31st of March 2007 Lanarkshire United v Hibs Girls

On the 31st of March the much awaited top of the table clash between Hibs and Lanarkshire Utd finally took place. There had been many attempts to get this match played but as a consequence of the very wet winter and clashes with the SFA development weekends there had been a few call offs.

The Lanarkshire pitch was in good condition due having had a warm dry week before hand. Lanarkshire won the toss and chose to play down the Auchenheath slope. The early stages of the first half saw Lanarkshire make good use of this advantage and they were the stronger team in the first half. Despite this, strong performances by Kirston Wier, Rebecca Zoltie and Gemma Robb at the back kept Lanarkshire largely out of the Hibs box. Half way through the second half, a great shot by Lanarkshire brought off an excellent save from Nicky Boyle in the Hibs goal. With ten minutes before half time Ellen Pia had a half chance on the breakaway for Hibs but she was blocked by a strong tackle from the Lanarkshire defender.

First goal was scored 5 minutes before half-time – a penalty awarded when Suzanne Torrance of Hibs handled inside the penalty area. It was not deliberate hand ball but Suzanne gained advantage and the ref had no choice but to give a penalty. Suzanne was booked for handball. Rachel Everett took the resultant penalty and slotted it past the Hibs keeper.

Second goal came a couple of minutes later when Stephanie Crichton picked up the ball in the middle of the park and slipped it between two Hibs defenders to Danielle Hurst. Danielle’s speed carried her past the Hibs defence into the penalty area where she slotted the ball past the advancing Hibs goalkeeper.

The first half was played at a hard competitive level. It was played at fast pace with many hard but fair tackles put in. Ciara Donaldson made many great defensive tackles and worked very hard and was brought off at half time because she had given so much.

2-0 to Lanarkshire Utd at half-time.

In the second half the game the Hibs came more into the game as they had the benefit of the slope. However Lanarkshire still had a lot of possession.

Second half - Lanarkshire Utd added to their tally late on in the second half when a Stephanie Crichton throw-in was knocked on by Maxine McCrindle to Lucy Clark who put the home side 3 up. After the third goal Hibs heads did not go down and Gemma Robb and Chloe Jamieson both had shots which went close.

In the last minute Alex Williamson of Lanarkshire caught a Hibs player in the penalty area leaving the referee no option but to book her and award a penalty to Hibs. Gemma Robb fired the perfect penalty past the Lanarkshire goalkeeper Sam McDonald who dived the right way but was beaten by the pace of the shot. This was only a consolation and the final score was 3-1 to Lanarkshire Utd.

In conclusion Hibs were beaten by the better team on the day. This Lanarkshire team are probably one of the top under 15 teams in the UK. There is no disgrace to losing to a team of such pedigree. However Hibs Girls if in top form and with home advantage are well capable of taking points of Lanarkshire in the return fixture. The league is not over yet.