Celtic FC Women 6 Motherwell 1…
Celtic went into this SWPL1 encounter at the Penny Cars stadium one with little to play for, yet you’d never know it as Celtic thumped seventh placed Motherwell by scoring six and conceding a solitary goal in Airdrie this afternoon.
The Hoops with three league defeats in their last five matches had found themselves eleven points behind league leaders Glasgow City, after last weekend’s controversial defeat to the league champions, and ten behind second placed theRangers.
☀️ Day for it! #CelticFC
🟢 Warming up in the sun ahead of another @SWPL 1 match in Airdrie #CELMOT
📲 Keep up-to-date with all the action on our twitter feed❗️ pic.twitter.com/ihWees9Pcg
— Celtic FC Women (@CelticFCWomen) March 20, 2022
Meanwhile, below them in the SWPL1 table an even bigger gap of sixteen points lay between the Celts in third place and Hibs in fourth spot meaning there wasn’t even the incentive of a league position to defend to ensure there was anything meaningful to play for, yet with a Scottish Cup to win and with it a domestic cup double, Fran Alonso’s players at least had personal pride and a place in the team for a pending cup tie with Aberdeen to strive for against today and they showed that was all the incentive they required .
Celtic had solved their goalkeeper crisis by bringing back former Celt and Hamilton ‘keeper Lisa Kerr back into the fold and the Under 19’s India Marwaha added the extra security this week of a goalkeeper in reserve, unlike last week against Glasgow City when captain Kelly Clark filled in for Anna Vincenti when she was unfortunately injured with no substitute ‘keeper named.
The Hoops started this one strongly and Clarissa Larisey opened the scoring after 13 minutes after Sarah Harkes released Maria Olafsdottir-Gros and Larisey converted the winger’s delivery. However, the Hoops were pegged back 15 minutes later as Motherwell’s Jemma Hughes levelled the game.
Celtic were very much on top in the first half forcing a series of corners but unable to make the pressure pay initially, whilst from open play Sarah Harkes had a half chance at the front post only for ‘Well ‘keeper Duff to deny the American the chance to put the Hoops into the lead – before Larisey was slow to react to a Duff save and the opportunity passed.
Yet Celtic as they always do were persistent in the face of Motherwell’s resistance and Annie Timoney, in her first start for the Hoops since joining from Glentoran, put Celtic 2-1 up right on half-time as the defender scored from a corner kick as Celtic’s first half pressure from set pieces at last paid off.
Timoney however wasn’t exactly rewarded for her goal as both she and Olafsdottir-Gros were substituted at half time with Chloe Craig and Chloe Warrington taking their places.
Six minutes into the second half and Celtic could have been 3-1 up after a Harkes free kick was centimetres too high following a foul on Jacynta, and Duff then denied Chloe Craig’s headed attempt just seconds later.
However, Celtic’s pressure was rewarded five minutes later when – who else – Charlie Wellings grabbed her 27th goal of the season, after a power of work from Tegan Bowie on the left saw the Celtic wide player deliver the ball into the danger area and Wellings struck with a poacher’s instinct to finish the game as a contest.
📹 Assistant Coach David Haley speaking after the #Ghirls 6️⃣-1️⃣ win against Motherwell!
“In the second-half we came out and scored some good goals and created lots of chances.”#SWPL 🍀 #CelticFC pic.twitter.com/52T3v7aR24
— Celtic FC Women (@CelticFCWomen) March 20, 2022
Celtic then made a further change as Liv Chance replaced Clarissa Larisey, and two minutes later it was 4-1 Celtic, as the substitute released Tegan Bowie, who in turn found Mengyu Shen and the Chinese international was brought down in the area, with the resultant penalty converted by Chloe Craig.
Two minutes later and Motherwell could have cut the deficit, as ex-Celt London Pollard had the opportunity to score however debut ‘keeper Lisa Kerr was sharp enough to save and deny the striker a goal against her former club.
Celtic then made the last of their substitutions, and again the changes would have a bearing on the game.
🗣️ Chloe Craig speaking after a 6️⃣-1️⃣ victory over Motherwell and putting her name on the scoresheet… twice!#SWPL 🍀 #CelticFC pic.twitter.com/tlKu2yociq
— Celtic FC Women (@CelticFCWomen) March 20, 2022
Off came Harkes and Shen to be replaced by Tyler Toland and Izzy Atkinson, and it was Atkinson who hoovered up the chance to score after a Wellings effort was blocked, to put the Hoops 5-1 up after 78 minutes, before fellow sub-Tyler Toland was the supplier as her corner kick was nodded home with four minutes left to play by Chloe Craig to put the Hoops 6-1 up and give Craig her second goal of the game.
There may have been little to play for today in terms of League places, however, as Celtic often do under Fran Alonso, the Hoops responded to the disappointment of last week’s defeat to Glasgow City by putting on the style and delivering six of the best to a Motherwell side who looked competitive to begin with, but could not sustain the effort over the course of 90 minutes.
In the end the superior experience, fitness and a ruthlessness of the Celts in front of goal saw the Hoops emerge from this one with a thumping win and confidence building, as the Hoops turn their attention to a Domestic Cup double in the absence of a realistic chance of impacting the challengers for the SWPL1 title.
And considering there was little to play for, other than pride, this was a superb performance from Celtic and a sign no-one is switching off just yet.
Niall J
🎟️ 𝗢𝗻 𝗚𝗲𝗻𝗲𝗿𝗮𝗹 𝗦𝗮𝗹𝗲 𝗻𝗼𝘄!@CelticFCWomen v Hibernian at Celtic Park 🏟️
The Ghirls will play at 𝑷𝒂𝒓𝒂𝒅𝒊𝒔𝒆 on March 26 (KO 3pm), and tickets are priced £8 for adults and £4 for concessions 🍀
Full info and how to buy ⤵️
— Celtic Football Club (@CelticFC) March 20, 2022
