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A disappointing and frustrating defeat to local rivals Hamilton in the second Lanarkshire derby of the 2023/24 SWPL campaign left the women of steel dejected after a confidence-boosting performance over title-chasers Celtic earlier in the week.

Paul Brownlie’s side will face a swift return to action, with an opportunity for redemption over defending champions Glasgow City, who left K-Park with all three points in the previous home meeting, after a decisive 97^th-minute Jenna Clark winner.

As the final pre-split fixture in East Kilbride awaits the women of steel, the squad will be prepared to conclude the regular campaign on a high, ahead of a highly-anticipated encounter with Spartans in the capital next month.

The Tale of the Tape

Motherwell

The women of steel’s goalscoring woes persisted in ML3, as a commanding performance over local rivals Hamilton, which had Motherwell testing the Accies goal on 23-occasions – 19 more than the hosts, was ultimately left unrewarded. Hamilton struck twice against the run of play to secure victory on a disappointing and frustrating derby day in Lanarkshire.

Hamilton forward Josephine Giard and teammate Chloe Muir both added their name to the scoresheet across both halves to give the hosts a comfortable advantage, with debutant Laura Berry netting a late consolation for her first goal in claret and amber.

The 90-minutes at New Douglas Park perfectly encapsulated the frustrations of the women of steel this season, as positive performances and impressive displays have not been accurately reflected in the SWPL league table.

Glasgow City

The defending champions remain firmly in the chase to defend their SWPL crown, with the Springburn side six-points adrift of league leaders Rangers, maintaining an impressive eight-game winning run in the league.

Talisman Lauren Davidson will be a formidable opponent for the Motherwell backline, with the experienced striker netting 10-times across the season.

Ticket information

Cash & card payments are also available for this fixture.

• Adult – £8
• Concession – £5
• Under 16s – Free to enter.

How to follow the action

Supporters can follow Sunday’s encounter on Twitter @motherwellwomen, with a full report of the action available post-match.

Midfielder Tara McGonigle has joined Gartcairn on loan until the end of the season.

The summer acquisition traded Lanarkshire rivals Hamilton for ML1 ahead of the 2023/24 SWPL campaign, but the 23-year-old has since been unable to find regular first-team minutes at K-Park.

McGonigle featured on 14-occasions across her time in claret and amber, but the regular place in the starting XI has yet to materialise.

The youngster heads out on loan to the SWPL2 side in search of consistent first-team minutes, linking-up with fellow Motherwell loanees Kaela McDonald-Nguah and Morgan Hay. Gartcairn sit precariously at the foot of the SWPL2 league table, three points from safety.

Good luck, Tara.

We have a number of players who are currently out on loan. Here is an update on how they have been getting on. 

Matty Connelly

Connelly and East Kilbride have been in good form in recent weeks.

Since the last update, Connelly has four starts in four games, of which his team won three times and drew once.

He has registered one clean sheet in that time but those strong results have put Kilby firmly in the driving seat to win the Lowland League. They are ten points clear over second place, with a game in hand.

Ricki Lamie

Ricki Lamie picked up an injury that seen him miss seven games over December and January.

The centre-back made his comeback when he was a late substitute for the Dee’s 2-1 win against St Johnstone at the weekend.

Lamie now has 12 appearances as Dundee hunt down a top-six spot in the cinch Premiership.

Ewan Wilson

Ewan Wilson was an unused substitute in Stirling Albion’s most recent match against Alloa Athletic.

He has been on the bench in the three games prior to that, coming on as a substitute in each of those matches, assisting one goal in the process.

Wilson now has 13 appearances in all competitions for Stirling, with them sitting seven points off the playoffs.

Arran Bone

Arran Bone joined Gala Fairydean last month and has started the last three matches.

Playing the full 90 minutes in his three appearances thus far, Bone’s side had two defeats and won their most recent match agains East Stirling.

They’re currently sitting in 15th place in the table however in a tightly congested table, they are only 10 points off Stirling University who are 7th.

Ross Tierney

Ross Tierney has made his comeback from injury at the start of February. He was a second-half substitute in Walsall’s last two matches against Gillingham and Newport County.

That appearance against Newport last weekend means he has now featured on 20 occasions for The Saddlers.

Walsall are 16th in the league table but have a substantial gap to the relegation places and will have one eye on a late promotion push, with them only nine points off of Harrogate Town in the playoffs.

Adam MacDonald

Adam MacDonald added two more appearances to his name for Cowdenbeath since our last update.

The young midfielder started against Bo’ness United and Civil Service Strollers in January.

Cowdenbeath are 13th in the table as they look to close the gap to playoff spots.

Calum Butcher was left disappointed at the performance levels shown on Friday night. 

He says the dressing room was down after the game but they have now reset and shifted the focus towards Wednesday’s match against Aberdeen.

We are delighted to announce a partnership with Off The Pitch as the club’s Official Football Finance Data Partner.

This strategic collaboration will empower us with cutting-edge analytics tools and invaluable financial insights, propelling the club into a new era of data-driven decision-making.

“As we strive to keep pushing the club to new heights, we need access to the best data available,” head of recruitment operations Nick Daws said.

“Off The Pitch has a unique approach and can help us in several aspects of our development – including player trading, finance negotiations, and benchmarking, to name a few.

“Off The Pitch understands the business side of football and has provided us with an intuitive and easily implemented solution.”

Blue Triangle, a social care organisation and national charity, will auction two signed Motherwell FC shirts on Wednesday 14 February.

The shirts, signed by the first team and Women’s team, were kindly donated by the club. Blue Triangle is the current front of shirt sponsor of the Motherwell Women’s team. The auction will be held online, run by Great Western Auctions.

The organisation run two services in North Lanarkshire. The Viewpark supported accommodation in Uddingston, which supports up to 12 people aged 16-35, and Breakthrough, an Intense Peer Recovery Support outreach.

“We are excited to run our first charity auction, and our thanks to Motherwell FC for their kind donation of signed shirts, and to Great Western Auctions for facilitating,” CEO of Blue Triangle Gary Meek said.

“All funds raised will go towards running our essential services in North Lanarkshire – helping to provide even greater support for some of the most vulnerable in the community.”

The aim of Blue Triangle’s work is to prepare supported people to move onto their own home. Over half of those entering Blue Triangle services move on to their own tenancy, helping to break the homelessness cycle.

Staff facilitate this by working one to work with the young people, identify support needs, such as mental health, addiction or further education.

Blue Triangle’s Viewpark service scored highly in their latest Care Inspectorate report, awarded 5’s in all areas.

One young person stated that Blue Triangle staff “really care, listen, and follow through on the things they say they will help with.”

Another said, “All staff are lovely and really caring, more so than anywhere else I have stayed.” At Blue Triangle, we pride ourselves in living our values – being kind, passionate and creative, every day.

The link for the men’s first-team shirt can be found here.

The link for the women’s shirt can be found here.

Manager Stuart Kettlewell says on Friday night, his team were collectively poor and they will be working hard to try and get a reaction against Aberdeen on Wednesday night in the cinch Premiership. 

Kettlewell believes they were dragged into a game against Morton that wasn’t what they wanted to play and paid the result for it. Now, it’s about preparing as best they can for a trip to Pittodrie.

Motherwell travel to Aberdeen on Wednesday 14 February. 

Kick off is 7.45pm.

How to follow the game

ALL TICKETS PURCHASED FROM THE ORIGINAL FIXTURE REMAIN VALID FOR THIS MATCH. 

If you wish to receive a refund, you need come into the Ticket Office at Fir Park before 5pm on Wednesday. Refunds won’t be possible after this time.

Tickets available online.

Ambulant supporters pay the age-appropriate price with carer free of charge. All wheelchair and ambulant supporters should contact the ticket office to purchase.

Tickets are on sale from the ticket office and online. We have been sent physical tickets so no etickets are available for this match, so collection only at Fir Park

If you are outside the UK, you can watch the game via Motherwell TV.

Should you be in the UK, it will be live commentary only.

Kit watch

We will be wearing our away kit for this match.

Injury News

Callum Slattery remains missing for this match. Oli Shaw will be missing through a hamstring injury.

Barry Maguire is a doubt. Jon Obika made his return against Morton.

Motherwell’s Fortunes

It was a disappointing Friday night in Greenock for Motherwell, when they exited the Scottish Cup at the hand of Morton. A 2-1 defeat seen Jack Vale get his second goal in two matches since arriving on loan.

In the last league match, it was a resounding 5-0 win over Ross County, with Theo Bair continuing his hot run of form in the league. The Canadian has scored in each of his last five league outings.

Motherwell’s last defeat in the league came on Christmas Eve against Rangers.

Opposition Report

There’s been a lot happening at Pittodrie in recent weeks. Following a 1-1 draw with Dundee, Barry Robson left his post as manager. Neil Warnock was brought in until the end of the season, with his first match being a trip to Ibrox.

It would be narrow 2-1 defeat in Glasgow for Warnock’s side but they progressed to the next round of the Scottish Cup in their last match, sweeping aside Bonnyrigg Rose 2-0.

Bojan Miovski continues to be the main man for the Dons, netting 22 goals in 36 games this season. He has five in his last four, scoring two in Aberdeen’s last match.

The women of steel’s goalscoring woes persisted in ML3, as a commanding performance over local rivals Hamilton was left unrewarded, as the hosts struck twice against the run of play to secure victory on a disappointing and frustrating derby day in Lanarkshire.

Hamilton forward Josephine Giard and teammate Chloe Muir both added their name to the scoresheet across both halves to give the hosts a comfortable advantage, with debutant Laura Berry netting a late consolation for her first goal in claret and amber.

It’s a sore one to take,” Head Coach Paul Brownlie said.

“We’ve got to take chances and do much better with our decision-making in the final third . We had so many opportunities where we broke the lines, but it’s just that last part we’re missing just now. The players are working hard on it to try and rectify it and get it right.

“I think if we had scored the early goal, it would’ve been completely different, but we never, and at the end of the day if we don’t score goals, we can’t win games.”

Brownlie made two changes from the narrow midweek defeat to title-chasers Celtic, with Emily Mutch returning in the Motherwell goal, as Laura McCartney also returned to the starting XI. January acquisitions Sophia Martin and Laura Berry both secured a place on the bench following international appearances for Scotland at the MIMA cup.

As both sides emerged under the floodlights, Motherwell immediately tested the Hamilton stopper, with the visitors firmly in control of the opening exchanges. Morgan Cross’ driving run on the left sliced through the Accies backline, with the forward teeing up Sarah Gibb at the edge of the penalty area, but the midfielder couldn’t apply the finishing touches.

Less than a minute later, Amy Anderson’s pinpoint cross-field pass accurately picked out Bailley Collins, who found Murron Cunningham midway through the Hamilton penalty area, but the experienced defender couldn’t beat Emma Thomson in the Accies goal.

Motherwell continued to flood the Hamilton penalty area in search of a breakthrough, with Collins’ threading a perfectly-weighted through ball to Cross, who was left one-on-one with the keeper, but Thomson again produced an exceptional reaction save.

Motherwell’s frustrations in the final third continued, as Kayla Jardine’s drilled effort from distance narrowly evaded the Hamilton crossbar, with Cunningham and Chelsie Watson also denied from close-range.

Motherwell’s dominant first-half display was eventually undermined moments before the half-time whistle, with Giard coasting through to the edge of the Motherwell penalty area before firing an unstoppable strike past Emily Mutch, which rattled off of the crossbar before nestling into the back of the visiting net.

10-minutes after the restart, Hamilton doubled their advantage, with Muir drilling an incredible left-footed half-volley from over 30-yards out past Mutch, leaving the women of steel stunned after their assured start to the derby.

The visitors route back into the game came shortly after the hour mark, with debutant Laura Berry latching onto fellow Rangers loanee Kayla Jardine’s floated delivery, before dispatching an accurate right-footed volley past Thomson to give the women of steel some confidence and optimism, as the final half hour approached.

The women of steel toiled in search of a deserved equaliser, with Berry forcing a stop from the Hamilton keeper, after powering a low header from Collins’ whipped through ball. Chances from Collins and Martin followed, but the women of steel couldn’t break through the resolute Hamilton backline and were consigned to a disappointing and frustrating derby day defeat at New Douglas Park on Sunday.

Buoyed by an exceptional display against title-chasers Celtic, Motherwell’s optimism was confidently restored, as the women of steel return to action this weekend in the second Lanarkshire Derby of the 2023/24 SWPL campaign.

Paul Brownlie’s side will travel across the River Clyde to New Douglas Park, aiming to replicate the preceding derby day result at K-Park, with Motherwell cruising to a comfortable four-goal advantage.

As the final pre-split fixtures near, Motherwell will be preparing to retain their 100-percent Lanarkshire  derby record over Hamilton.

The Tale of the Tape

Motherwell

Despite leaving East Kilbride without points to reflect their efforts in a closely-fought encounter with Celtic, Paul Brownlie’s side will be encouraged with their attacking and defensively-improved performances in recent weeks.

The women of steel recorded their first derby day victory over Accies this season in August, with a Carla Boyce hat-trick and Kaitlyn Canavan strike being the difference on that day.

The Lanarkshire Derby test will be the first of a triple-header of fixtures, with encounters with Glasgow City and Spartans to conclude the final pre-split fixtures of the 2023/24 SWPL campaign.

January acquisitions Laura Berry and Sophia Martin will both be available for contention within the matchday squad for the first time since signing on-loan from Rangers and Glasgow City.

Hamilton

The Accies aided their SWPL relegation-survival efforts after an impressive 4-1 victory over Dundee United in the City of Discovery to achieve their first league victory this season, but a disappointing Scottish Cup exit to Celtic and a 6-0 defeat to Glasgow City in the league have resulted since.

Hamilton sit on six-points, three adrift from nearest rivals Spartans, with Montrose and Dundee United both one-point ahead of the Edinburgh side.

Ticket information

Cash & card payments are also available for this fixture.

• Adult – £8
• Concession – £5
• Under 16s – Free to enter.

How to follow the action

Supporters can follow Sunday’s encounter on Twitter @motherwellwomen, with a full report of the action available post-match.