Aberdeen Women v Kelty Hearts

Aberdeen were forced to battle back from 2-0 down to Kelty Hearts as they recovered from a slow start to record an 8-2 victory at Aberdeen Sports Village.

The victory takes the Dons league record to 15 wins and a draw from their 16 matches played and takes them a step closer to the SWFL1 North title.

Carrie Doig replaced Deirdre O’Riordan in the only change to the team that won 8-1 against Deveronvale in midweek whilst Johan Fraser made a return from injury as she took a place on the bench.

It looked like being business as usual for the home-side as they made the first chance of the match. Jessica Broadrick played a great ball down the left for Amy Phillips who crossed early for Bayley Hutchison but her clipped shot went just wide of the target.

Kelty Hearts shocked the league leaders after 8-minutes as they took the lead. Stacey Penman delivered a dangerous ball into the area from the right-wing and Kristy SCOTT rose to power a header beyond Anna Blanchard for the opening goal.

Aberdeen have rarely found themselves trailing in any competition this season and they tried to rally as Francesca Ogilvie had a low shot saved by the feet of Kelty goalkeeper Lauren Hamill. Ogilvie then had another effort from distance easily collected by Hamill as the Dons tried to recover from the early set-back.

Losing the opening goal had clearly had an effect on the Dons though as they struggled to find their usual form and things got worse for them in the 27th minute. Penman was again involved for Kelty as her angled drive was parried by Blanchard and Natalia BARTULA was on hand to knock in the rebound for 0-2.

The Reds again tried to rally in the aftermath of losing the goal as Bayley Hutchison had the ball in the net only for her to be ruled offside before knocking it in. Eva Thomson then came close to getting on the end Kelly Forrest’s long diagonal but Hamill was off her line quickly to block.

The hosts got themselves back in the game in the 38th minute as Ogilvie netted their first of the game. Hutchison slipped the ball through to OGILVIE coming in from the right who shot right-footed beneath the keeper and into the net.

Aberdeen were slowly finding their form as half-time approached and they got back on level terms in the 41st minute. Hutchison got on the end of a Natasha Bruce through ball and saw her shot blocked and the ball rebounded outside the area to THOMSON who sent a delightful lob into the net from 25 yards.

HT: ABERDEEN 2 KELTY HEARTS 2

Deirdre O’Riordan replaced Carrie Doig at half-time as the hosts looked to kick on from their first half comeback and they started the half meaning business.

Thomson sprung the Kelty off side trap in the opening minute of the half and she forced a great save out of Hamill who pushed Thomson’s shot around the post. Forrest nearly scored from the resulting corner as she got on the end of Ogilvie cross but couldn’t get enough on her effort to force it in.

Aberdeen took the lead for the first time in the match in the 49th minute as they again attacked through the heart of the visitor’s defence. Thomson played the ball between the Kelty central defenders and HUTCHISON ran on to it before finishing beyond Hamill for 3-2.

The league leaders looked a different proposition now than they had early in the match and they doubled their lead in the 52nd minute. Loren Campbell stepped out of defence with the ball before threading a pass through to HUTCHISON who stayed onside to grab her second of the match with a cool finish.

It was nearly five a minute later as Thomson went through one-on-one with Hamill. The keeper did well to block Thomson’s first effort and Claire Walker cleared the rebound off the line. The hosts were well on top now and they scored their fifth after 55-minutes as OGILVIE found herself in the right place at the right time to smash home a deflected cross for her second of the match.

The Dons were causing Kelty all sorts of problems as time after time they made well timed runs through the visitor’s defence to get on the end of through balls. Eilidh Shore had a shot straight at Hamill just after the hour before Bruce and Thomson combined as the latter was again denied by Hamill.

Amy Phillips and Loren Campbell were replaced by Sophie Brown and Johan Fraser as the Dons continued to dominate. Fraser came close to scoring almost immediately as she had a low shot saved by the feet of Hamill.

It was 6-2 in the 74th minutes in what was a replica of Hutchison’s first goal. Thomson again split the Kelty defence with a through pass and there was never any doubt that HUTCHISON would find the net as she ran through to compete her hat-trick.

Sophie Jamieson replaced Bruce in the for the final ten minutes as the home-side continued to dominate possession. Blanchard parried a Penman long-range effort wide in a rare second half attempt for Kelty whilst substitute Jamieson came close to increasing the Aberdeen lead at the other end.

There was still time for another two goals and the hosts scored twice in the final minute of the match. A good run down the right by Fraser saw her make the by line before squaring for JAMIESON who had the easiest of tasks to tap in from close range.

Seven became eight just seconds later as Thomson played OGILVIE in down the left and the midfielder lashed a powerful shot high into the net to complete the scoring on an 8-2 victory.

FT: ABERDEEN 8 KELTY HEARTS 2

ABERDEEN
Anna BLANCHARD
Carrie DOIG (Deirdre O’RIORDAN 46mins)
Loren CAMPBELL (Sophie BROWN 69mins)
Kelly FORREST
Jessica BROADRICK
Natasha BRUCE (Sophie JAMIESON 81mins)
Eilidh SHORE
Amy PHILLIPS (Johan FRASER 69mins)
Francesca OGILVIE
Bayley HUTCHISON
Eva THOMSON

BOOKED : OGILVIE (44mins) HUTCHISON (86mins)

KELTY HEARTS
Lauren HAMILL
Kimberley TENNANT
Lauren LOW
Carol FRASER
Stacey PENMAN
Claire WALKER
Kristy SCOTT
Isla OGILVIE
Kerry FINLAY
Natalia BARTULA
Carly MCKENZIE (Mhairi MORRISON 61mins)

REACTION

Francesca OGILVIE:

“We went down two nil in the first half and panicked a bit, we didn’t have control of the game I don’t think. We then got a grip of the game, showed more urgency to get hold of the ball and pass the ball. When we got our two goals back that settled us going into half-time. I think some heads went down after losing the first goal and then the second but Kelly did a great job getting everyone picked up and it was good to get going again. We all went in and had a chat at half-time before Harley spoke to us and discussed how we had the momentum and we felt they would tire in the second-half and we needed to take advantage of that”.

“Myself and Bayley both getting hat-tricks is good as well, I also got a couple of assists but the win was the most important thing. As a team we look forward to the big games and it showed against Spartans and Kilmarnock, we feel we pick ourselves up for those games so we’re looking forward to Rangers next week”.

Kelly FORREST:
“It wasn’t easy, I think it was a bit of a shock to the team going two nil down early on and it’s disappointing again to come away without a clean sheet but we can’t be too disappointed finishing the game off with an eight-two win. We’ve showed that we’ve got a bit more belief about us, last year if we had gone two nil down we maybe would’ve found it more difficult but I thought the girls were excellent today in terms of resilience in the way they turned it around. We knew at half time we could beat Kelty and we had them on the back foot at the end of the first half so it was just a case of putting chances away and getting the job done”.

“I think everyone is excited about next week and the girls up front just now are unstoppable, it’s a joy to sit at the back and watch them. I think they can be instrumental next week and I’m really excited to see how they do. We’re always encouraging everyone to get on the scoresheet and we’ve got a really creative, energetic midfield and wingers who get forward and score as well as Bayley up front”.