Aberdeen Women 3 St Johnstone 4 Balmoral Stadium Sky Sports Cup Sunday 2nd August 2026 Aberdeen Women faced St Johnstone on Sunday afternoon in their second game of the Sky Sports Cup. Nathan Flight made just the singular change to last week’s defeat to Hamilton Accies with Olivia Reid coming into the side for Millie Buchan. Two new signings also made the squad as Piper Lea and Soraya Walsh started on the bench. The Dons were denied a comeback for the ages in the Sky Sports Cup as they narrowly lost out to St Johnstone in a seven goal thriller. Report: The Dons started proceedings with most of the possession pinning St Johnstone back in their own half. Elvie McLean’s clipped ball saw Jodie Malcolm through on goal, but Finnie and Black combined well to recover and snuff out the danger. The first shot on target arrived in the 15th minute when Mia Selbie tried her luck from range. McLean responded almost immediately at the other end with a strike of her own, forcing Signorini into a diving save. The resulting corner led to the opener. Alix Moodie’s inswinger was cleared only as far as Lucy Livie whose looping sailed over Signorini and into the net on the 17th minute. Aberdeen responded positively as straight from the restart. Holly Daniel found herself clean through on goal. Her right footed strike was saved by the legs of former Don Megan Sidey in the Saints net. Minutes later Daniel was sent through on goal again, this time at a more difficult angle. The forward tried to round Sidey, but the ball ran just away from her before she could apply the finish. The visitors doubled their advantage just past the half-hour mark, and from another set piece. Brodie Rigby Wilson’s corner took a touch off Finnie’s head before trickling into the back of her own net. St Johnstone came close to a third before the break following some intricate wing play from Livie. Her cross was met by Leni Parrish at the back post who struck wide. Half Time Aberdeen 0–2 St Johnstone Piper Lea and Soroya Walsh were introduced at the break to make their debuts, with Walsh leading the line as Holly Daniel shifted out to the left wing. St Johnstone grabbed a third just four minutes into the second half, once again from a corner. Alix Moodie's delivery bounced kindly for Megan Burns, who made no mistake with the finish. Lea made an immediate impact, threading a perfectly weighted pass into the path of Daniel. The forward's effort stung the palms of Sidey, who reacted well to make the save. Olivia Reid then burst down the right flank, getting the better of Tomb before picking out Iona Watt, whose first-time effort forced another stop from Sidey. Just as Aberdeen looked to be building some momentum, St Johnstone struck again. Jodie Malcolm found space on the edge of the six-yard box, bringing down Elvie McLean's looping cross over her shoulder before setting herself and rifling a half-volley into the roof of the net in the 54th minute. The Dons responded four minutes later. Daniel slipped Walsh through on goal, and the new signing showed real pace to break free before calmly slotting the ball across Sidey and in off the near post to mark her debut with a goal. Walsh continued to impress, chasing every loose ball and repeatedly testing the St Johnstone defence. A one-two with Reid released her down the right, and her low cross into the six-yard box deflected off Malcolm and into her own net in the 80th minute. Daniel then gave Aberdeen hope deep into normal time. Picking up the ball on the edge of the area, she danced past three St Johnstone defenders before spinning and firing a low strike into the bottom-left corner to reduce the deficit to 3-4. Not enough to send the game to a penalty shootout for the bonus point after a spirited second half performance. Full Time Aberdeen 3 – 4 St Johnstone Reaction from Nathan Flight

“I think the last 30 minutes were good. We played with more pressure, we played with more intensity, we created many more chances, which was really good. “I still think the beginning of the second half, we basically throw the game away at that point. “To go 4-0 down in any game makes it challenging to come back of course, but I’ve got a lot of pride in the last 30 minutes. “I was really impressed with Soraya Walsh and Piper Lea. It's difficult in these situations because they've only been in the group now for the last few days. They probably don't know everything that we're working on because they've missed so much of the pre-season, but I think they both came on and did really well. “Soraya takes her goal really well and it's that kind of composure that we were looking for from the attacking players. “Piper comes into the game and she shows the quality. I think there's levels to go up for her, based on what we know for her from previously, but certainly it was a fantastic beginning for her. “We want to add a couple more players if we can to the group. I think that will definitely help us add quality, they will help add more towards the level we want to be at. “We're in some good discussions with a few players at the moment, hopefully we can get some of things finalised and signed and sealed in the next couple of days”. STATS: Aberdeen: Signorini (GK), Mayhew, Black, Finnie, Simpson (Buchan 60’), Carrol, Watt (Skinner 60’), Colquhoun (Lea 45’), Selbie (Walsh 45’), Reid, Daniel Subs: Faustynowicz, Lea, Walsh, Buchan, Ferguson, Skinner, Hoyle Goals: Walsh 58’, Malcolm 80’ (OG), Daniel 84’ St Johnstone WFC: Sidey, Brady, Burns, McLEan, Malcolm, Moodie, Livie, Smith, Rigby Wilson, Parrish, Tomb Subs: Gates, Telford, MacIver -, Anderson, Clark, McMillan, Taplin, Shanks Goals: Livie 14, Finnie 32’ (OG), Burns 49’, Malcolm 55’