CELTIC Ladies maintained their 100 per cent start to the season with an impressive 3-1 victory away to Hibernian in what was a traditional ‘Battle of the Greens’, both sides wearing their home colours. The Hoops dominated proceedings from first minute ‘til last and the scoreline, if anything, flattered the home team, who were unable to cope with the drive, determination and sheer quality in the Celtic side. Pauline Hamill opened the scoring after 13 minutes, showing some impressive striking instincts.

Christie Murray swung in a cross from the right flank to Hayley Cunningham, whose powerful shot was only parried by the Hibs goalkeeper and it was Hamill who was first to react, firing the ball home into the top of the net. The experienced striker doubled Celtic’s lead just seven minutes later following some great link-up play from the Hoops.

Leanne Crichton and Jo Love combined well in the midfield before Love surged forward and threaded the ball through the Hibs defence to Hamill, who showed her composure to slot the ball past the Hibs keeper who had come rushing out of her goal. At that stage of the game it appeared as though it was only a case of how many goals Celtic would score such was their domination of the game but some slack play with 10 minutes of the first-half remaining allowed Nicola Sturrock in to pull a goal back from the home side.

The goal gave Hibs a boost and they were the stronger side up until the break. However, that proved to be a false dawn for the Edinburgh side as Celtic controlled the whole of the second-half. The fact that they only had one more goal to show for their domination – a Jenny Beattie header from a Clare Gemmell corner on the hour-mark – was a mystery to everyone who watched the game. But it was another encouraging sign that Celtic Ladies mean business with the league title their No.1 target this season.

Celtic Ladies coach, Brian Delaney said: “It was an outstanding performance from the team and it was great to watch.”

“We approached the game in a very professional manner knowing that Hibs would be up for this game and we dominated the vast majority of the play.
We worked hard all over the pitch and enjoyed a lot of possession and this is a test that the team has passed with flying colours.”

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