Celtic Women’s Stoppage Time Sickener at the Tony Macaroni

Match Report: Hibernian 1 Celtic FC Women 1…

Fran Alonso’s League Cup winners returned to SWPL1 action today as they faced Hibs at the Tony Macaroni stadium and a team against whom, in the last two meetings between the sides, Celtic had won by a solitary strike. This time it was to end up being a share of the spoils in a fiercely fought encounter, but Celtic will be rueing a penalty saved and series of missed opportunities to put a game where they left until the 91st minute to bed.

Fran Alonso’s first line up of the season saw Rachael Johnstone continue ahead of Chloe Logan in goal and there were surprising omissions of captain Kelly Clark and Clarissa Larisey who both started the match from the substitute bench. The rarely seen Chloe Warrington made a surprise start on the left side of a back three, in a team that lined up – Johnstone, Warrington, Hayes, Shorts, Craig (Captain) and Bowie, Harkes, Chance, Shen, Jacynta, Shen and Wellings.

Prior to the game Fran Alonso had stated “You will see a team that is very hungry not only to play and to win, but to compete and feel the adrenaline you feel in competitive games.” And with an eight-point deficit to cut at the top of the SWPL1 table– after theRangers earlier win against Hearts – his words certainly set a positive a reassuring tone.

And Celtic certainly started fast, but then so too too did Hibs, in what was an even enough encounter in terms of possession but when it came to clear cut chances created Celtic were of a higher standard, as Charlie Wellings was wasteful and unlucky in equal measure before scoring the opening goal two minutes before half time.

The goal came from a low Jacynta pass – who alongside Shen was Celtic’s main supplier of chances throughout the opening period – which was met on the run by Wellings to took an assured first touch before side-footing a placed effort just inside Hibs ‘keeper Emily Mutch’s right hand post.

Wellings certainly deserved that goal, as prior to scoring she’s already been denied by an Amy Gallagher last gasp tackle when in the process of shooting, had taken her touch too wide and left herself too tight an angle to convert from a well weighted Shen pass, and from an excellent Chloe Craig cross, Wellings had her timing all wrong, as her attempted volley was hit into the ground and off target. Then just five minutes prior to the opener a Jacynta lofted pass was snatched at by Wellings. However, the goal showed you can only allow Charlie Wellings so many opportunities before she makes you pay, and Hibs had been somewhat lucky that normally reliable striker had been a little rusty early in the match.

One player very glad to see the goal come was Chloe Craig, who had been given the chance to score from the penalty spot 27 minutes in, after a brilliant Shen pass to Jacynta saw Siobhan Hunter pull the Celtic attacker to the ground when in the process of shooting. The normally reliable Craig however sent a penalty with direction but far too little pace towards goal and the save was far easier than Emily Mutch would have expected.

On chances created Celtic certainly deserved to be in the lead but Hibs too had chances when Rachael Johnstone saved superbly at the feet of Alexa Coyle and Colette Cavanagh – Hibs biggest threat – struck a whistling half Volley that cleared the Johnstone’s crossbar by millimetres after 25 minutes.

In truth however Celtic were only the weight or direction of a pass, as well as some out of touch finishing, away from being further ahead at the break, but having been so wasteful in front of goal and having missed a penalty, the Celts would have been delighted to reach half-time a goal to the good, and on those first half efforts one further goal you would have expected to be enough to see Celtic claim all three points in this entertaining encounter, sadly Celtic couldn’t get it despite numerous chances and ultimately paid the price for not putting the game to bed.

The early exchanges in the second half were altogether scrappier than the first as Hibs pressed incessantly and Celtic struggled to return to their first half rhythm. And Alonso attempted to stiffen up his side after 63 minutes when intruding Jodie Bartle from the bench to replace Tegan Bowie who had put in a fine shift on Celtic’s left side, and it nearly backfired as a Murray cross from that wing found Boyle at the back post who could only hit the side netting.

By now Hibs were causing Celtic problems and the one goal lead looked precarious and Alonso again turned to the bench bringing on Larisey and Gros for Warrington and Shen for the final fifteen minutes, and within three minutes Celtic should have been 2-0 in front when Bartle appeared to stand on the ball rather than send it goalward and the opportunity was lost when clear at the back post. And with four minutes left Harkes sent a fine strike dipping goalward that Mutch had to be sharp to get down to save.

Alonso then replaced Charlie Wellings with Izzy Atkinson and moments later Cailin Hayes had a chance from a corner kick that Mutch again saved well. And Celtic were to rue those missed chances when mugged at the death when a corner kick wasn’t dealt with and Hibs Ellis Notley forced the ball home from close range. It was a tough one to take but ultimately came down to profligacy in front of goal as much as it did to defending a late set piece so poorly.

Celtic were impressive in the first half in particular, with Shen and Jacynta outstanding at times when it came to finding pockets of space, taking the ball on the half turn and either threading and lofting through balls to Charlie Wellings. Meanwhile at the back, in a second half where Celtic lacked fluency, both Chloe Warrington who looked assured in a back three and Racheal Johnstone was commanding in goal. However, Jacynta was certainly the player of the match and what an improvement we are seeing this season from Celtic’s creative force this season.

This will be a tough one to take for Fran Alonso to take, particularly having commanded the game for huge spells and creating plenty of chances. With theRangers winning and Glasgow City doing likewise, Celtic now sit seven points off the top of the table and five points behind Glasgow City in the chase for a Champions League spot. Nothing is of course lost just yet, but if Celtic wish to make inroads into that deficit they are going to be far more ruthless in the weeks ahead than they were today.

Niall J

Describe playing for Celtic in three words? It’s really good!

About Author

As a Bellshill Bhoy I was taken to my first Celtic game in the summer of 1987. It was Billy McNeill’s return to Celtic Park as manager and Celtic lost 5-1 to Arsenal . I thought I was a jinx, I think my Grandfather might have thought the same. It was the finest gift anyone ever gave me when he walked me through Parkhead's gates.

Comments are closed.