Hibs overcome 'broken bodies' & underdog status to rule SWPL

Hibernian claimed their first title since 2007

Hibernian head coach Grant Scott nailed it when he said his side had survived "broken bodies" to win a shock SWPL title against Rangers at Ibrox.

The squad had to dig about as deep as any squad could in their quest for unlikely glory. But they did it. The walking wounded won the league at Ibrox.

"We've pushed them to the absolute limit," Scott told BBC Scotland.

"There's some broken bodies out there, and in the dugout and the stands. In this modern era of Scottish women's football - it's a massive achievement."

Hibs fight 'tooth and nail' for glory

Hibs' achievement would be special even if they had every player fit and firing, given their resources are not in the same league as Rangers, Celtic, or Glasgow City.

But the way they fronted up in adversity - again - was astonishing.

Midfielder Michaela McAlonie was playing with her arm almost completely bandaged up, cradling it as she ran across the Ibrox turf having ended the Celtic game on Wednesday in tears after hurting it.

Rated 50/50 for Sunday's game, she managed a heroic hour in which she never stopped running.

Left-back Caley Gibb survived a half in which she seemed to battle every Rangers player, before finally going down injured having also struggled on Wednesday.

Eilidh Adams, who finished with 27 goals for the season, was nursing an injury and had to be taken off in the second half.

Captain Rachael Boyle was named on the bench despite not having played since February and was surely unlikely to be fit enough to play more than a handful of minutes.

Even the winning goal summed up the guts and determination of this Hibs side.

Linzi Taylor, a centre-back, won the ball on the edge of the box and drove forward, slipping it to Rosie Livingstone.

She gave everything to beat Nicola Docherty to the ball before returning it to Taylor, who laid it forward for Kathleen McGovern.

McGovern, who has also been managing her fitness, somehow kept the ball in against the odds before crossing for Taylor to finish brilliantly to win it.

"It cannot be underestimated how well Hibs have done this season," former Scotland and Hibs goalkeeper Gemma Fay said on BBC Scotland's Sportsound.

"They've got a lot of quality, they don't have a huge amount of depth, but what they've been able to get out of that depth has been amazing.

"It's a mentality thing, they will fight tooth and nail for each other, for each blade of real and artificial grass.

"They've taken teams to the wire, every time anybody says they're going to fall off they pitch back up. They've never known when they're going to be beaten."

'People had us written off by January'

Linzi Taylor was the matchwinner at Ibrox for Hibs

Mentality has been critical. Hibs have ended the campaign having taken 31 points from a possible 48 against their four fellow professional clubs - Rangers, Celtic, Glasgow City and Hearts.

Rangers never managed to beat them in the league, losing three times. Hibs have been beaten once in the league since September.

The talk was that, on a big grass pitch at Ibrox, free-scoring Rangers would have the advantage, having thumped Hibs 5-0 in the Sky Sports Cup final in March.

That game was the only previous meeting not played on an artificial surface.

Hibs ate this stuff up. A team who viewed themselves as underdogs with a point to prove had a serious bite when it mattered.

"This group is special," leading scorer McGovern told BBC Scotland. "You've seen it all season, the consistency has been phenomenal.

"It was bodies on the line, and it shows why we're league winners. A lot of people outside had written us off by January but we knew what group we had.

"We had fire in the belly today. We fought for each other. We've had that all season to be honest, it's been great to be part of."

Hibs forge iron identity

What made it sweeter for Hibs was this was all achieved with a squad full of women who have been with the club for years.

Boyle is one of them. Having lifted cups with Hibs but never the league before now, hoisting the SWPL trophy was a defining moment for her, having had a tough time with injury lately.

Adams is one of a number of the team who have come through the ranks.

Defender Siobhan Hunter is a Hibs fan and one-club woman who came up with an iconic moment.

A cut-back to Mia McAulay opened up a brilliant chance for Rangers to equalise, but Hunter somehow blocked it with her head having been on the floor seconds before.

"Probably at the start nobody thought it [was possible], it makes it even sweeter," Hunter told Sky Sports.

"It was a dream that's now possible in my eyes. We've been doing it all season and we really deserved it today.

"It's easy to get distracted, look at other teams. The togetherness we have is unbelievable and if you've got that you're hard to beat. The club is in a real good place right now and it deserves to be there.

"We had a couple of results where we slipped up, but when it counted we stood up for one another. It's so special I can't put it into words, but this club deserves to be where it is."