Hibs Women beat Celtic at Meadowbank on Sunday.
Eilidh Adams nabbed the only goal of the game to seal Hibs’ victory – lifting the team up to second-place in the league table while remaining level on points with leaders Glasgow City.
A resilient, hardy performance from the backline, and a solid shot-stopping performance from goalkeeper Erin Clachers, helped earn the team a seventh clean sheet across their last eight matches.
Head Coach Grant Scott praised his side’s first half showing.
And although pleased with the performances on show before the interval, Scott admitted the second half was less to his liking; describing the match as “strange” overall.
“As simple as it sounds, and as boring as it sounds, for us it is another three points,” Scott said “We said before the game today that was our focus.
“For us, it is less about statements and more about gaining points. But it is a substantial win against a good team.
“I thought we were a lot of good actions on the things we’d spoken about that players executed really well. A couple of slip-ups here and there but I think if we got a second goal, I don’t think we could have been grudged it at all.
“It was a strange game because it completely changed second half,” the Head Coach added. “I thought Celtic were dominant and created a few half chances, a couple of things that were really close to getting on the end of.
“We’ve had to ride it out, see it out, and fight it out like a proper team. Overall, I’m very happy with the first half performance, but I thought we could have done a little bit better with the ball in the second.”
“I think that there has been good consistency in defence. We’ve had to make a couple of forced changes at times, but I think the girls coming in have done really well.
“Again we’ve kept a really good dangerous team at bay. And it’s another clean sheet for Erin. Her and Noah are pushing each other every day and it’s good to see, it’s good to have two quality goalkeepers like that.
“The girls at the back have been doing really, really well and give us a solid platform to play from.”
There was also further discussion on another defender, Caley Gibb, who made her second Hibernian debut as an 87th minute substitution.
The full-back, who made her senior debut at Hibs aged 15, re-signed for the Club on Friday from Partick Thistle on a loan deal until the end of the season.
“I thought she did really well,” Scott commented on Gibb. “It’s a tough one to get thrown into; that level of game with seven minutes of stoppage time to play.
“Even in that seven minutes, I thought we saw little flashes of the player she can be. But she has to obviously be used to playing with the players in a team that have been doing well.
“I’m delighted to get her on the pitch and to see her in a Hibs strip again.”
Tegan Bowie described the home victory over Celtic as “huge”.
It was the winger’s perfectly executed cross that allowed Adams to thrash in the decisive goal.
“Today I was up against a really tough opponent, Emma Lawton,” Bowie admitted. “I knew it was going to be a battle.
“I’m just trying to trust myself. I know I have the pace to beat players, it is just about trying to put the ball in the right areas.
“Eilidh said to me before the game to ‘just put it on a plate’ for her. And that is what she done, she put it away in the back of the net.
“We knew how hard it was coming into today. The team the are, the way they move the ball, we knew it would be a lot of running. But we know getting in front, we could hold off until til the end.
“We were poking for a second goal. But in the end, it was about clearing our lines and digging deep for the win.
“Grant is trying to drive that belief into us with the results we are getting. I think we have to start believing now. We are up there with the top teams.
“Once we find our feet, there is just no stopping us. The hunger in us to see out the game is always there. We are playing for the badge.”
John graduated from Telford College in 2010 with an HNC in Practical Journalism and since then he worked for the North Edinburgh News, The Southern Reporter, the Irish News Review and The Edinburgh Reporter. In addition he has been published in the Edinburgh Evening News and the Hibernian FC Programme.
