Hibernian Women beat Partick Thistle in their first away game of the season, clinching a strong 5-0 victory under the lights at Petershill Park.
Tiree Burchill slid in her first goal as a Hibs player, and, minutes later, doubled her tally. Eilidh Adams replicated Tiree’s brace in the second-half, while Caley Gibb slammed in her first goal for the the team.
“I’m delighted for the girls. Goals and a clean sheet is what we’re always looking for and we managed to secure that tonight,” Hibs Women joint head coach Joelle Murray told Hibs TV following the match.
“A little bit of a slow start, but all credit to Partick Thistle. They disrupted us, they didn’t give us time on the ball, but once we got the first goal and the second goal we gained momentum, we gained belief and I think it was a really professional, dominant performance tonight.
“I’m really proud and delighted to see what we’re working on on the training pitch day in, day out come to fruition on a match day.
“It’s nice to see substitutes coming on to the pitch and making an impact. Caley’s on the pitch tonight for about 25 minutes, she gets a goal, gets an assist and makes a really good impact.
“It’s fantastic to see that there’s no disruption. We’ve got a real good quality across the whole group, not just the starting XI. And like I said, it’s nice to see the work and the fruits of our labour come to fruition on a match day.”
16-year-old Jessica Ramsey also received well-earned praise from Murray.
“We’re really happy to see the young girls come into the squad more frequently now. We transitioned them very, very gently last season because we knew this season was going to be big for them.
“And it was fantastic for Jess to get a lot of minutes tonight. She’ll be disappointed in herself that she didn’t put that one away, but fantastic vision, fantastic movement to get into the space and create the opportunity for herself.
“I’m sure, although she didn’t score tonight, there’ll be plenty of goals to come from Jess Ramsey.”
The Women now turn their attention to Europe, with the second round of qualifying for the UEFA Women’s Champions League set to take place in Cyprus.
“We always look at things that we need to improve. We know that it’s not a perfect performance, so we will look at the things that we need to improve, especially going into next week’s Champions League games.” Murray said, looking ahead to the match against Fortuna Hjørring on Wednesday.
“But like I said, I think tonight it was a very professional performance against Partick Thistle who were structured, very disciplined and tried to disrupt us.
“And I think Kirsten Reilly and Ciara Grant in particular in the middle of the park dominated. It was a very, very good and impressive display from both of the girls.”
