Six goals for Celtic FC Women confirmed our place in the quarter-finals of the Women’s Scottish Cup as the Ghirls overcame Hamilton Accies 6-0 at New Douglas Park…
Some early chances for the Celtic had us feeling comfortable in the opening minutes, but it took us until the 25th minute to find the opener. Natalie Ross collected the ball on the edge of the area and unleashed a brilliant strike that flew past the Hamilton goalkeeper high into the net.
She got a second a few minutes later as the midfielder pounced on a ball at the back post, putting it over the line to double our advantage.
Our next chance came through Caitlin Hayes as the defender came close with a header, but it was Ross again who would score in the first half as she secured her hat trick. Shen Menglu set up a run for Murphy Agnew, who selflessly cutback for Ross to smash it home.
A well-deserved lead going into half time, but more goals awaited us in the second half. The lead allowed us to make some early changes, with Colette Cavanagh and Kelly Clark making way for Amy Gallacher and Chloe Craig.
It didn’t take long for the half-time substitutions to make an impact, as a corner delivery fell to Chloe Craig, who hit it on the volley and into the back of the net.
That’s us officially secured our place in the quarter-finals of the Women’s Scottish Cup. The draw will take place on the Scottish Gas Scottish Cup YouTube channel at 6pm on Monday. The draw will take place at Hampden Park and will be conducted by Scottish legend, Julie Fleeting.
Also in the draw are Hearts, Hibs, Livingston, Montrose, Partick Thistle, theRangers, and Spartans. I certainly fancy our chances of winning the Scottish Cup for a third season in a row.
🗣 “I feel like we controlled the game from start to finish. I’m really looking forward to what is ahead for us now.”
🎥 Elena Sadiku gives her assessment on this afternoon’s #ScottishCup victory ⤵#HAMCEL | #COYGIG🍀 pic.twitter.com/FFwOkf1WEn
— Celtic FC Women (@CelticFCWomen) February 4, 2024
Elena Sadiku spoke to Celtic TV after she finally got her first victory as Celtic boss. She said: “I feel like we controlled the game from start to finish. We started a bit slowly in the first half, but we had a good performance. Before this game, I said we wanted to create a lot of chances, and we do, and they didn’t have any shots, so mission complete.
“I said yesterday that it was one of the best training sessions we’ve had. I think that new standard is going to put us into a higher position than before, and I look forward to what’s ahead of us now.
“It’s not only about the first win. We performed really well and played good football. We defended really well. It’s a good thing to have with us going into the next game.”
🗣 “I wasn’t expecting that, playing a deeper role today! So I’m just really happy with the three goals.”
🎥 Natalie Ross spoke to @CelticTV after scoring a hat-trick during today’s 6-0 win over Hamilton Accies 🔥⤵️#HAMCEL | #ScottishCup | #COYGIG🍀 pic.twitter.com/D0fwWTMiiu
— Celtic FC Women (@CelticFCWomen) February 4, 2024
Hat-trick scorer Natalie Ross also spoke to Celtic TV after the game, saying: “I thought it was a great performance from start to finish. Training was really good yesterday, really sharp, and I feel we brought that into today’s game. Obviously, we want to get into the final of the Scottish Cup, play at the national stadium, so very proud of this performance.”
Speaking on scoring a hat-trick, she said: “I wasn’t expecting that. I was playing a bit of a deeper role today, but I took my chances. Great assist from Murphy, especially for the third goal, so very happy with the three goals.”
Today, we saw the return of a three-at-the-back formation, with Sydney Cummings, Clark and Hayes making up our backline. In my initial team prediction, I said I would’ve dropped Hayes for this one, but that was under the assumption we would be set up with four-at-the-back. Since it was five, I feel like that allows for more room for error knowing that one of your teammates is going to be there to cover for you. Playing with three also helps the fact that our defenders aren’t the quickest, as one can stay deeper to run after through balls and the other two can stay higher.
This is how I see it anyway, but I haven’t had the chance to watch the game yet as it was not broadcast anywhere, and I couldn’t make it in-person. The lack of availability to watch our women’s games is another issue in itself, especially when it comes to analysing the game in post, but that’s a discussion for another day.
I was happy to see Murphy Agnew get another game. I’ve seen her get a lot of negative comments on social media and punditry recently, but I think she’s been decent. The problem wasn’t our forward players, it was the fact we could hardly get the ball into the opponent’s box.
I was surprised not to see Tash Flint playing today, but she was given a runout on the pitch prior to the gates opening at New Douglas Park, so it’s likely that she wasn’t fully fit. This would’ve been a brilliant game to get the Liverpool loanee some goals, but there’s always next time!
I’m incredibly happy to see Elena get her first win in charge of the Hoops, but we really need to kick on from here. We have a decently difficult run of fixtures coming up, starting with an away trip to Motherwell on Wednesday, so we need to perfect the system that Elena is trying to implement if we’re to stand a chance at Ibrox on the 18th.
Things are finally looking up for the Ghirls after the recent bad results. Let’s really kick on now and get some silverware secured this season!
Enjoy out Photo Gallery from yesterday as Celtic FC Women defeated Hamilton 6-0 in the Scottish Cup…
