Aberdeen Women co-manager Emma Hunter was disappointed after the 3-1 defeat to Hibernian as she felt it was one of their best performances of the season.
The Dons fell to a seventh defeat in SWPL 1 – out of eight games – at Balmoor Stadium against the full-time professional outfit.
Despite a strong defensive display in the first half, the Reds were 1-0 down at the break after Eilidh Adams put Hibs 1-0 up with a header on the stroke of half-time.
Aberdeen responded after the break as Bayley Hutchison scored her first goal of the SWPL 1 campaign to pull her side level in the 55th minute.
However, the game wasn’t level for long as Leah Eddie scored directly from a corner only a minute later to put Hibs 2-1 ahead.
Things got worse for the Dons as Eilidh Shore was sent off after being shown a second yellow in the 77th minute, before Hibernian added a third goal nine minutes from time.
Despite the result, Hunter believes it was one of the best performances her side have had all season, which makes the final scoreline hurt even more.
She said: “In the first half, in particular, I thought we were outstanding. We defended really well and created chances – which is something that we have struggled with.
“I think we were brave against Hibs, when a team is down it’s easy to roll up into a ball, but they stood tall and competed well.”
Chloe Gover went closest for the Dons in the first half as she clipped the Hibs crossbar from a free kick, after Mya Christie was dragged down just outside of the box.
Hutchison could have had a hat-trick in the second half as she had two glorious chances after scoring her first, but three points – or even one – wasn’t to be for Aberdeen.
Co-manager Hunter added: “Unfortunately, football can be cruel, and some of the players are really upset because they put so much into that game.
“For me, it was probably one of our best performances of the season, but it’s not three points – and we know we need to start getting points.
“But I’ve said to the girls after the game, hopefully, that performance can lift us and we can bring that into the games going forward.”
Focus now moves to Pittodrie
Aberdeen return to action in the top flight when they host Glasgow Women at Pittodrie on October 30, for their second-ever game at the club stadium.
And Hunter believes that they must produce the same level of performance at the stadium if they are to win their first three points of the season in front of a big crowd.
She said: “The stage is set for Pittodrie now, so we know that we need to give another good performance to get the three points, and to make the crowd happy.
“Hopefully that will give us a kickstart to our season. I thought the result against Hibs was harsh on us, but hopefully, people will see that we are trying to get results.
“It was an entertaining game against Hibs so hopefully we can bring that to Pittodrie and really kick on now.”
The result against the Hibees wasn’t the only disappointment for Aberdeen, as they will be without midfielder Shore for the upcoming clash at Pittodrie.
She was shown a second yellow and subsequently sent off by the referee late on in the game against Hibernian.
Hunter said: “We’re absolutely gutted for Eilidh. We have to make sure we give her the performance she deserves at Pittodrie.
“She’s such an important player for us. She feels like she let everyone down against Hibs – but she hasn’t – and that’s just football.
“Unfortunately, sometimes decisions don’t go your way in football, but she absolutely didn’t let any of us down.”