A closely-fought afternoon in the Scottish Capital failed to be accurately reflected in the scoreline, as Motherwell were left to rue their squandered opportunities, with Hibs capitalising on an unpredictable afternoon at a windswept Meadowbank Sports Centre on Sunday.
Jorian Baucom and Eilidh Adams both netted a brace over each half, with Shannon Leishman finding the back of the net in the latter stages of the game.
Head Coach Paul Brownlie made two changes from the defeat to fellow Edinburgh side Hearts over a fortnight ago. Murron Cunningham and Kayla Jardine both returned to the starting XI, with Jo Addie and Sarah Gibb settling for a place on the bench.
With the immense weather conditions persisting under the Meadowbank floodlights, Motherwell started firmly on the front foot, capitalising on the counter-attack and forcing the hosts into trading possession within their own half.
Motherwell skipper Gill Inglis’ driving run from the left infiltrated the Hibernian backline before being hauled down within the penalty area, but despite the adamant pleas of the Motherwell squad, the referee waived play on, much to the bewilderment of the visiting technical area. The visitors continued to control the majority of possession, but were unable to find the breakthrough within the opening exchanges.
Moments later, the deadlock was broken. After securing a free-kick at the edge of the Motherwell penalty area, Baucom continued her goalscoring record against the women of steel, latching onto Poppy Lawson’s floated through ball, with the striker prodding home from close range.
Less than two-minutes later, the hosts doubled their advantage. Racing through across the left-hand side, Abbie Ferguson coasted past numerous claret and amber jerseys, before teeing up Adams to convert at the near post.
After a frustrating opening to the contest, Motherwell were soon offered a route back into the game, with Morgan Cross being awarded a spot kick after Kirsty Morrison caught the forward with an overly high challenge, leaving Cross on the surface to receive treatment. Bailley Collins stepped up, but saw her spot kick and quickfire follow-up denied by a reactive Nina Wilson in the Hibernian goal.
Adams netted her second goal of the game shortly after the half-time break, with Michaela McAlonie slotting through a weighted delivery to the Hibs talisman, who picked out the roof of the Motherwell net.
With Motherwell forced to reinforce their forward line in search of a route back into the game, the hosts capitalised on the vast openings within the Motherwell defence, racking up two-late goals, with Baucom securing her second of the afternoon and Leishman adding her name to the scoresheet within the final few minutes.
