| 7 | Motherwell | 34 | 12 | 6 | 16 | -18 | 42 |
| 8 | Hearts | 34 | 11 | 7 | 16 | -2 | 40 |
| 9 | Kilmarnock | 34 | 10 | 8 | 16 | -18 | 38 |
| 10 | Dundee | 33 | 10 | 7 | 16 | -20 | 37 |
| 11 | Ross County | 34 | 9 | 8 | 17 | -25 | 35 |
| 12 | St Johnstone | 34 | 8 | 5 | 21 | -26 | 29 |
It’s time to vote for your G4 Claims player of the month for March.
Callum Slattery, Tom Sparrow, Andy Halliday and Dan Casey are all up for nomination.
To vote, head over to the Motherwell Facebook page.
At a sold-out Pittodrie, Motherwell had 700 hearty fans in their corner, who made the long trip north hoping their side would make it four games unbeaten. With just three games to the split and well in the hunt for a top-six spot, every game is crucial.
Those that travelled so Callum Slattery headed home in the early stages, making it three goals in two games. However, the lead wouldn’t last long with Dorrington levelling up before Clarkson curled one into the net from a corner routine.
Behind at the break, Tom Sparrow and Luke Armstrong would have sighters at goal but couldn’t convert. Kevin Nisbet scored goals three and four for the Dons, who secured their top-six status in the process.
It’s back to the training pitches for Michael Wimmer’s men, with another six-pointer against Kilmarnock looming on the horizon.
The women of steel held their own in a tense and closely-fought encounter with the league leaders, but were defeated by three goals to nil, as Hibernian twice capitalised on collective mistakes from the hosts at K-Park on Sunday.
Rosie Livingstone broke the deadlock with the final kick of the first-half minutes after the allocated amount of injury-time had already been played. A pivotal moment for the women of steel that changed the complex of the tie. Michaela McAlonie made it two midway through the second-half, punishing a cheap turnover in possession to compound Motherwell’s frustrations. Despite dominating much of the latter stages, Motherwell couldn’t find a route back into the game, and Kirsty Morrison added a third to seal all three points for the league leaders.
Head Coach, Paul Brownlie made five-changes from the side that were defeated by Rangers over a fortnight ago. Goalkeeper Emily Mutch replaced Rebecca Cameron between the sticks, as Gill Inglis, Eilidh Austin, Sophie Black and Amy Sharkey all returned to the starting XI. Defender Shannon Leishman was unable to face her parent club.
Both sides fought closely throughout the entire first-half, with neither able to find the upper-hand until the final kick of the opening 45-minutes. Despite injury-time already fulfilled, Hibs lofted an enticing delivery from the left-flank across the face of goal, and the women of steel couldn’t clear their lines, as Livingstone forced home from close-range.
As the second-half resumed, Motherwell gifted the visitors a second. Caught in possession at the middle of the park, Hibs countered with pace, before eventually finding an opening which McAlonie graciously accepted.
Despite the scoreline, Motherwell continued to grow into the contest, with Austin forcing several excellent stops from Scotland international Erin Clachers.
Bailley Collins also came close, with a laser-guided strike from distance, that narrowly evaded the Hibernian crossbar. Motherwell toiled in the final stages, but Hibernian sealed the game, with a third. Another quick counter-attack had Motherwell racing back towards their own-goal, and Morrison comfortably slotted a low-strike beyond Mutch into the bottom-right corner.
Motherwell will return to action after the international break, with Lucy Barley, mason Clark, Brodie Greenwood, Eilidh Austin, Louisa Boyes and Jenna Penman all selected to represent the Scotland under-19 and under-23 squad respectively.
Motherwell were swept aside on the North-East coast, as Aberdeen’s attacking threat proved clinical under the grey skies of the Granite City.
The visitors thrusted themselves into the ascendency after only five-minutes, as Callum Slattery rose highest in the Dons penalty area before powering home his header into the top-right corner.
Motherwell’s jubilant celebrations soon diminished, as Aberdeen responded with a quickfire equaliser through Alfie Dorrington, with the hosts gradually building their momentum in the game.
Leighton Clarkson curled home a second shortly before half-time, as Jimmy Thelin’s side continued to reshape the balance of control on the game. A second-half Kevin Nisbet double followed, with an incredibly fortunate 11-man Aberdeen side retaining all three points.
The Steelmen sought a rapid resurgence following the fortnight-long international break, and had only five-minutes to wait before etching their place on the scoresheet. Harry Paton burst down the left-flank before clipping a pinpoint delivery to the ever-present goal-threat Callum Slattery within the Dons 18-yard-box, and the English midfielder netted a rare header for his fourth goal of the season.
Motherwell’s one-goal advantage proved short-lived ,as Aberdeen’s Alfie Dorrington fired past Ellery Balcombe, with the fortune of a deflection wrong-footing the Brentford shot-stopper.
Balcombe continued to preserve Motherwell’s foothold within the game, as the 25-year-old brilliantly thwarted efforts from Topi Keskinen and Scotland international Kevin Nisbet.
Tom Sparrow almost resorted Motherwell’s advantage shortly before the half-time break, as a well worked shift in attack set the Welshman loose on the right-flank, but he couldn’t repeat his Ibrox heroics after firing his shot inches wide of the post.
Aberdeen were unbelievably left with a full starting line-up after Pape Gueye scythed down Andy Halliday with a recklessly late tackle in the middle of the park, but the forward somehow escaped with a solitary yellow card.
Capitalising on Motherwell’s frustrations in-front of goal, Aberdeen netted a second, as Clarkson curled home a magnificent finish from the edge of the box.
Motherwell’s attacking impetus started to fade and despite taking an early lead they found themselves going into the break behind.
Gueye continued to escape the referee book after yet another dangerous challenge left Kofi Balmer on the turf early into the second-half. The fine margins proved costly, as Kevin Nisbet wrapped up proceedings with a clinical double to secure Aberdeen’s place in the top-six of the Premiership table.
Motherwell will return to action next weekend, as they travel to Rugby Park to face Kilmarnock.
Michael Wimmer gives his thoughts on a 4-1 loss to Aberdeen at Pittodrie.
Tom Sparrow has enjoyed the new ideas being implemented under Michael Wimmer, and is looking forward to the rest of the season.
Sparrow is delighted to see the strong following that will be in Aberdeen on Saturday and is determined to send them down the road happy.
Manager Michael Wimmer thanks all the fans who are making the journey to Aberdeen on Saturday, as he says the connections between the club and supporters is growing.
He provides a fitness update on Steve Seddon, as well as talking about the race for top-six.
Amy Sharkey, Sienna McGoldrick and Sophie Black have all been named in the Scotland Under-19 squad, with Louisa Boyes and Eilidh Austin both selected to represent the Under-23s.
The under-19 trio will travel across Scotland, as they look to continue their impressive displays in the dark blue, whilst Boyes and Austin will fly to the Spanish coast of Murcia.
Scotland under-19s will face Czech Republic, Spain and Switzerland in a triple-header of UEFA European Championship Qualifiers, as they start their Group E campaign in Cumbernauld on the second of April.
Matchday One
Matchday Two
Matchday Three
The Scotland Under-23 squad will face Denmark in matchday one, before facing either France or Portugal in a double-header of friendly matches.
Matchday One
Matchday Two
On Saturday 29 March, Motherwell will travel to Aberdeen for the first of three crucial matches leading into the split.
The atmosphere is expected to be electric, as Aberdeen have sold out their home section due to a special discounted ticket initiative.
Meanwhile, the Steelmen will also enjoy a full away section, with more than 700 Motherwell fans making the trip to support Michael Wimmer’s team.
“The support from our fans means a great deal to everyone in the changing room,” Kofi Balmer stated.
“This season, there have been several instances where our fans have turned out in large numbers, and we will never take that for granted. The trip to Aberdeen is certainly longer than usual, but that hasn’t dampened their enthusiasm.
“We’re at the business end of the season, and everyone is aware of the importance of these fixtures. We’re not getting ahead of ourselves or thinking too much about our season ambitions. The manager has been clear on the one game at a time approach.
“The backing of our supporters is crucial. Aberdeen will have a large crowd on Saturday as well, so having our fans there will be a confidence boost.
“On behalf of all the players, I want to thank you for your incredible support. But we also know those who aren’t making the journey will also be backing us from home. We have been working hard this week to try and be as prepared for this challenge as possible.
“Safe travels to everyone making the journey, and we’ll see you there.”
Motherwell faced an unfortunate reality check in their maiden matchday in the top-six of the Scottish Women’s Premier League, after being overcome by the attacking pressure of title-chasers Rangers, and forced to concede defeat at K-Park.
“Last weekend was a reality check for the full squad,” Head Coach Paul Brownlie said.
“We understood the magnitude of the task ahead of us when we achieved our place in the top-six. Facing full-time sides on a weekly basis requires a strong mentality, especially when the other five-sides are all battling for the league title.
“We have demonstrated the capabilities within the squad against the strongest sides in the league, but the opening game against Rangers clearly fell below the standards we set collectively as a group.
“We couldn’t establish our rhythm in the game, and in those moments; teams like Rangers can pick you apart with the attacking quality at their disposal. We have to learn from it, we can’t just sit and reflect on the result, we are working hard on the training pitch to prepare for the fixtures ahead.”
After comfortably securing their top-six place and status as the best part-time team in the country, the squad have sought to surpass their initial end of season objectives, by setting additional goals.
“We’ve set additional target for the squad to achieve,” Brownlie added.
“We’ll keep these internally, but after reaching our season-long objectives of a place in the top-six and the Scottish Cup Semi-Final, we wanted to continue to build upon that motivation from the squad, and continually push their limits.
“We have a really honest and committed group of players. Immediately after full-time against Rangers, they wanted to get straight back onto the training pitch to put things right.
“We have another nine-league games remaining, and we are treating each one as a final. That has to be the mentality and approach within the squad, especially as we build up to another competitive fixture against Hibs this weekend.”
Sunday’s visitors will be keen to swiftly rebuild their confidence after a rampant Rangers side drilled five past the Edinburgh-outfit in the Sky Sports League Cup Final at Fir Park last weekend. The league leaders will head to East Kilbride looking to maintain their two-point lead in the SWPL table, but Brownlie insists that the squad are capable of a momentous result.
“Hibs will be an incredibly tough test, but one we are ready for,” Brownlie explained.
“They are top of the league for a reason, and will be heading to K-Park with a point to prove after the defeat in the Sky Sports League Cup Final.
“We performed well in our previous meeting in Edinburgh. We looked sharper and unfortunate not to capitalise on spells of dominance in the game. Hibs were clinical when the chances fell their way, and ultimately that’s why they are top of the league.
“If we start on the front-foot and are clinical in the final-third, we can achieve a momentous result. We hope to see you all there supporting the team on.”
