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Celtic’s Goal Machine Tash Flint blows SWPL title race wide open

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“Before the game, I said we want to celebrate St Patrick’s Day together. So this win is for all of the fans,” Elena Saduki

CELTIC FC WOMEN 2-1 theRANGERS WOMEN 

The Goal Machine Tash Flint’s two goals helped Celtic FC Women secure a precise victory on Glasgow Derby day as the Ghirls move within a single point of theRangers Women. What a way to celebrate St Patrick’s Day!

Immediately, things were looking good for the Celts as Kit Loferski almost found the opener. And it was in the fourth minute that the American played a ball in for Flint, who found the back of the net. Celtic almost had a second within ten minutes as a pinpoint cross from the outstanding Lucy Ashworth-Clifford found Loferski in the box. The forward tried to convert but couldn’t get enough on the shot.

Domination throughout the half for Celtic as players all over the pitch had a punt at goal. But ultimately, it was Flint who found the second goal just before half-time as a delivery from LAC was volleyed home by the Liverpool loanee, who is now a Celtic Ghirl at heart.

A well-deserved 2-0 lead at the break and as the second half got underway, the Celts continued to push for victory. A few counter-attacks and attempts led to nothing, but that didn’t matter as the clock was ticking down.

But theRangers pulled one back with 12 minutes to play in freakish fashion but Celtic held out and secured three points to send the large Celtic home more than happy with their St Patrick’s Day.

It was a nail-biting finale as theRangers Women won a series of corners in stoppage time but one way or another Celtic held out for a result that was richly deserved, long overdue against today’s opponents and which blows the title race wide open with theRangers seeing their lead reduced to one point. Glasgow City won away at Hearts to join Celtic on points so it’s a three way title tussle to look forward to. Celtic incidentally have a decent lead on goal difference, always a possible factor in tight title finishes.

The Celtic manager, Elena Sadiku, spoke to Celtic TV after the match. She said: “I feel very happy. I know how much the girls work every day and it’s not been easy, but I just enjoy the happiness from the players and the staff. It makes me happy as well.

“The first half shows the potential of this team. I’ve been saying it after every game that we’re not at our full potential, I still believe we have more to give. And that’s the trust and belief I have in the players. It makes me very proud of stand here today and congratulate the players because they did absolutely brilliant, especially in the first half.

“My identity as a coach is that how we train is how we play and vice versa. So, I’m not shocked to see this performance because I know what the girls can do. It just makes me, like I said, proud to see us getting the points as well. It comes to the belief and working towards what we believe are the right things and it showed in the first half. As a coach today, I am very proud.

“The first goal that they [theRangers] scored was a goal that shouldn’t have been, I think we should’ve controlled it. I don’t know exactly what happened, but I wasn’t worried about that situation. But it was a goal and I think after that situation, they just tried to force it and good job to the girls on keeping them out. It just shows the power and the strong mentality we have in the team.

“It’s something that we do [continuing building]and I’m never going to get comfortable as a coach. The girls can enjoy the win, but they also know that we need to keep working hard. We’ve got tough games ahead and we can enjoy this now, but we always need to strive to be better.

“[The Celtic Supporters] were amazing. To hear the cheer, it gives us extra energy. I said before the game that I wanted to celebrate St Patrick’s Day together and hopefully they got a very good St Patrick’s Day. This win is for all of our fans.”

Double goalscorer Flint also spoke after the game. She said: “I’m feeling really good. To get the three points today is brilliant. It was good to get on the scoresheet, not only to get one but two. I think it was a massive team performance today. We stuck in from the minute of the goal to the minute it stopped. And I love the bigger games. It’s more of a competition.

“What we’ve been working on from the start of the season, the start of this week, has been massive. We just needed to stick to the game plan. We did that today and we got three points.

“I don’t think we should take the foot off the gas. We should just keep performing like this. It doesn’t matter what team we’re playing. It’s the split now so it’s more competitive games anyway which is good.”

A fantastic victory for the Ghirls and one that could truly keep the title race alive. It’s clear, and has been all season, that everyone involved with the club is desperate for a first-ever SWPL title and it looks as though we may be able to finally get our hands on it this season.

We dealt with the high press on display from Rangers and had two goals to our name at half-time. A fantastic turn-around and the inability to deal with pressure was something that I had pointed out previously, so I’m very happy to see that the team are doing better in that regard.

Despite some early criticism, Elena is doing a great job at the helm and I, for one, hope that many more derby victories are to come under the Super Swede! One step closer to being our Queen of Queens, Elena! Well done!

Jessica Elliott

*The Celtic Star’s Match photos to follow…

COYGIG!

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About Author

I'm a student journalist and Celtic supporter. I'm delighted to have been recently appointed women's football writer for The Celtic Star, where the coverage of the Celtic FC Women's team has been incredible and unrivalled over the past three seasons.

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1 Comment

  1. RPM Celticfan on

    I think if we can keep all our first picks fit we are in with a real chance, great performance today , the greetin faced Huns were pig sick at the final whistle , cant believe you never mentioned the handbags on the touchline after Lucy’s wee foul ,or the ref seeming to think yellow cards are only for Celtic players , a great day for the Ghirls in green , Hail hail .