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.