FC Edinburgh have gone clear at the top of Scottish Women’s League One after a 3-0 victory over Westdyke, the only other team who had been unbeaten in the division.
Utilising a high tempo press and expansive passing, Edinburgh controlled large parts of the game, with goals from the league’s joint top scorer Emma Mitchell, Hannah Markley and Jayden Simmons sending them top.
Speaking afterwards, Edinburgh captain Danielle Forsyth said her team had “dug deep and put in the work” against an unfamiliar opposition.
She praised head coach Andy Enwood for setting high standards “from day one” this season. She said: “The team have a lot of respect for him and his vision to push the team forward. We look forward to the semi-final next week, as a team we want to challenge in this cup.”
At the start of the season, FC Edinburgh had not met the criteria to enter in the SWF Championship, which requires teams to have a youth pathway to the senior team, and Forsyth said this had spurned her side on.
“We believe we deserve to be challenging at a higher level, so the cup is a great opportunity for us to do that. We have worked hard from the start of the season to get to where we are now. The semi-final is our chance to so step it up a gear and prove to everybody this is where we should be competing.”
The win lifts the capital side onto 25 points, three points ahead of the Aberdeenshire club and six points ahead of Falkirk and Stenhousemuir, who won comprehensive victories over Giffnock and Airdrie Ladies respectively.
Grampian beat BSC Glasgow 3-0 at home to remain fifth.
St Mirren won the Paisley derby against Gleniffer Thistle 4-2, while Edinburgh Caledonia put recent disappointments behind them to sweep Dundee West aside 7-2 and climb back up to seventh in the table.
In the Championship, Rossvale took advantage of league leaders Livingston having their game with Hutchison Vale called off due to an unplayable pitch. The Glasgow side closed the gap at the top of the table, beating Ayr United 3-0 at home, with a goal from Joss Fletcher after only three minutes and a Lauren McCulloch penalty. Louise McJacobs added a third on 78 minutes.
Renfrew were 3-0 up against Morton, but had to hold on for the second half with a player down after Sophie Laird saw red. It finished 3-1, with rookie Gracie Cairney scoring a consolation for the home side.
Inverness Caledonian Thistle put cup heartbreak behind them to hold off a late surge from Dryburgh, with a Kayleigh Mackenzie double and one from Rhea Cossack, before a great free kick from Dryburgh’s Rachel Robbie and a late goal by Chelsea Lownie set up a nail-biting finish, but the Highlanders held on.
