Lanarkshire Utd - Hibs
Match Report - 01 Oct 2006

 

Hibs Girls travelled to Cleland in Lanarkshire for their 3rd away fixture out of 4 played this season. The underfoot conditions were heavy and the pitch itself seemed more suited to a game of rugby rather than football with grass in some sections of the pitch more than 3 inches long.

 

From the kick off Lanarkshire United tried to impose their style of play on Hibs Girls but it was Hibs who soon started to dictate the pace of the game with the midfield players combining to provide some good openings, particularly down the Hibs left side with Lisa Yarwood and Megan Turnbull giving Emma Gray good possession to allow her to test out the Lanarkshire United right back.

 

Emma was soon into her stride running past the Lanarkshire defenders almost at will and having some good shots on goal saved by the Lanarkshire United keeper. Jinky was also prominent with her trademark mazy runs from midfield again asking questions of the Lanarkshire United midfielders and defenders.

 

However, it was Lanarkshire United who took the lead against the run of play when they broke from defence into midfield and before the Hibs midfield could close her down, the Lanarkshie United midfielder played a through pass inside Natalie Mcleod for their electric little striker to run in on goal and slot the ball into the corner of the net.

 

Hibs continued to dominate the play on both flanks with Emma Gray and Mariel Kaney working really hard to create openings. Jinky, Claire and Lisa continued to impose themselves on the Lanarkshire United midfield and provide good possession to Emma and Nikki but Hibs just couldn't seem to find that elusive equaliser. When Lanarkshire United did come forward, Natalie, Coral and Bex did everything that was necessary to close down the danger and Michelle Beech was confident in the Hibs goal.

 

It was a real shock and disappointment all around when with Hibs in control, possession was lost in midfield and the Lanarkshire United midfielder played the little No.11 in again for her to use her pace to race clear of the Hibs defence and steer the ball behind a helpless Michelle in the Hibs goal.

 

Once again Hibs regained possession and continued to put Lanarkshire United under pressure with strong play and good passing movements. It was a great relief to all of the Hibs supporters who were willing the girls back into this game when Lisa Yarwood picked up the ball deep in the Lanarkshire half. She held off some strong challenges to unleash a fantastic diagonal drive from the left hand edge of the box and it screamed into the top right hand corner of the net for a truly wonderful Hibs goal. This is without doubt the goal of the season so far!!

 

The half ended with Hibs almost equalising when Nikki Burns, through on goal from a Claire Mooney pass , got to the ball before the goalkeeper and managed to steer the ball past her, but couldn't get enough power on it and the Lanarkshire United defender cleared with the goalkeeper beaten for a second time.

 

Half Time 2 - 1

 

The second half started with Lanarkshire United on the offensive after some slack passing in the Hibs defence gave away a needless corner kick. However, the danger was cleared and Hibs started to dominate looking for the equaliser with real determination.

 

In an attempt to add more attacking options, Danni Diey was introduced at left wingback with Megan Turnbull moving to left central defence. Bex Moore moved to right central defence and Natalie McLeod was withdrawn after a solid performance at right central defence. Louise Whyte replaced a very tired Emma Gray up front as Hibs continued to attack on both flanks with Mariel Kaney now very prominent in all of the attacks down the right hand side.

 

In one of these attacks, Mariel, Claire Mooney and Jinky combined to set Jinky off on one of her mazy runs and from easily 25 yards she hit an unstoppable shot with her less than favourite left foot, which struck the Lanarkshire United crossbar and went over.

 

In a further attempt to save the game and just after Jinky had been on the end of a heavy challenge in midfield, Laura Connolly replaced Bex Moore at right central defence and Gemma Robb replaced the injured Jinky at right central midfield. Louise Whyte played a superb pass from midfield in front of Nikki Burns, but even with Nikki's pace, she got to the ball too late to get a good shot away as the angle was too acute and the shot went wide of the Lanarkshire United left hand post. Danni Diey was causing Lanarkshire some problems on the left hand side and Hibs had around 6 or 7 corners on both sides in the last 20 minutes.

 

However, even with Coral Cassidy and Lisa Yarwood lending their considerable power to the Hibs attack at these corners, Hibs just couldn't get the equalising goal their play deserved.

 

It was cruel luck when with only a few minutes left, the same move which created the first two goals created the third goal for the same player totally against the run of play. In the last minute Michelle Beech pulled off a superb two handed save from a Lanarkshire United forward as Hibs were caught up the park continuing to go for goal.

 

The match ended Lanarkshie United 3 - Hibs Girls 1.

 

After last week's disappointment at Whitburn, Hibs Girls put in a strong performance which deserved a better result. Lanarkshire United without their wonderful little No.11 forward, who looks as if she could be a real star, would have been no match for Hibs without her.

 

Hibs Girls showed a lot of resolve today and if they keep believing in themselves and continue to train hard and learn, it will not be long before their excellent outfield play starts to pay dividends for them.