Dons pick up vital three points in Glasgow

Glasgow Women 1 | Gallagher 48′

AFC Women 3 | Hutchison 10′, 90′; Shore 17′

FULL TIME | New Tinto Park, Glasgow | SWPL1 | Kick off – 1pm | HT 0-2

MATCH REPORT by Mark Gordon

Aberdeen kicked off their post-split fixtures with a 3-1 victory of Glasgow Women. The margin of victory didn’t tell the whole story of a dominant Dons performance as a Bayley Hutchison double and a goal from Eilidh Shore ensured the points headed back up the road.

Gavin Levey made some changes for this one with Millie Urquhart returning from suspension and Madison Finnie back from Scotland duty. Captain Loren Campbell was on the bench with Nadine Hanssen taking the armband in her absence.

Aberdeen had the game’s first chance after five minutes. A brilliant ball by Eilidh Shore split the Glasgow defence and found Hannah Stewart clean through on goal. The striker’s shot was straight at the keeper.

The visitors didn’t have long to wait before they broke the deadlock. Bayley HUTCHISON got to a loose ball in the box and after her initial effort hit the post, she knocked home the rebound from close range.

Hutchison had the ball in the net again a few minutes later as she got on the end of a brilliant Finnie ball but the linesman flagged for offside.

It was two-nil to the Dons on fifteen minutes as they were rewarded for their positive start. Millie Urquhart went bombing down the right and threw in a step-over before cutting the ball back. Urquhart’s pass broke to the edge of the box where Eilidh SHORE was waiting to stroke the ball home in composed fashion.

Glasgow goalkeeper Molly Reeve prevented her side falling further behind on the twenty-minute mark. Hanssen gathered a bouncing ball twenty yards out before sending in a powerful shot which the keeper did well to parry wide.

Reeve was called into action again a few minutes later as she made a diving save to deny Bailley Collins’ powerful shot.

A great back-to-front move almost brought the Dons a third. A great ball out of defence by Paterson released Urquhart down the right. The wing-back found Hutchison in the box but after a neat turn, she fired her shot just over the bar.

Despite maintaining their dominance, the visitors failed to add to their goal tally and they went in at half-time two goals in front.

HALF TIME – GLASGOW WOMEN 0 AFC WOMEN 2

The hosts got themselves back in the game in the opening minutes of the second half with their first attempt of the match. Robin GALLAGHER challenged Dons keeper Annalisa McCann and the ball broke for the Glasgow winger who rolled it into the net.

Aberdeen looked to respond with Hutchison and Shore both close to getting on the end of passes in the box. The visitors then looked freshen things up as Eva Thomson was introduced in place of Bailley Collins just after the hour mark.

Thomson almost got herself an assist shortly after coming on when a good run to the byeline resulted in the keeper smothering the substitutes low cross at the feet of Stewart. Hutchison then went close as she got on the end of a long Paterson ball but Reeve managed to bundle the ball behind for a corner.

Thomson was causing problems for the hosts and she again came close to creating a third Aberdeen goal. A good passing move culminated in Shore playing Thomson down the right and her low cross was put wide by Stewart.

The Dons were rewarded for their endeavour with a third on ninety minutes. Christie was fouled 25 yards out and HUTCHISON stepped up to send the resulting free-kick into the bottom corner of the net.

There were no more goals despite the Dons continuing to push forward in stoppage time and the game ended in a 3-1 win.

FULL TIME – GLASGOW WOMEN 1 AFC WOMEN 3

REACTION- GAVIN LEVEY

“We played well enough to create a number of chances throughout the game. We should’ve been a bit more clinical but three points and three goals is a good return. We changed to the shape we played today at half-time the last time we played here.

“We didn’t want to get dragged into a battle and wanted to show our quality. It’s the first time in a long while that we’ve had a bigger squad to choose from. We’ve told the girls that between now and the end of the season we wanted them to show why we should pick them and we’ve got good competition for places in certain areas. We’ve been trying to get more games in midfield out of Nadine for a while now. She started with us playing further back as she had been out the game for a while and needed to get up to speed. I think she really showed her qualities today, she had the captain’s armband and really showed why in her performance.

“Millie also caused them real problems in the first half and i think her energy really set us up for the win. We look forward to the Spartans game next week now. There will be no shortage of confidence in the players after today and as much as it was important to win today, we really need to take points from the teams above us as well.”

Eilidh Shore

“It was important after the split for us to start with three points. We got what we came here for today and hopefully we can kick on from this. I think the way that we set up today worked. We knew the areas that we wanted to exploit and the gameplan went well. We really should’ve killed the game in the first half, Millie was really good going down the right and we missed a few chances from that. Until they scored we were pretty comfortable and I don’t think they even had a chance up until they scored. That was always going to give us a little blow but we got our confidence back and I thought some of our passing today was as good as it has been all season. I think the post split fixtures are a chance for us to hit restart and we’ve got to take as many points as possible from these games. I was happy to get a goal and contribute, it’s always nice to get on the scoresheet but the three points are the most important thing and we’re happy to take them home today.”