27 January 2007 Dunfermline v Hibs - Match Report

 

The pitch was in remarkably good condition considering the amount of rain which had fallen over the last few weeks although it was still heavy and the ball took a few bobbles on occasions.  The teams were also a bit rusty from inactivity due to the bad weather  However, there was little wind to begin with and a fascinating match, which Dunfermline needed to win.  Hibs clearly were concerned over Dunfermline's Rhianna Tweedies pace on the left hand side of their defence.  For Hibs Gemma Robb was equally impressive and caused the right hand side of Dunfermline 's defence all sorts of problems. The game was fairly even for the first 20 minutes with a couple of chances at either end.    Hibs Ellen Pia and Gemma Robb both brought off good saves from the Dunfermline keeper.  For Hibs Girls Suzanne Torrance was impressive in defence.  Suzanne appears to be getting better in every game.  She was flawless in the first half, read the game exceptionally well and all her passes were inch perfect.  Suzanne alongside Kirsten Weir, Claire McEwan and Fern Quinn were well co-ordinated at the back for Hibs and managed for most of the game to keep Dunfermline out of the Hibs box forcing them to shoot from distance – effectively I may add.  Fern rarely makes the wrong decision at the back and captain Kirsten’s workrate and strong tackling helped to minimise Dunfermline ’s threat.

 

Kirsty Oliphant in Dunfermline 's goal played as if the position was meant for her, anticipating balls over the Dunfermline defence and setting off attacks with her powerful kicking.  From one of these attacks on the right Chantelle Munoz curled a left foot shot from distance in to the bottom corner from the edge of the eighteen yard box to make it 1-0 for Dunfermline . 

 

Ten minutes before half time a lovely passing move involving Rebecca Zoltie and Ellen Pia resulted in a half chance when Zoltie laid it off to Pia who dribbled pass one Dunfermline defender into the box. However, Oliphant covered her angles well and force Ellen to hit the ball wide. With one minute left of the first half, Hibs scored from a ball over the Dunfermline defence, which looked to have found three Hibs players in an offside position. The referee ruled that all three girls were onside when the pass was made and that Dunfermline had miscalculated their offside trap. The Dunfermline keeper managed to block the shot from Gemma Robb and the ball broke to Hibs top scorer Ellen Pia who tapped the ball unchallenged into an empty net. 

 

Half time 1-1

 

The second half started with Dunfermline changing goalkeepers (Karen Herkes took over) and making associated positional changes to accommodate this.  The resultant impact was to destroy the team's balance, which was so effective in the first half, and let Hibs more and more into the game. The Dunfermline defence marshalled by captain Kirsty Oliphant with Ashleigh Weir sweeping  behind, held firm despite some strong pressure from a Hibs team, who were buoyed by their equaliser and sensed a kill.  A brave tactical switch from coach Garry Herkes who sensed the need to exert some pressure on the Hibs defence finally won the match.  He pushed Chantelle Munoz forward and brought Lindsey Gassner into midfield to take Chantelle's position.  Within minutes, some clever footwork from Chantelle allowed her some room to dispense an unstoppable shot from 25 yards past the Hibs goalkeeper. 

 

Soon after the Dunfermline goal Chloe Jamieson went on an exciting run down the left hand side and engineered putting herself in a great position.  Unfortunately for Hibs her shot went inches wide.

 

The final nail in the coffin for Hibs, were the next few tactical changes by the Dunfermline coaches, who regained the first half team balance by reinstating Kirsty Montignani in goals and then finally having Rhianna "man" mark  Hib's main threat Gemma Robb.   Towards the end of the game Dunfermline finished stronger as they were focussed in keeping the ball in Hibs half: “the best form of defence is attack”.

 

Dunfermline could and should have added to their goal tally with Bobbie Beveridge missing by inches after an excellent move which started in midfield.  Kirsty Oliphant missed a chance with only the goalie to beat from Chantelle's free kick and then Lindsey heading over from Chantelle's corner.  Failing to score a third goal did however mean that Hibs could always nick one at the death, which would have been hard on Dunfermline  who needed the points to open up the title race.

 

Overall, Dunfermline had some excellent individual performances such as Leigh Aitken who never stopped running in midfield and Chantelle with her brace of goals.  However, it was a real team performance from Dunfermline with Rebecca Main, Robyn Salmond and Claire Thomson all contributing to the victory. 

 

Hibs have played Dunfermline home and away. Each team won their home game.  There is not much between the two teams and the neutral fan would probably think this fair.  The victory has opened up the title race with Dunfermline hoping that Hibs can take points from Lanarkshire United in their first encounter to really open up the league.  Well done to both teams for playing the game in a sporting manner.