Celtic Ladies win seven goal thriller

Kayleigh Cameron
CELTIC Ladies recorded their first victory with an impressive 4-3 victory over Kilmarnock on Wednesday night.

Scottish internationalist Jo Love marked her debut for the Hoops with a goal, while Hayley Cunningham scored twice and Irish striker Becky Stokes was also on target.

It was a well-deserved win for the Hoops, though they had to fight back from a goal down after Kilmarnock took the lead on 10 minutes. Toni Mason fired home for the visitors after Celtic had failed to clear a corner.

But the goal only seemed to fire the Celts up and both Karen McInally and Hayley Cunningham went close on a number of occasions before Stokes grabbed the equaliser just before the half-hour mark.

From there on in, Celtic took control of the half and went ahead through a stunning solo effort from Hayley Cunningham.

Showing tremendous skill and composure on the ball she pulled the ball out of the air from keeper O’Donnell’s long clearance forward, drove through the middle of the park and blasted home from 25 yards.

And Cunningham added her second to put Celtic 3-1 ahead when she converted a penalty after McInally had been pushed in the area.

However, the Hoops started the second-half slowly and Kilmarnock found themselves right back in the game after a speculative cross into the box evaded O’Donnell at the back post to make it 3-2.

Debut Ghirl Jo Love restored Celtic’s two-goal advantage with an exquisite lob from the edge of the box.

A tense finish was ensured when Kilmarnock brought the score back to 4-3 from another set piece but Celtic held on for what was a well-deserved and momentous first victory.

Speaking after the game, manager John Holt was delighted with the result and performance.

“Apart from the first 20 minutes I felt as though we dominated and at times played really good football,” Holt said.

“We scored some brilliant goals and there were positive performances throughout our side. The goals we conceded were disappointing and we were caught out on two set-pieces, but these are things that can be sorted out at training. Most importantly we are delighted to get the three points.”