Hibernian Women head into the split with a third consecutive league win secured after battling hard to seal a 3-0 away victory over Aberdeen.
The hosts held out until the second half before Kathleen McGovern’s brace and Tiree Burchill’s last-minute finish earned the Edinburgh side all three points.
After the final whistle head coach Joelle Murray told Hibs TV she was happy with the reaction of her squad after the restart to secure a vital win on the road.
“We made hard work of it. We weren’t happy with the first half performance, far from it, and we made sure the girls knew that at half-time. We thought they lacked a lot of things, a lot of non-negotiables.
“And I think flip side, the positive was the reaction in the second half. They gave us everything that we’d asked of them in the changing room at half-time. Three points, three goals and a clean sheet. Can’t complain in the end.
“I think although (Aberdeen) didn’t really have a lot of shots, I think that one (goal) could have been the momentum swinger. So thankfully, it didn’t go in because then we went on to get our first and it put us on the front foot and you could see we got a lift from it and the girls were really energetic and thriving thereafter.”
On the in-form forward, Murray revealed her delight at having such a weapon in her attacking arsenal.
“It was top class. It doesn’t surprise me because she does it day in, day out at training. She’s an absolute joy to have in the squad. She’s a joy to watch.
“In games like today, when you need something, a bit of brilliance, you’ve got that in McGov.
“I went up to her at the end of the game and obviously congratulated her, spoke about the goal. She was frustrated at her last opportunity, and not getting the hat-trick.
“That just tells you everything you need to know about her. She always wants more. I can’t wait to watch that one back.”
Kirsten Reilly added: “In the first half, we all knew that we weren’t happy with how we were performing and playing,” Reilly told Hibs TV. “We weren’t really sticking to the game plan as such, but we spoke at half-time about how we could change that.
“I think you could see in the second half we came out flying; the intensity lifted. Like all the little things we weren’t doing right in the first half, we rectified that in the second half and got the goals from it too.
“We said that we were being too predictable and the intensity of play wasn’t good enough, and we knew ourselves that we could really increase that, so I think the intensity increased tenfold in the second half, and it just helped us.
“We were moving it; we were moving them and creating the spaces that we needed.”
Reilly has missed a large chunk of football this season through injury, with the midfielder only being able to start nine matches this season, but she captained the side in today’s victory, which she described as a “proud moment”.
“It means a lot (captaining the side). Obviously, I’ve been out for a lot of weeks this season; basically, I missed the whole first half through injury, so to come back and be captain, it’s been really nice and a proud moment for me and my family.”
