Ladies into the Final

Hibernian Ladies moved into the final of the Scottish Cup after victory over Inverness on Thursday evening. The girls will contest their second final of the season and will face either Aberdeen or Celtic Ladies in the showpiece encounter as they attempt to lift the trophy for the fourth time in their history.

Shelly Kerr returned to the starting XI with Kirsty McBride having to drop out due to work commitments. Hibernian lined up in their usual 4-4-2 formation and immediately tried to press upon Inverness an advantage. The Hibees created an early chance when Suzanne Grant found herself in front of goal, only for her to blast wide from a good position.

 Suzanne Grant was continually in the right place at the right time however; her normal clinical finishing was absent. In the opening period of the game the Scotland striker could have claimed a hat-trick but the opportunities to score were passed up. Hibs were completely dominating the game, when a long ball from Inverness centre half rolled through to Faye, she was adjudged to have picked the ball up from outside the box, the referee awarding a harsh free-kick, fortunately for Hibs, Scott blasted wide.

The pressure from Hibernian was growing and it was only a matter of time before they made the break through. The Inverness goalkeeper was in fine form and made impressive saves from Joelle Murray, Shelley Kerr and Suzanne Grant. Hibs finally made the breakthrough when Joelle Murray played a corner into the near post and Shelley Kerr was on hand to power a header into the back of the net.

Half Time: Inverness 0 Hibernian Ladies 1

The second half was to continue in much the same form as the first had and once again the Inverness goalkeeper thwarted the Hibees effort with a series of spectacular stops. A second goal duly arrived however and again it came from a defender. A well worked move down the right from Joelle Murray found the run of Stacey Cook and she smashed the ball into the back of the net to double her sides advantage.

Inverness did have few moments in the game, former Scottish Internationalist Julia Ralph was always a threat but her lack of composure cost her team dearly, the youngster ran from her own half past three Hibs players and got one-on-one with Gemma Faye, only to fire high over the bar. The miss was to prove costly as Hibs put the game beyond their hosts.

Mandy Burns split the Inverness defence with an excellent pass and Laura Kennedy showed composure to take the ball around the goalkeeper before slotting it into the back of the net. Further chances came and went as Stacey Cook, Suzanne Grant, Mandy Burns and Joelle Murray all went close.

There was never any real danger of there being an upset but this was by no means Hibernian’s best performance of the season, but against a lower league team they kept their shape well and maintained their professionalism. They created many chances and should have really scored more goals, but it is testament to Hibs strength in depth that when the strikers are not always on form they can score from all over the pitch. Hibs march on to their 3rd Scottish Cup Final in a row and they will be looking to retain the Cup in a similar fashion to last year.

Full Time: Inverness 0 Hibernian Ladies 3

Hibernian Ladies: Gemma Faye, Julie Ferguson, Shelley Kerr, Tracy Burns, Frankie Brown, Joelle Murray, Mandy Burns, Stacey Cook, Natalie Ross, Suzanne Grant, Laura Kennedy. Sub: Ally Donnelly.

After the match Scotland Internationalist Julie Ferguson summed up the thoughts of her side by saying: “We are obviously delighted to be in the Scottish Cup Final, it is something that we have enjoyed over the years and we hope that this year will be no different. Tonight’s came was a bit weird - I think because we were expected to win there was an element of nervousness’ about the team, but we came through it and I never felt that we were going to lose the game.

“Joelle Murray was outstanding and kept driving the team forward, we were solid and professional and to get to another final is amazing. The games are coming thick and fast now and every game is now a cup game for us, we know we have to maintain our league form and look forward to getting back to league action on Sunday against Raith Rovers”