Glasgow City maintained their excellent start to the season with a very comfortable 4-1 win over Celtic at Petershill Juniors.

A crowd of around 150, saw City start the match in fantastic fashion as they went two goals up inside the first 15 minutes. Jane Sommerville opened the scoring for the home side with a thunderous shot from inside the penalty box after the ball broke loose from a City corner. Ruesha Littlejohn then made it number two with a close range strike from inside the six yard box as once again the visitors failed to deal with a City set piece.

In the second half, City added to their lead after a superb cross from Leanne Ross was met by the head of Suzanne Lappin at the back post. Lappin had been causing the Celtic defence endless problems with her aerial ability and it was only a matter of time before she made one of her headers count.

City then made a number of changes with Suzanne Malone coming on for Ruesha Littlejohn, Emma Fernon replacing Kat Lindner, and Leanne Ross making way for Leanne Crichton. The new look side continued to pressure the Hoops defence and it wasn’t long before Suzanne Malone turned and finished inside the box to make it 4-0. Leanne Crichton nearly made five for the home side, but saw her great individual effort just hit the top of the net, when many thought she had scored.

Celtic pulled a consolation goal back when a rare venture into the City half saw them earn a free kick at the corner flag. The resultant cross was delivered brilliantly into the City danger area and Scotland international Joanne Love took her chance well to head past Laura Williamson in the City goal.

The final score 4-1.

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City Welcome Celtic

This Thursday sees the much awaited Glasgow derby as Glasgow City take on the new Celtic Ladies.

To accommodate the number of spectators expected to attend, City have moved the home fixture from their usual ground of Glasgow Green, to the brand new Petershill Juniors FC in Springburn. Petershill have recently installed the state of the art 3G all weather surface and with Fifa granting their approval licence on Wednesday, the City match will be the first full League game on the surface.

City have started the season very well, winning all three of their opening matches, scoring 16 goals whilst maintaining a clean sheet. Celtic meanwhile had an impressive 4-3 victory over Kilmarnock last week and confidence will be high in the hoops camp.
Good news for City is the return to fitness of Leanne Crichton and Emma Fernon. Both players managed substitute appearances in last week’s League victory over Hamilton and will be pushing for a starting place on Thursday night. Striker Suzanne Malone has also been able to train for the first time this season and according to Manager Peter Caulfield, may make the bench. He said, “Suzanne has been able to take part in the last few training sessions after picking up a knee injury at the Umbro Cup in Manchester. However, she is not fully fit and we won’t be taking any chances with her. She is a fantastic player and it is in her interests as well as our own, that she makes a full recovery. By the time Thursday comes, we may be able to consider putting her on the bench, but only time will tell. Thankfully our three internationalists, Megan Sneddon, Leanne Ross and Suzanne Lappin, all returned from Scotland duty last weekend injury free, so I have my biggest selection headache so far this season.”

Celtic will also be delighted to have midfielder Joanne Love come back fully fit from the Scotland match and Love will be a key player for Celtic on Thursday.

Kick off is 7.30pm and interested spectators will be delighted to know that the Club Bar will be open until 11pm.

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WOMEN’S FOOTBALL: A derby sparks fervour for City - Thursday 30th. August 2007

by Laura Montgomery

TONIGHT Glasgow City take on the new Celtic Ladies in what is being billed as the biggest game of the season so far.

The interest surrounding the derby has been immense and City have moved the game away from their usual home at Glasgow Green to the new Petershill Juniors ground in Springburn.

The venue switch will allow City to accommodate the number of spectators expected to attend and will also be the first league match played on the all- weather 3G surface which has been laid at Petershill.

A new ground, a new surface and a new Premier League team in the shape of Celtic is leaving City boss Peter Caulfield very excited about the match.

He said: "Having Celtic in the league this year is fantastic. They essentially took over Premier League club Arsenal North, but in doing so attracted a number of excellent players. They have also started the season well and their 4-3 win over Kilmarnock last week was impressive.

"However, we have the best squad we have ever had. We have played three games so far and won three, conceding no goals, so our confidence is extremely high.

"The new 3G surface at Petershill is also excellent and although it will be slightly different to what both teams are used to, it should encourage a slick, fast, passing game, which can only be good news for the supporters.

"Our aim is simple this season - we want to win the league. Three points tonight will definitely help us take another step to that goal."

Tonight's kick off is 7.30pm and entry is £3 for adults with children allowed in for free.