This Sunday, Hibernian Women travel to the Petershill Stadium to take on Glasgow City in Park’s Motor Group SWPL 1 action, writes Struan Garvie.
Before the international break, Dean Gibson’s Hibs enjoyed a 12-0 victory over Gartcairn in the Scottish Women’s Cup. This result meant that Hibs advanced into the fifth round of the cup. The side will now be looking to carry that momentum into Sunday’s game.
Glasgow City also advanced into the fifth round of the Scottish Women’s Cup after they defeated Hamilton 6-0.
City’s most recent Park’s Motor Group SWPL 1 fixture came on February 10th in a match that saw them secure a 2-0 victory over Celtic. This result meant that City moved into 2nd place, two points behind Rangers in 1st.
Hibs and Glasgow City’s last meeting came on November 21st, 2021, in a fixture that saw City secure a 3-0 victory.
Dean Gibson has highlighted how important his side’s recent win over Gartcairn in the Scottish Women’s Cup was the perfect way to bounce back after the recent defeat to Aberdeen and is now looking ahead to City this weekend. He also provided a squad update heading into this weekend.
“The Scottish Women’s Cup tie was a good game that allowed us to put a few wrongs right from the week before. We were very dominant up in Aberdeen but wasted a lot of good opportunities. Gartcairn, without being disrespectful, allowed us to create the same volume or more but we managed to convert a good few. We said to the players we wanted a performance and we got that, so it was a good game to bounce back.
“The squad is feeling good. Historically, the games against City have always been good competitive games and last season was the same. So, it’s a fixture we look forward to.
“We prefer to not have breaks so ideally we would have gone right into the Hamilton game to continue the momentum from the week before. That said, it’s good when your players get international recognition and I’ll never underestimate any opponent hence why we want all our players available for every fixture.
“City have a new manager who has her own ideas and ways of playing. We have tried to identify the changes to their system to allow us to approach the game in the best way possible. We expect a well-organised and clinical City team.
“Our Squad is starting to look healthy now. Eilidh Adams has finally returned, and we got her some minutes last week for the under-19s. We only now have the two out through injury and Amy Muir is improving all the time. Rachael Boyle unfortunately is still a few weeks away.”
Captain Joelle Murray has touched on Hibs’ recent victory in the Scottish Women’s Cup and is now looking forward to Sunday’s clash with Glasgow City, knowing just how important the rivalry between the two clubs is.
“The victory and subsequent advancement to the next round of the Scottish Women’s Cup was of course the aim so it was nice to do it so convincingly. The vast number of goals scored also gave our forward players confidence and a positive feeling which I think has maybe been lacking recently.
“We are confident, as we always are going into any game, so this is no different. There’s absolutely no pressure on us so hopefully, we go and give a good account of ourselves and make amends for the disappointing performance and result against them (Glasgow City) earlier in the season.
“Our games against City are always competitive so we know that’s a given. They have an abundance of quality all over the pitch, none more so than their current captain Hayley Lauder. If we can try and limit Hayley’s touches on the ball it will limit their threats so that’s absolutely something we need to do.
“This fixture has a great history and has provided some very entertaining games in the past. For so long the league and cups were firmly competed for by both teams with both teams being pioneers of the game domestically and in Europe.”
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Sunday’s clash with Glasgow City kicks off at 13:00 live from Petershill Stadium.🎟 Tickets for the match be purchased here: https://bit.ly/3BHvSkC
