Scottish Women's Football

Leanne Crichton and Rachel Corsie discuss the SWPL title race on the Behind the Goals podcast.

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Jane Lewis
BBC Sport Scotland Senior Reporter

Erin Clachers (Hibs): Celtic may not have overly worked the Hibs goalkeeper but when called upon she held on to the ball well. A big win for Hibs and as Celtic threw players forward, she played a vital part.

Sam van Diemen (Glasgow City): Comfortable at the back in the win against Motherwell and at ease venturing forward. The Dutch defender did really well as she raced down the wing to provide the ball in for Natalia Wrobel to score City's third goal.

Jess Broadrick (Aberdeen): Helped her team to a crucial win as she made some timely blocks to keep Spartans at bay.

Stacey Papadopoulos (Hibs): Stood up really well against Celtic, making vital blocks and tackles as the visitors pushed for the equaliser that never came.

Jackie Richards (Hearts): Was at the heart of everything Hearts did well in the draw with Rangers, especially in the first half. As well as clearing a shot off the line, the American was impressive driving forward to set up attacks.

Holly Daniel (Montrose): Provided the assist for Neve Guthrie to put re-establish Montrose's lead in victory over Dundee United.

Tegan Bowie (Hibs): Terrific energy and pace from the winger in driving Hibs forward. The 21-year-old showed great persistence as she beat her marker to send in a brilliant cross for Eilidh Adams' winning goal.

Laura Berry (Rangers): Managers hope their subs make an impact - Berry did exactly that. Her goal was class as she ran on to the ball and finished wonderfully. Her ball in for Rio Hardy's equaliser was inch perfect.

Brenna Lovera (Glasgow City): Scored the opener to set the tone against Motherwell. Also provided the assist for their second, scored by Lisa Forrest, as City earned a significant win to regain top spot.

Eilidh Adams (Hibs): Started and finished the move for the only goal against Celtic. It wasn't easy to keep that ball down, despite the quality of the delivery, but she showed determination and composure to secure a statement victory for Hibs.

Bayley Hutchinson (Hearts): Scored two very different but big goals against Rangers. The striker's opener showed her power and then composure with the finish. Made sure she was in the right place to tap in the second.

Image source, Malcolm Mackenzie/SWPL

Hibs manager Grant Scott: "A fortuitous victory, we put a lot of hard work into it, rode our luck a little bit in the second half in particular, but the first half we took the game to Celtic really well and I wouldn't say dominated the half, but we did a lot of good things in there.

"Those are the grinding out result ones that are important and keep you in the challenge.

"I thought Celtic looked lively and dangerous, put some balls in the box that were tricky for us to deal with, but I can't think of too many clear-cut shots from them. I think we could do better in the first half with the couple of chances we did have, so fine margin game that one. We're delighted to take the victory at the end."

Celtic manager Elena Sadiku: "We had a really poor first half in terms of being the team that we can be, being intense on the pressure and being brave enough on the ball.

"Hibs had two or three chances in the game, they scored one, which is how it's been lately for us. We create chances and we don't score, there's a big frustration in the camp and I'm very disappointed.

"It's important we find consistency in training and find a hunger of making sure we win games because we've been in this situation before.

"Last time, I came here we were seven points behind and we still managed to win the league, now we're in that situation again that we're three points behind and we just need to be at it.

"We need to be hungry, we need to chase and the mindset now is we've done it before, we can do it again and we need to strongly believe in it and be confident."

Image source, SNS

Hearts manager Eva Olid: "We started really, really good and we had to take that momentum to score more goals, we were really good in the first half in terms of energy.

The second half, we were good in the build up, but in final third, we missed that energy that we had in the first half.

"It's what happens with these teams, they change what they did and changed the match.

"We will try to win every match, and I think that we will get points against top teams in the last matches. We have a bigger squad. We have 21 players fit. We can rotate, and that will help us for this congestive end of the season."

Rangers manager Jo Potter: "It's tough because after 45 minutes I'd have taken a draw, at the end of that we were well out of it, we weren't ourselves at all. You're looking to climb a mountain being 2-0 down against a decent Hearts team, at that point I'd have taken a point.

"But towards the end of the game, when you're pressing and you're on the ascendancy, you will feel a little bit aggrieved and the players do as well with their performance levels, but I'm hoping that's going to be a good point come the end of the season.

"Teams are going to come and do that to us, but we've got to be better at handling that situation, we should want teams to come and press us and be able to accept that pressure and break lines and be brave enough."

Image source, SNS

Glasgow City manager Leanne Ross: "Really pleased with the result today, we knew we were in for a tough game, Motherwell have done really well to get themselves in that top six this season, they've had some fantastic results and performances, we knew they were going to be difficult to break down, and that proved to be on the day.

"Every single game now is a must win, they're not going to be wins from now until the end of the season, but we're going into them saying that we must win them.

"We're going to give everything that we can to make sure that we put up the biggest fight possible to go and win this title, but we know it's going to be tough.

"Every single team that's in that top six is going to be doing exactly the same, the neutral is in for some exciting games to end the season."

Motherwell assistant Colin Crichton: "Disappointed with the result, we really believe that we could have come here and got something out of the match.

"In terms of how we performed, I thought we were excellent, the players were really, really good, the players that started, the players that finished, plenty of energy, press was good.

"If it goes 1-1 you can at least then run them a bit closer than we did, it's disappointing to then lose a second, at that point City are in control of the match but even still, I thought the players were absolutely fantastic, the energy they gave, real enthusiasm all over the park, and that's going to try and set us up now for the rest of the season."

Image source, SNS

Aberdeen manager Scott Booth: "I thought we started the game fairly well and, passed the ball about well, tried to move the opposition.

"They're really well organised, they've got bags of energy from mid to front, so they can really put you under a lot of pressure, but then we took our goal really well, [Emily] Kraft's finish was great, it was a nice move and I think after that, we just stopped playing as much as we had been in the early part of the game and then the game descended into a bit of a battle, to be honest.

This result was really important for us, it gives us a little bit of space and that was key. The performance today was probably not the priority, the three points were the priority but as we go on in the bottom half of the table, we need to make sure that after the split, we are playing better football, then it will become more about the performance."

Spartans manager Jack Beesley: "A sore one to take, it was the game we knew it was going to be, both of us had spells we were on top and we were under the cosh, it wasn't anything other than what we expected.

"They had the better first half, and they got a lead, we had the better second half, and we didn't do anything about it.

"The main disappointment is we came up here, got the game we're expecting, which is a really tight, tough game, but it feels like points dropped as opposed to coming up and getting thoroughly beaten undeservedly.

"I thought we deserved to get something for the game, but we've only got ourselves to blame that we didn't."

"Aberdeen scored their chances, we didn't, so we don't deserve anything."

Image source, Colin Poultney/SWPL

Queen's Park manager Iain Robinson: "It's an excellent point against a really difficult opponent. We knew coming in that we would need to work very, very hard to get anything from the game, but the girls carried out our game plan.

"We had chances to go and score ourselves, we were a bit unlucky at times defensively, but overall, I thought we played very, very well.

"That could be a big point towards the end of the season, we're going to play Partick Thistle again twice more, so we'll have belief going into those games."

Partick Thistle assistant manager Ross Stormonth: "A tough result, we didn't really create enough in the final third, at the end of the day that sums up the season.

"We created some chances, kind of half chances, but not enough to go and deserve to win the game to be honest. We need to go back to the drawing board about how we're going to create and how we're going to score goals and it's been the story of the season.

"At the end of the day, we've got to try and go unbeaten, we've got to go and try and win every game and try and get as many points on the board as we can and start looking forward again."

Image source, SNS

Montrose manager Craig Feroz: "I don't think we played at our best today, but it's always good to get three points against one of your rivals, but I think we could have done slightly better.

"Spartans will be the next one we need to try and catch and it was important to get a win.

"I'm looking forward to the split, it's better than getting beat 10-0 every week, it's games that we can possibly win, this is probably the time of the season we get to enjoy it a bit."

Dundee United manager Suzy Shepherd: "It is a sore one, really disappointing not to take something from the game.

"I felt in the first half that we'd actually done really well and not sure how we didn't score more goals. Had a few cleared off the line and in the second half I think we just kind of went down a level, but the biggest thing is just really set pieces win and lose you a game and for us it's cost us a game, not defending set pieces properly.

"It was nice to see us getting into that final third and creating chances and it's sometimes just that final pass or that decision making. We've had a couple cleared off the line and another day they're going in."

Former player and current assistant manager Joelle Murray talks about her journey from Hibs supporter to club legend.

This segment is taken from the 28 February episode of A View From the Terrace. Watch on BBC Scotland or iPlayer.

Amy Canavan
BBC Sport Scotland

Image source, SNS

The SWPL is back with a bang after the international break as the final round of pre-split fixtures take place.

The post-split spots are sealed, but there's still plenty to keep an eye on come Sunday...

Two of the top four tussle

With the top quartet all locked together on 51 points, game of the weekend is in Edinburgh as fourth-placed Hibernian face third-placed Celtic.

Fresh off the back of signing a new two-year deal with the Edinburgh club, Grant Scott's mightily impressive - and somewhat surprising - side welcome Elena Sadiku's reigning champions in the later kick-off, live on BBC Alba and the BBC Sport website and app.

With 20 league goals and counting, Hibs striker Eilidh Adams made her Scotland debut in Austria last week and her first start at Hampden on Tuesday night against the Dutch.

Bouncing and beaming, the 20-year-old will look to pick up where she left off in what promises to be a superb game.

McDonald-Nguah to make a difference at United?

During the international break, rock-bottom Dundee United secured the services of long-time SWPL striker Kaela McDonald-Nguah.

The former Spartans and Motherwell forward has joined Suzy Shepherd's side with, no doubt, only one intention - to put the ball in the back of the net.

It's something United have struggled with this term, having only scored 13 goals in 21 games.

McDonald-Nguah is a no-nonsense, hard to handle, centre-forward who has shown her ability to drive in a delicious strike or two.

Aberdeen to go five unbeaten at the Balmoral?

After a bit of a sticky start, Scott Booth has fair steadied the ship at Aberdeen, particularly at home.

Cup wins against Gartcairn and Hamilton Accies were sandwiched by a crucial league victory against Queen's Park. And in their last game at the Balmoral, they drew with last season's sixth-best side Partick Thistle.

The Dons have a fine opportunity to make it five games without defeat on their own turf as they welcome Spartans on Sunday.

Booth's side are one point ahead of the Edinburgh club, and a win on Sunday would set them up nicely at the top end of the bottom six heading into the split.

Amy Canavan
BBC Sport Scotland

Image source, SNS

When Emma Lawton received her first Scotland call up earlier this month, she didn't expected to start one never mind two Nations League games.

Given the "surreal" six months she's had, though, she probably should have had a wee bit more faith.

The Celtic full-back not only made her international debut in Austria, and followed it up with a second start on Tuesday against the Netherlands, she scored her first goal for her country too, giving the Scots a shock lead before the Dutch fought back for a 2-1 win at Hampden.

"I was just ready for any rebounds and I hit it," Lawton said of her first-half strike. "Luckily it flew into the goal. I'm really pleased with it."

Summing up an "enjoyable but challenging" time in camp, the goalscorer spoke of the "crazy" experience of having tea with some of her idols.

"I've watched a lot of these players for years," she told BBC Scotland.

"To be training and playing with them, and eating dinner with them, has been crazy. It is a really great group of girls.

"It's been really enjoyable, very challenging, but I am really happy to be here.

"I didn't think I'd play to be honest. To start both games, I'm proud to have done that, pleased with it.

"Knowing [interim head coach] Michael [McArdle] has been really good. The girls have really liked him. It has been a positive week for us. We have taken steps in the right way."

Image source, SNS

Scotland goalkeeper Lee Gibson is "proud" of her team-mates despite their defeat to the Netherlands.

The Scots lost their Nations League opener away to Austria on Friday night and despite a much improved performance at home to the Dutch, they were on the end of a 2-1 defeat.

Next up, back-to-back games against Germany in April.

"We know Group A in the Nations League is going to be really tough so when you plays teams at home you know you need to try and pick up points," Gibson said.

"But I'm proud of the team, excited about the direction we're going in. It's going to be two really difficult games come April.

"We're trying to get to grips with the new management over a short period of time but there's plenty to build on and we're just excited to get back out on the pitch."

Image source, SNS

Captain Caroline Weir says it's been a positive week for Scotland despite back-to-back Nations League defeats.

A 1-0 defeat away to Austria was followed by a 2-1 loss at home to the Netherlands, despite Scotland scoring the first goal, as interim head coach Michael McArdle took charge of his first games.

"We knew it was going to be tough," the midfielder said.

"I thought we did well in the first half and created chances. It's small margins at this level. I'm proud of the team. The effort was there and we can take a lot of learnings from that.

"Credit to her [Emma Lawton] and all the other young players, they're taking their chance. It's never easy but we can see they are talented and really want it as well. As older players we've tried to show our experience.

"It's been a positive week. We don't want to look too far ahead. Overall it's positive and we'll go again next camp."

Image source, SNS

Scotland interim head coach Michael McArdle: "I'm proud, first and foremost.

"I'm not happy not winning the game. We set up with a game plan to control the game without the ball. The game plan worked well in certain aspects, but maybe in the final third we need to improve in those areas.

"Plenty of positives in regard to the teamwork and identity. I have seen glimmers of the identity, which is great over a short period of time.

"I'm delighted for [Emma Lawton] personally. I'm delighted for us all that work with her at club and country.

"The game plan was always to frustrate Netherlands. The main thing from us all was keeping that communication. We have improved our communication and leadership on the pitch.

"It was a difficult game in Austria. To not take a point from the game is more frustrating now that it was on Saturday. There is huge steps being taken with the group, it is exciting.

"We are experimental and brave. We will take risks, especially against the top nations. That is how we will learn."