Partick Thistle did well to restrict Fran Alonso’s side to just the two goals on Sunday in the somewhat overshadowed SWPL1 match at Petershill Stadium. Charlie Wellings, back after a frustrating injury late-off did what she does best in both halves to give Celtic FC Women the three points with a 2-0 win.
Thistle recently knocked Hibs out of the Scottish Cup and a week on Sunday take on Glasgow City in the semi-final at Falkirk Stadium which hosts a double header with Celtic also playing against Hearts for a place in the Scottish Cup Final.
Barring a major shock it looks like a repeat of December’s League Cup Final is on the cards with Celtic playing Glasgow City. The Hoops came out on top that day at Firhill and more of the same would be lovely in the Scottish Cup Final. If Thistle get through, Fran Alonso will have had a good chance to study them up close on Sunday and you can watch the highlights below…
📺 HIGHLIGHTS: Watch as the Ghirls pick up another #SWPL1 three points!
⚽️⚽️ @cwellings18
#COYGIG 🍀 @CelticFC pic.twitter.com/LOd1AsinYK— Celtic FC Women (@CelticFCWomen) April 19, 2022
Speaking after Sunday’s 2-0 win The Celtic manager told the club’s official website: “We knew it would be a tough game. They are very organised and physical and it’s a small pitch that suits their style. They’ve come into the game on the back of an amazing cup result so they were high on confidence and we knew it’d be our toughest game against them this season.
“It was very difficult to break them down but I thought we were very good. Maybe we could have been better in the final third in the second half, but I’m delighted with the three points, the clean sheet and I think we managed to keep them without shots on target.
“We know it’s a game of patience and we have to keep going, because spaces will appear if we carry on playing at a high tempo, so overall out was a good game for us. We worked on quick restarts all week and you seen even near the box we got the ball moving quickly. We read it well and executed our game-plan very well.
“You can see we didn’t play last week – we weren’t at full sharpness but I still think we had good tempo. We use training to try and improve that and hopefully from here until the end of the season we can get better and better with each game.”
🗣 We worked on quick restarts all week and you seen even near the box we got the ball moving quickly. We read it well and executed our game plan very well.
Manager Fran Alonso shares his thoughts on yesterday's victory.#PARCEL 🍀 #COYGIG pic.twitter.com/1cHHCO2MDR
— Celtic FC Women (@CelticFCWomen) April 18, 2022
Fran Alonso was also pleased to see Charlie Wellings back scoring goals for his side after her frustrations over the past few months with injury. “When we haven’t been able to count on our top goalscorer for many games in 2022, it’s a big loss,” he said. “Not only because we have to replace her, but then we don’t have another replacement if we want to look to refresh things or try something different, so it’s very important to have her.
“Charlie’s been outstanding at training and scoring a lot, and she could have had a hat trick, but we’ve saved ourselves a match ball so we’re okay with that! It’s a team effort. Whatever you play, you have to contribute to the team performance and you are fighting for a spot. If you only get 10 minutes and are outstanding, you can start the next game because you deserve it, so they are fighting for the team to be better but also individually, and the players who came from the bench made a good impact.”
Next up For Celtic FC Women is a short trip to New Douglas Park to play Hamilton Accies on Sunday afternoon, kick-off is at 4pm and full details are shown below.
Back home for the Derby heroes 😏
🏆 @SWPL
🆚 @CelticFCWomen
🏟 New Douglas Park
📆 Sunday 24th April, 4pm KO
💷 £5/£3 (Live Stream £5)
👨👩👧👦 Supporter Entry Gate 4/5/6 from 3.30pm
🖥 Full reaction & highlightsMedia Accreditation:
📧 accieswfcmedia@gmail.com pic.twitter.com/OTkoIBF6wO— Hamilton Academical WFC (@accieswfc) April 18, 2022
