Scottish Women’s Premier League Cup 1st Round

Inverness LFC 0-3 Hibernian Ladies

 

Inverness Ladies were knocked out of the League cup following a battling performance last weekend. The opening fifteen minutes were fairly even before the home side lost two goals in two minutes, both from set pieces, to leave them a mountain to climb. Despite this set back Inverness created a hatful of chances before halftime. Leanne Calder struck the post and Lorraine Cadden blazed wildly over when clean through on goal. The Hibs keeper also produced fine saves from Calder and Laura McLeod. Inverness tried to force the pace in the second half but it was Hibs that scored the decisive third goal on the hour mark to secure their place in the next round. Despite this defeat Inverness can take heart in the fact that they turned in a better performance than last week.

Team

Kim Jappy, Sarah Main, Karen Mason, Claire Mackay, Molly Alexander, Lisa Mackenzie, Finella Annand, Laura McLeod, Lorraine Cadden (Megan McCarthy 75mins), Natalie Bodiam, Leanne Calder (Denise Mackenzie 78 mins).

Hibernian Ladies made it two wins from their opening two fixtures of the season with a comfortable victory over Inverness Ladies at the weekend. Goals from Joelle Murray and a double from Kirsty McBride saw Hibernian safely in the next round of the Premier League Cup where they will now face Aberdeen Ladies.

The pitch was far from ideal as Inverness and Hibernian took to the littered and uneven playing field. The home side had given last season’s champions, Glasgow City, a shock last weekend by taking the lead and the Hibernian players were aware of the dangers they posed. The narrow pitch made the middle of the park congested and Hibernian were struggling to adopt their passing game, instead opting to play route one football that suited the Inverness defenders.

image Despite this it was the visitors from Edinburgh who held the upper hand and were creating all the goal scoring opportunities. Both Kirsty McBride and Stacey Cook went close to giving their side the advantage but found the Inverness goalkeeper in sparkling form. Hibernian eventually made the breakthrough when Lisa Robertson’s cut back from the touch line was met on the run by Joelle Murray, who wasted no time in delivering a sweat left foot strike into the bottom corner of the net.

It did not take Hibernian long to double their lead following the breakthrough, this time Kirsty McBride showing her prowess by scoring a delightful goal straight from a corner kick. Into the second half and Hibernian remained on top, eventually killing off a spirited home side with 20 minutes remaining when Kirsty McBride sprung the offside trap and raced clear before slotting an unstoppable shot into the back of the Inverness net.

Hibernian coach Jimmy Burns was relieved to see his side safely through to the next round, however he knows that Aberdeen Ladies will pose another tricky obstacle for his girls to overcome. Jimmy said: “It was an excellent result given that our preparations were hampered due to illness and it was a depleted squad that made the arduous trip north. At kick off we only had 12 fit players, however we won the game 3-0, again creating a hat full of chances which had we converted would have been a better reflection on the game.

“Inverness themselves created a couple of excellent scoring opportunities , one which came back of the post and another from which

 
Lucie Cook made an excellent save with the game at 2-0 to us. That save proved pivotal as we got our third goal soon after and then went on to dominate the game. The trip to Inverness always proves difficult due to the long journey and teams invariably take a while to settle, this was the case today and we struggled a wee bit in the first period. All in all we did well and are through to the next round securing a clean sheet in a very difficult tie.

“We now have another tough draw against Aberdeen Ladies and a long trip but we will go to win in a positive frame of mind, old cliché I know, but if we are to do anything this season we must win away and we have just won our first two away from home. We face Aberdeen this Sunday at the Hibernian Training Centre so we should have a better idea on strengths and weaknesses following this fixture. I am looking forward to the forthcoming games as we have a real chance of silverware this season but there is a lot of hard work ahead of us.”