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Three of our SWPL1 fixtures have been postponed, following the Scottish FA’s suspension of the league.

In light of the escalating Covid-19 situation across the country, matches with Forfar Farmington, Hibernian and Glasgow City have been cancelled.

All football outside of the Scottish Premiership and Championship will be suspended from midnight on Monday 11 January.

The suspension will run until 31 January inclusive and reviewed on a rolling basis by the Scottish FA board, in partnership with the Scottish Government.

Motherwell ended 2020 with a home defeat against Celtic in SWPL1.

The visitors left with a 5-0 win, netting four in the second half after finding the women of steel difficult to break down early on.

Motherwell almost got in at the break level, but the resistance was broken three minutes from the interval. Robertson’s volley from just inside the area beat Ramsay and put Celtic ahead.

Seven minutes into the second period, it was 2-0. Robertson played in Ewens, who clipped the ball over the outrushing goalkeeper.

The third came five minutes later. Ross’ commitment to chase a ball to the byline and lift in a cross, which Donaldson cushioned in with a header.

Craig’s shot into the bottom corner in the 69th minute made it four, before McAllister’s through ball to Ewens saw her net her second of the afternoon.

Motherwell now enter a winter break, which ends when Forfar Farmington come calling on 17 January.

Motherwell: Ramsay, Baillie, C Watson, Connor, K Watson, Sinclair, Adams, Skelton, Gardner, Callaghan, Hay.

Subs: Pollard, Crooks, Rice, Trialist, Roberts, Swanson, McDonald-Nguah.

The calendar year concludes for Motherwell on Sunday in SWPL1, as Celtic come calling.

Eddie Wolecki Black’s side are looking to recover from a heavy defeat to Rangers last weekend, and take on another of the league’s full-time squads in trying to do so.

Kick-off on Sunday 13 December at the Penny Cars Stadium in Airdrie is at 12.30pm.

The match, which is closed to supporters, can be watched for free live online on the BBC Sport Scotland website.

Tale of the tape

Motherwell and Celtic have faced each other four times over the years.

A Scottish Cup win for the Hoops back in 2015 was followed by a 0-0 draw on the first SWPL1 meeting back in March 2019.

A 2-1 win for Celtic at Ravenscraig was then followed by a 5-0 victory for our opponents in November last year.

Form guide

Celtic sit five points off the top after six games, with Rangers two points ahead and Glasgow City leading by five.

The Glasgow side looked to be on the end of a shock home defeat to Forfar Farmington last weekend, before two late goals salvaged a 2-2 draw.

An opening day defeat to Glasgow City was followed by four wins on the bounce, scoring 18 goals and conceding two.

Defeat to Rangers last weekend made it one win from six for the women of steel on SWPL1 business this campaign, with the sole victory so far coming in a 3-0 crushing at Hearts.

Gaining experience

“Facing the full-time players at Rangers and Celtic in successive weeks is going to be a challenge,” manager Wolecki Black said.

“That said, it is an opportunity for our team to gain experience against top players, and take the lessons learned into the new year.

“We have been competitive against Glasgow City and Hibernian already this season, and we’ve shown we can compete against the bigger teams. Hopefully, that will be the case again on Sunday.”

Motherwell endured a difficult day in defeat away to Rangers in SWPL1.

The full-time, professional opposition racked up nine goals without reply to make it an afternoon to forget quickly.

Rangers took the lead after 15 minutes when Kirsty Howat scored her first goal for the club. Then, ten minutes later, Lizzie Arnot got her first goal of the day, with Megan Bell scoring the third soon after, when she fired a shot across Khym Ramsay from the left-hand side.

Motherwell were finding it increasingly difficult to keep possession of the ball and create any meaningful chances and would go in five down at the break. Arnot got her hat-trick before the interval with two goals in two minutes, the first coming from a rasping free-kick and the other from the penalty spot.

With a mountain to climb in the second half, ‘Well’s afternoon did not improve, although their performance picked up in the second 45, keeping the ball more effectively and posing Rangers some problems.

Katie Rice had an opportunity to claw one back from Skelton’s cross, but her shot with her weaker foot was straight at the goalkeeper.

Howat scored twice after half-time to complete her hat-trick for the hosts.  Then, Motherwell conceded their second penalty of the game, with Daina Bourma converting it sending Ramsay the wrong way.

Bala Devi scored the final goal of the game to make it nine and, unfortunately, it would have been more but for the heroics of goalkeeper Ramsay, who made several excellent saves throughout the 90 minutes.

Motherwell play their penultimate match before the SWPL1 winter shutdown with a trip to face Rangers.

Kick-off on Sunday 6 December at the Rangers Training Complex is at 3pm.

The match, which is closed to supporters, will be broadcast live on RangersTV.

Tale of the tape

The four meetings between Motherwell and Rangers have been keenly-contested affairs to date.

The first came in the SWPL Cup in 2018, as second-tier Motherwell lost 1-0 away from home.

Since then, a 3-3 home draw in their first league encounter was followed by a 4-3 win for Rangers, and a 3-1 victory for the Light Blues thereafter.

Form guide

Rangers have won four of their five SWPL1 fixtures this season, finding themselves level on points with Celtic and three points off leaders Glasgow City.

A home victory to Hearts was followed by away wins at Spartans, Hibernian and Forfar Farmington. The one black mark came in a 1-0 home loss to Celtic.

Motherwell have one win from a difficult opening five games, which came in a 3-0 thumping of Hearts away from home.

A chance to make an impact

“Our two games before the break are Rangers away and Celtic at home,” said manager Eddie Wolecki Black.

“Both have made strides to improve in the last year and they are in good form this year. But we are definitely capable of getting something from the match.

“We’ve shown this season we have the ability to trouble any team we come up against. We will head to Glasgow in a positive frame of mind.”

Motherwell were edged out 2-0 at home in their SWPL1 encounter with Spartans on Sunday.

Goals from Kat Smart and Louise Mason in either half ensured defeat for Eddie Wolecki Black’s side, who had to contend with the loss of goalkeeper Ailey Tebbett early on in the match.

The first came with 18 minutes on the clock. Smart’s drive into the box led to a shot which took a deflection on the way through but found the net.

Both sides had chances before the break but it would be the visitors who would take the next important one with an hour gone.

Clelland’s run down the left saw her cross find Mason to steer the ball home, consigning the women of steel to defeat.

Motherwell: Tebbett (Ramsay), Connor, C Watson, Baillie, Adams, Crooks, Sinclair, Rice, Callaghan, K Watson, Gardner.

Subs: Hay, Reside, Roberts, Swanson, McDonald-Nguah, Skelton.

After victory against Hearts at the weekend, Motherwell look to make it two wins from two when they host Spartans in SWPL1.

Kick-off on Sunday 22 November at the Penny Cars Stadium in Airdrie is at 12.30pm.

A live stream of the match can be purchased for £5 by clicking here.

The game is closed to supporters.

Tale of the tape

The last two encounters between Motherwell and Spartans have been tight affairs, with both ending in draws.

A 2-2 score came in their last encounter back in October 2019 at Ainslie Park, two months after a 0-0 home draw for Motherwell.

Prior to that, Spartans won the opening two games of 2019, while Motherwell won the first-ever encounter between the pair in a 3-1 Scottish Cup semi-final victory at Forthbank in 2018.

Form guide

The win in Edinburgh ended a run of three defeats for the women of steel. An opening day 4-2 loss at Forfar Farmington was followed by home defeats to Hibernian and Glasgow City.

Spartans also sit on three points from four games but with a six-goal better goal difference.

An opening day 2-1 defeat to Hibernian came before 1-0 losses to Celtic and Rangers. A 1-0 home win against Forfar Farmington came last weekend.

Positive signs after first win

“The players showed what they’re capable of winning so convincingly at Hearts,” manager Eddie Wolecki Black said.

“When we were put under pressure, we dealt with the challenge, and we took our chances when they came.

“We are level on points with Spartans, so it’s another opportunity for us.”

match programme

Motherwell picked up their first win of the SWPL1 season with a convincing 3-0 victory at Hearts on Sunday.

Goals from Lori Gardner, Katie Rice and Chelsie Watson secured the three points on the road for Eddie Wolecki Black’ side in Edinburgh.

An unchanged squad took to the pitch at the Oriam, where both teams were looking to get their first points on the board.

Motherwell were the team who started the brighter, with Claire Adams and Georgie Crooks finding themselves with most of the ball.

The better start turned into a lead when Kacey Watson won the ball on the left. A pass to captain Katie Rice saw her thread a perfectly timed and weighted ball through to the onrushing Gardner, who calmly slotted past the goalkeeper.

Motherwell then continued to have the better of the play but with no real end product, with final passes and crosses only finding the Hearts ‘keeper.

Hearts started to find themselves getting back into the game with some aggressive and direct balls. However, Ailey Tebbett was a match for everything they came up with.

Then, 10 minutes before half-time, Rice intercepted a cross pass from the Hearts goalkeeper and slotted into an empty goal.

The second half saw a change of shape from Hearts and a more of an even game, with both teams cancelling each other out with few chances for either.

A momentary lack of concentration saw Tebbett having to deal with a one-on-one situation, spreading herself big to save the effort and pounce on the rebound to keep the score as it was.

After that, Motherwell began to get a hold of the game. And with the game entering the final quarter, a free-kick was awarded after a handball on the edge of the box.

Centre half Watson stepped up and expertly lifted the ball over the wall and into the top corner give the Hearts keeper no chance to stop it.

The visitors held on to keep a clean sheet and most importantly all three points, their first of the season.

Spartans lie in wait next Sunday at the Penny Cars Stadium in Airdrie.

Motherwell: Tebbett, Connor (Reside), C Watson, Crooks (Roberts), Adams, Rice, Baillie, Sinclair (Swanson), Gardner, Callaghan (Skelton), K Watson.

Subs not used: Pollard, Ramsay.