Hibernian Ladies 6 – Aberdeen FC Ladies 2

 

Aberdeen travelled to Dalkieth on Sunday to play league leaders Hibernian Ladies. The visitors elected for a 3-4-3 formation against the top scoring side in Scotland in a bold move which certainly saw a lot of goals but unfortunately at the wrong end.

 

Hibs pressed early spending extended spells in the Aberdeen half and several chances created. A corner was cleared by McLellan then Hibs released Little on the right who squared in for Suzanne Grant, whose poor finish was blocked by Don’s keeper Chatham. The Dons tried a long ball forward to Stirling but there were signs of things to come as experienced Scotland defender, Kerr shielded well killing the danger. Another foray into the Hibs half was snuffed out by the well organised defence who were giving nothing away.  

 

Scotland striker, Suzanne Grant for Hibs latched onto a long ball forward wrong footing Hather before having a ping at goal which again Chatham blocked. Another home attack saw all defenders involved Hamill closing down but Hather had the ball stolen off her, a pass across the 6 yard line was cleared by Scott, injuring herself in the process and replaced by Small.

 

On 23 minutes the home side finally went ahead, Little receiving a long ball before striding forward and slipping a soft pass to KENNEDY who knocked in from a yard out. A tackle on Hib’s Brown won the Hibees a free kick on their right near the box but the chance was squandered with a header well wide.

 

Again in from the left a cross was headed straight at Chatham who parried, Burns trying a pot shot at the loose ball. Hibs second came on 33 minutes, a long ball to Suzanne Grant on the left who passed inside to LITTLE who sank it from 6 yards. Two minutes later a ball forward from midfield to LITTLE who this time controlled and fired home.

 

A free kick 25 yards out taken by Kennedy round the wall forced a good save low off the Aberdeen stopper but then a  couple of minutes later saw LITTLE net her third.

 

Hibs were well on top now in the midfield able to seek out the strikers with passes at will and only poor finishing by the league leaders and good goal keeping from Chatham keeping the score four until half time.

 

With three minutes until half time, Wright broke forward for Aberdeen and was impeded winning a free kick on the edge of the box. CORSIE Stepped up and hit a high ball home over the head of former Dons keeper .

 

Half Time Hibs 4 – Aberdeen 1

 

Aberdeen pushed from the re-start, Martin earning a free kick wide on the left delivered by Stirling to Hamill’s head but it went high and Hibs broke the attack.

Aberdeen persevered and seven minutes into the half Stirling chased a long ball down then switched to MARTIN who made space before curling a right footer into the net.

 

McBride for Hibs started to come into the game pushing up the left but overran a chance. Shelley Grant collected wide on the right and played a short pass into Kennedy but the Dons defence cleared. The Hibs defence were now sitting on the half way line feeding Aberdeens many clearances back into the danger area at will with Aberdeen making the odd break forward, McLellan curving a shot past the left upright then a corner from Corsie headed past the post.

 

Aberdeen were still under pressure, a poor clearance saw Fergusson launch a shot which Chatham tipped away for a corner. On the break Aberdeen’s Wright rattled the bar then the rebound was blocked on the line by . Aberdeen were a little more in the game but it still seemed just a matter of time before the constant Hibs attacks increased their tally. The breakthrough came 28 minutes into the half, a low ball through the middle for LITTLE to run onto before dribbling past Hather and Chatham then taking her time to pass it into the net.

 

Hibs were well on top again, Kennedy tapping back to Burns who won the first of series of corners with Chatham the hero once more snatching the ball of the head of Kennedy as she pounced on the flag kick. Little and Kennedy combined well to put the latter in a danger position but Taylor tracked back to clear. Two minutes from the end a tussle between Hamill and Little earned Hibs a penalty and Hamill a yellow card. Little stepped up to sink her fourth and Hibs sixth to tie up the points.

 

 Aberdeen team

 

Alana Chatham, Caroline Hather, Rachel Hamill, Paula Scott (Rachel Small), Rachel Corsie, Susan Murray, Chloe Fitzpatrick (Jenni Taylor), Claire Martin, Melissa Stirling, Helen McLellan, Nikki Wright,

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After the euphoria of reaching the Scottish Cup Final in midweek it was back to league business for the Hibernian Ladies and a visit of Aberdeen Ladies. Hibs were without the services of both Louise Young and Allison Donnelly due to work commitments as they made three changes to the side that defeated Newburgh, out went Debbie McDonald, Shelley Grant and Kirsty McBride who were replaced by Joanne Hutcheson, Laura Kennedy and Joelle Murray.

The game started at a frantic pace with Hibernian doing a lot of early pressing. The early exchanges all fell to Hibs with Suzanne Grant and Kim Little causing problems for the Aberdeen defence. The best of the early chances fell to Suzanne Grant, a ball over the top from Stacey Cook found the forward in space and her low shot was saved well by the Aberdeen goalkeeper. Shortly after there was another chance for the same player, this time Julie Ferguson slipped a ball through the Aberdeen defence and Suzanne Grant ran in behind only for the Dons goalkeeper to read the situation and race from her goal blocking the ball at the expense of a corner.

Hibernian made the breakthrough in the twentieth minute, Laura Kennedy picked up the ball wide right and she drove into the eighteen yard box, beating her marker and drilling the ball across the box, Kim Little turning the ball past the Aberdeen goalkeeper. Following the goal Hibernian seemed to step up another gear and were to go onto score another three goals in the next ten minutes as they put the game beyond an Aberdeen side that were at times chasing shadows.

The second goal came after a long ball from Stacey Cook ran through to Suzanne Grant who in turn slipped the ball to Kim Little who smashed the ball into the net. Aberdeen barely had time to draw breath before the ball was back into their net, Shelley Kerr played the ball to Frankie Brown and she passed inside to Kim Little. The forward then played a delightful ball through for Laura Kennedy who scored her 11th goal of the campaign. Two minutes later Suzanne Grant made it 4-0 when she picked up a through ball into the box for an easy tap-in.

With Hibernian so far in front of their opponents they naturally took the foot off the gas and Aberdeen were to make them pay for their slackness as an Aberdeen forward got in behind Shelley Kerr, who was adjudged to have pulled the shirt of the forward. The resulting free-kick was curled past Joanne Hutcheson in the Hibs goal as the Dons pulled one back.

Half Time: Hibernian Ladies 4 Aberdeen Ladies 1

Confident with their three goal lead, Hibernian made three changes five minutes into the second half with Julie Ferguson, Joelle Murray and Suzanne Grant making way for Kirsty McBride, Shelley Grant and Natalie Ross. The changes were not to have the desired effect as Hibs started the half flat and almost lost a goal when a lapse in concentration almost allowed an Aberdeen forward in behind the Edinburgh sides defence but luckily Joanne Hutcheson read the danger to come out and collect the ball. Five minutes later Aberdeen were again causing problems, this time the ball played in from the right was missed by defence and with the Aberdeen left midfielder coming into the box, she took one touch before smashing the ball past the outstretched Joanne Hutcheson.

The Dons sensed they were now in with a chance of causing an upset and they almost grabbed a third goal as Joanne Hutcheson had to make a great save to push the ball over the cross bar. This scare seemed to jolt Hibernian back into action and they once again looked like the team that had dominated the game for long spells. A great ball played forward from Mandy Burns found the run of Kim Little who outran the Aberdeen defence before calmly slotting the ball beyond the Aberdeen goalkeeper.

That goal killed off the Aberdeen hopes and Hibs went close on a couple of occasions, Shelley Kerr looking for her first Hibs goal almost scored but the Aberdeen goalkeeper was up to the task and kept the influential defender out. Again Kim Little was causing problems, as was Kirsty McBride who made run after run into the Aberdeen box. The final goal came when Kirsty McBride made a typical run into the penalty box only for the Aberdeen defender to miss time her challenge and take the legs from McBride, the referee immediately blew for a penalty and up stepped Kim Little to score her fourth of the game. It was Little’s 46th goal of an incredible season for the youngster, her first in senior football.

Hibernian Ladies 6 Aberdeen Ladies 2

Hibernian Ladies: Jo Hutcheson, Shelley Kerr, Suzy Robertson, Stacey Cook, Frankie Brown, Julie Ferguson, Joelle Murray, Mandy Burns, Laura Kennedy, Kim Little, Suzanne Grant. Subs: Shelley Grant, Natalie Ross, Kirsty McBride, Debbie McDonald

Referee: Lorraine Quinn

After the game Julie Ferguson commented: "We started the game full of confidence after last weeks results and we started at a high pace looking to score early. It was a good day for the team and whilst we were really pleased with the result and scoring six goals, to lose two was disappointing as we again caused our own problems. This was a day when the whole squad took part in the game so it was pleasing that everyone was involved we had a full squad available and everyone played their part."

"The season is really becoming hectic now but we are coping well and we still know we have tough challenges around the corner. We are taking one game at a time and trying not to get ahead of ourselves. We are playing well and scoring a lot of goals so we hope that continues, although I bet Kim Little £10 she wouldn’t score four and she did but I will gladly lose £10 every game until end of season if she scores four in every game!"

Richard Payne