News Archive
Whitburn - Hibs
Match Report - 24 Sept 2006
The match started in torrential rain in a very very dull and overcast Whitburn. The pitch was playable at the start of the match but the weather was always going to have an impact on the match and potentially the result. Whitburn started very confidently on their home venue and were intent on making thing very difficult for Hibs Girls in these very demanding and difficult conditions.
Both teams were finding it difficult to put any passing combinations together but it was Whitburn who seemed to settle quicker and get the measure of the conditions and they started to stretch Hibs in the wide positions and at the back. However, Hibs started to get moving through Lisa Yarwood, Claire Mooney, Louise Whyte and Jinky. They soon had Whitburn on the back foot, Emma Gray was put through on goal on a number of occassions but unfortunately for Hibs, no end result.
Whitburn struck first from a throw in on the right. They got in behind Laura Connolly and struck a shot from around 12 yards which hit the underside of the bar and then got stuck in the mud on the goal line. The referee decided that the ball had crossed the line and awarded a goal to Whitburn. This gave Whitburn a real shot in the arm and they continued to link well from midfield to front with their two front players and their midfield combining well and fighting for every ball.
Coral Cassidy was holding the defence together well and Laura Connolly and Bex Moore were working hard to stay with a very lively Whitburn team. It was in midfield that Hibs were finding it difficult, especially in the wide positions. Whitburn were fighting extremely hard as they could see that the weather was making it difficult for the technically superior Hibs team to stamp their authority on the game.
Whitburn, although strong in midfield and up front, were not as strong at the back and Emma Gray was ripping them apart on the left side with her phenomenal pace but unfortunately was letting herself down in front of goal. The Whitburn goalkeeper continued to be the busier goalkeeper as the game moved towards halftime with the rain getting harder and the surface turning boggy, especially in central midfield.
Whitburn continued to work very hard and fight for every loose ball and broke free on the right side with the Hibs defence and midfield scrambling to recover in the horrendous conditions. Bex Moore moved across from the left side to try to provide cover but as she did so , the clever Whitburn forward read this and moved in behind her to finish off a good cross from the right at the back post giving Michelle no chance with a very clinical finish from 3 yards. Hibs now had a very difficult situation on their hands and managed to stabilise this by gaining possession and winning a corner on the right. Jinky took it and produced a great delivery into the 6 yard box for Lisa Yarwood to power a header into the roof of the net from close range.
HALF TIME SCORE : Whitburn 2 - Hibs 1
The second half started with Megan Turnbull replacing Danni Diey at left wing back and Jinky returning to midfield with Louise Whyte moving up front from midfield to join Emma Gray. Hibs were by no means out of things and were determined to get the upper hand in the second half. However, Whitburn continued to fight for everything and as the match moved on , puddles were forming all over the pitch and our skilful midfelders were finding it increasingly difficult to get the ball forward to the strikers. The ball was just sticking in the water making it very difficult to play football and this was helping Whitburn more than Hibs as it was Hibs who had to make the play to equalise.
The Whitburn midfield kept working hard and closing down possession and played a good ball in behind the Hibs defence. Coral Cassidy came across very quicky and made a superbly timed tackle, taking the ball cleanly in the tackle and sliding the ball to safety which regained possession for Hibs. However, the Whitburn forward decided to fall over, and the referee decided to award a penalty kick to Whitburn and from the resultant penalty, Whitburn went 3 - 1 up. No-one could believe that the penalty had been awarded as Coral, if she had committed a foul, should have been booked at least but as she won the ball fairly there was no reason to book her and no reason to award a penalty against her.
Hibs continued to drive forward with Coral Cassidy absolutely immense at the heart of the Hibs defence, driving her team forward at every opportunity. Jinky, Claire and Lisa Yarwood were all pushing Hibs forward and Megan Turnbull was putting in a big effort in the wide left midfield position. Natalie McLeod was introduced at right central defence with Laura Connolly moving forward to right wingback in place of Mariel Kaney, who had worked extremely hard in the conditions. Hayley Cobban replaced Louise Whyte up front, as Hibs tried to get back into the game.
Nikki Burns replaced Jinky after she took a really heavy challenge from a Whitburn midfielder. Natalie settled quickly and gave Coral good cover on her right side, making a number of timely challenges and providing real energy to the defence. Hayley and Nikki found it very difficult to get going in the now unplayable conditions in central positions and Lisa was becoming frustrated as the ball continued to get stuck in the surface water.
Megan Turnbull was moved into a central midfield position to try to release Lisa Yarwood to a wider position so that she could use the ball better in an area of the pitch whih wasn't flooded. Hibs started to gain the upper hand and Emma Gray was put through on goal on numerous occassions, although she tried extremely hard, she just couldn't finih off her excellent leading up play.
Hibs gained a number of corners and free kicks as they pushed for a goal and from one of these corners, Claire Mooney produced a brilliant delivery for MOM Coral Cassidy to power in an unstoppable header from 6 yards. Lisa Yarwood and Claire Mooney had excellent drives from the edge of the box well saved by the Whitburn keeper and despite finishing well, just could not get that elusive equalising goal.
RESULT : Whitburn 3 - Hibs 2
Hibs Man of the Match was Coral Cassidy, when things got really difficult during the game, she stood up and drove her team mates forward at every opportunity, scoring Hibs second goal herself in the process. WELL DONE to Coral!!