Aberdeen Women have secured their place in SWPL 1 for next season after a 1-0 win over Dundee United.
It looked like the crunch clash at Balmoral Stadium between the sides in ninth and 10th place was going to finish 0-0, but Bayley Hutchison netted the winner – like she did in two prior clashes between the teams this term – in injury time to secure all three points for the Dons.
The result, and Hamilton Accies’ loss to Spartans, means Aberdeen are now seven points clear of 11th-placed Accies in the relegation play-off spot with two rounds of games remaining, while United – still to secure their own safety – headed back to Tayside five points behind the Reds.
Gavin Levey made one change from Sunday’s 6-2 defeat to Spartans, with Mya Christie coming in for Bailley Collins, who dropped to the bench.
Meanwhile, captain Loren Campbell was making her last home appearance for Aberdeen after announcing her plans to retire at the end of the season.
In the opening exchanges, Millie Urquhart won a free-kick after being dragged back while bursting forward, which Hutchison took – but Eilidh Shore’s resulting header was off target.
There was then another free-kick for the Dons, this time won by Campbell. Hutchison swung in another dangerous ball, which was cleared, before Christie hit a snap-shot on the rebound, which Jade McLaren blocked.
Dundee United looked threatening when goalkeeper Fiona McNicoll launched the ball forward to find Robyn Smith in the final third, but she was thwarted by Jess Broadrick.
The home side had started the game really well and an early goal would’ve been deserved when Christie found Hannah Stewart only a couple yards out from goal, but the forward couldn’t get the ball out her feet to tap it home.
There was another chance for Aberdeen when Urquhart swung an inviting cross into the box and found Shore, whose header at the far post hit the side-netting.
Dundee United won a free-kick just inside the Dons’ half after a foul on Danni McGinley, but Cassie Cowper’s effort was comfortably cleared by Aberdeen.
Francesca Ogilvie should have done better when Campbell picked her out in the box, but she blasted her shot over the bar without troubling McNicoll.
The Dons were then denied by a goal-line clearance from Neve Guthrie, who blocked Donna Paterson’s powerful header after a well-taken Hutchison corner.
Another chance came and went for Aberdeen as Shore looked to capitalise on a mix-up at the back, but her shot from distance was stopped by a scrambling McNicoll in the United goal.
The Terrors went close when McGinley forced Reds’ goalie Annalisa McCann into making a stop, before she spilled it and gifted McLaren the rebound, but the Dons keeper recovered to make the save.
In the second half, United were the first to go close as McLaren hit a floated effort from the edge of the area, but keeper McCann was alert and did well to make the diving save.
The visitors were playing well and Georgie Robb would’ve been clear through on goal to give her side the lead if had not for a vital Broadrick block.
Right up the other end, Aberdeen wasted another opportunity when Campbell found Hutchison with a perfectly-weighted pass into the box, but the striker was selfless and – rather than shooting – tried to find Ogilvie. It was the wrong decision.
Hutchison was picked out by another good pass, this time from Shore, but, again, her decision-making hindered her as she took the ball too wide in the box to get a clear shot away.
Levey made his first substitution after 66 minutes as Collins came on for Urquhart, who had to be taken off after picking up a knock.
Minutes after coming on, Collins was shown a yellow for a foul on Rachel Todd. The resulting Cowper free-kick failed to trouble the Dons, though.
After a solid first-half display, Aberdeen didn’t look so sharp in the second half with a 10-minute spell where the ball rarely left the Dons’ half epitomising Dundee United’s dominance.
Seconds after a penalty shout following a Paterson shove on McGinley, Robb had the best chance of the half to that point when she unleashed a rocket of strike from just outside the box, which McCann matched with a fantastic save to parry the ball away.
Stewart did well to get a shot away just outside a very crowded box, but while it had the power, it was right down the throat of McNicoll, who collected it comfortably.
There were a manic few minutes as Aberdeen started to pile on the pressure in the dying embers, with Madison Finnie denied by an outstretched McNicoll, before Ogilvie saw an effort dip just over the bar.
Chloe Gover entered the fray as a last-minute substitute for Aberdeen as Christie left the pitch with an injury.
In the game’s final moments, Aberdeen got that all important goal after Shore found Hutchison with a superb through-pass. The forward kept her composure and guided the ball into the back of the net beyond McNicoll.
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