Aberdeen Women co-boss Emma Hunter will look to the positives after her side fell to a 3-0 defeat to Celtic at Balmoral Stadium in SWPL 1.
An early opener for Celtic from Charlie Wellings, followed by second-half efforts from Jacynta and Tegan Bowie ensured that all three points would be going back to Glasgow.
It was a disappointing afternoon for the Dons, with no real chances created – which wasn’t helped by a forced early change as Francesca Ogilvie had to be taken off due to injury.
Aberdeen co-manager Hunter admits that it was always going to be a challenging afternoon against SWPL 1’s third placed side, but commended her side’s defensive efforts.
She said: “Celtic have a big investment in their women’s team and they’ve got international players from all over the world in their lineup.
“We know they’re a really good team, and we probably needed our best performance and to keep all our best players on the pitch to get something out of today.
“Unfortunately with Francesca picking up an injury and Eilidh Shore not starting – it makes a big difference.
“We didn’t really create anything or put them under any real pressure, but we defended much better than we have done in previous games so that’s really important in this league.
“We need to take that as a positive going into the next couple of fixtures now where we now we need to pick up the points.”
However, Hunter had a lot of praise for her keeper Aaliyah-Jay who was one of the few positives that she seen at Balmoral Stadium this afternoon.
She added: “AJ kept us in the game, we said at half-time we’re only 1-0 down and still in this and that was down to a lot of her hard work.
“That’s what AJ does all the time, she’s a really good shot stopper.
“We know that she’ll always pull off a great couple of saves anytime she plays.”
An early lead for the Ghirls
Celtic took the lead within the opening minutes, as Shen Mengyu was afforded the opportunity to square the ball across goal after some slack defending from Kelly Forrest.
The ball cleared the intended Jacynta, but was put on a plate for Wellings who only had to tap the ball into the net from close range to beat AJ Meach.
Celtic dominated possession and Aberdeen were unable to get anywhere near the away side, with the ball barely seeing their half.
That was until Bailley Collins played a long ball forward that Ogilvie chased, but pulled up injured in the process.
Hunter was forced into an early substitution as Ogilvie, who has been a standout performer for the Dons this season, was replaced by Nadia Sopel in the 26th minute.
There were chances for Mengyu, Jacynta and Wellings to make it 2-0, with the best opportunity falling to the latter.
The English forward was clear through for a one v one against Meach, but the young Dons shot stopper made a fantastic save with her feet to deny Wellings her second goal of the day.
Meach was called into action again when she had to be at full stretch to save Olivia Chance’s effort from long range and make sure Celtic only went into the break with a one goal lead.
Dons in defensive mode
After the restart, Aberdeen couldn’t take advantage in possession as Eva Thomson drove forward, but couldn’t find a teammate in Celtic’s half.
The midfielder was forced to pass it back to the back line, which resulted in a turnover of possession.
Minutes later and only eight into the second half, Jacynta doubled Celtic’s advantage with a floated effort from outside the area, that dipped beyond Meach and dropped over the line.
It was chance after chance for Celtic, and Meach did well to tip Chloe Craig’s header on to the cross bar, after a dangerous ball was sent in to the box from a Tyler Toland free kick.
It was a quiet afternoon for Celtic keeper Rachael Johnstone who only had a couple efforts to react to, as she came out to collect a decent ball sent into the box by Thomson that couldn’t be reached by Hannah Stewart.
Aberdeen tried to go forward again with Bayley Hutchison knocking the ball up the pitch in an attempt to beat three Celtic players with pace, but Johnstone cleared it confidently.
Celtic confirmed the three points with their third goal in injury time, as second-half substitute Bowie got on the scoresheet with a decent strike from inside the box to beat Meach.
SWF Championship North
Inverness Caley Thistle welcomed third-placed Dryburgh Athletic to Millburn Academy, and fought from 3-0 down to rescue a point.
Three goals for the Caley Jags in the final 15 minutes of the second half ensure that the spoils were shared.
Grampian were in for a difficult afternoon as they hosted league leaders East Fife at Spain Park, and were defeated 3-0.
