of time in the spotlight during the build-up to tonight’s match and handled everything superbly, putting in a lot of effort and pacy runs up front when the opportunity to attack presented itself.