Three Games From Treble
Following the euphoria of a Scottish Cup Final
win over Celtic, it was back to league business for Hibernian Ladies
when they faced Aberdeen on Tuesday evening. Manager Cooper decided to
field the same eleven that had clinched silverware just four days
before.
Hibernian started the game at a high tempo
looking for the early goal and an chance fell to Suzanne Grant but the
striker smashed the ball wide of the post. Next up it was Laura Kennedy
following a sweeping move down the left but her first time shot just
skipped past the post. It was all Hibernian in the early stages but the
longer they went without scoring, the more nervous they became and the
pace of the game became frantic.
On the 20 minute mark Hibernian finally took the lead when a corner kick
from Kirsty McBride was headed down by Shelley Kerr and Suzanne Grant
was on hand to smash the ball into the net, giving Hibernian a well
deserved lead. They could have been two up almost 5 minutes later but a
header from Shelley Kerr went just over the bar.
At the other end Aberdeen did have a chance when their powerful centre
half split the Hibernian defence only to smash her shot high over the
bar, a high of relief for Hibs who at this stage in the season cannot
afford to drop any points. The half filtered out with Hibernian on top
but Cooper and Kerr would have been looking for more from their players.
Half Time: Aberdeen Ladies 0 Hibernian Ladies 1
The second half started much like the first with Hibernian on the attack
- once again Suzanne Grant and Laura Kennedy caused problems as they
almost created a second goal of the game, but the Aberdeen goalkeeper
had other ideas and chances came and went. Aberdeen were proving a tough
test for the Hibs team, their youthfulness kept them working hard but
they rarely troubles the Hibernian back four.
Hibs were in the hunt for the killer second goal and they almost grabbed
it through some great work from Natalie Ross, she picked the ball up in
her own half and drove at Aberdeen, her tenacity found her in the box
but once again Hibs were thwarted by the Aberdeen goalkeeper. Almost
immediately the best chance of the game fell to Joelle Murray.
Suzanne Grant forced a save out of the goalkeeper, with the ball
rebounding to Joelle Murray she looked set to score but to her dismay
the ball came back off the post and to the safety of an Aberdeen
defender. The longer the game continued at 1-0 the more nervous Hibs
became frantically hitting the ball whenever it came near them.
The final whistle finally came for Hibernian with them winning the 1-0.
It was by no means a vintage performance from Hibs, but after a mammoth
game on Saturday and a long drive to Aberdeen the most important thing
is that they got the three points. With Glasgow City around the corner
Hibernian will have to up their performance to have any chance of
retaining their title.
Afterwards a relieved Julie Ferguson was happy to see her side pick up
all three crucial points. She said: “The game away to Aberdeen was
always going to be difficult, coming off the back of the Scottish Cup
final. We knew that it was always going to be testing and we are
obviously delighted with the three points, but in terms of performance
we were poor.
“We know the Glasgow City game is coming up on Sunday and we know that
we have to up our performance if we have any chance of beating them.
After Saturday’s game we were on a high but perhaps the game on Tuesday
was what we needed to bring us down to earth – we will be working hard
on the training pitch and off it too assure we are focussed and ready to
go on Sunday, we are all looking forward to the game and hopefully we
can get the result we need”
Full Time: Aberdeen Ladies 0 Hibernian Ladies 1
Hibernian Ladies: Gemma Faye, Julie Ferguson, Shelley Kerr, Stacey Cook,
Frankie Brown, Kirsty McBride, Natalie Ross, Mandy Burns, Joelle Murray,
Laura Kennedy, Suzanne Grant. Subs: Tracey Burns, Ally Donnelly, Debbie
McDonald..
The girls now face Glasgow City in a crunch encounter that will
virtually determine the destination of the Scottish Women’s Premier
League title. While the fate of the title is still in their own hands,
Hibernian know nothing more than victory will suffice, otherwise it will
be their deadly rivals who will clinch the silverware.
Richard
Payne
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