AFC Women captain Hannah Stewart was delighted by her side’s response to their Scottish Cup exit at the hands of Montrose, with The Dons bouncing back to defeat Motherwell and claim a crucial three points on Sunday.
“What a difference a week can make.
“You look at last week’s performance, how disappointed we were, how we let ourselves down and how hurt we were. We’ve used that all week as a catalyst to come out and show a lot more fight and desire, and show how much these three points mean to us.
“I think everyone on the pitch could feel it, everyone off the pitch could feel it. I said to the girls after the game that’s exactly what we need in every single game for the rest of the season.
“I don’t know know why (it took the Montrose loss to get the reaction). I don’t know if it was a realisation of where we are, or if that’s just the way the girls respond, if you need to anger them a little bit.
“We used the hurt from last week. I used it in the huddle before the game and Scott used it all week to get that message into the girls that we needed a reaction. I think that’s exactly what we got.
Back in a more familiar role leading the line and back amongst the goals, the captain was delighted to get on the scoresheet.
“A good ball from Abi, and I was lurking at the back post – thankfully I just kind of got a touch to it. I thought it was going over, then it rebounded off the bar, and I was there to knock it in. Not the prettiest, but they all count!
“And then Mya’s goal, these are the little bits of luck that other teams seem to get against us. It was nice to get that on our side. She’ll probably tell you she meant it, I think the wind maybe took it… A goal’s a goal and we need them all to get us out of where we are in those moment. I felt it was deserved, I felt we were in control.
“The girls did so well to see it out after going ahead late on. I think there were six minutes left and then almost ten minutes of added time.
“I said to the girls after the goal, it’s all about mentality now. In previous weeks that’s where we’ve let ourselves down. That’s where the hurt comes from, being ahead in games and then losing it.
“I said to them we don’t come off this pitch without the three points. The fight was there right to the end. Every clearance, every block. We stayed focused and we got the three points.
“We need to go Hamilton next weekend now and deliver another positive performance. That’s the fight and that’s the level we’ve set, and that’s the level we expect, if not more, every game for the rest of the season.
“It will be a difficult one, it always is down there, but we will have another good week on the training pitch and we’ll be ready when it comes.”
