There were no upsets in the Scottish Building Society SWPL Cup 1st Round but Central Girls and Motherwell did restrict their respective top flight hosts to only a one-goal margin of victory.
Sunday 25th February
SCOTTISH PREMIER LEAGUE CUP 1ST ROUND
Celtic 4-0 St Johnstone
Forfar Farmington 3-0 Aberdeen
Glasgow Girls P-P Hamilton Academical (frozen pitch)
Rangers 1-0 Motherwell
Hearts 0-4 Hibernian
Glasgow City 7-0 Kilmarnock
Stirling University 3-2 Central Girls
Edinburgh University Hutchison Vale 1-3 Spartans
Galbraith hat-trick edges Stirling through
Central took the lead with a Naomi Welch effort at Stirling but Rebecca Galbraith replied with two goals in the next 7 minutes.
After the interval, Galbraith completed her hat-trick with a powerful header at the back post.
The underdogs swiftly got their second goal through Chalsea McEachran and would have levelled but for a number of crucial saves by Chloe Logan.
Rangers win despite red card
Rangers had to be patient against Motherwell, with the only goal coming 8 minutes from the end.
A short corner was played back to Chantelle Brown, who fired across the box and in off the far post.
Rangers’ Chelsie Watson was sent off in the 88th minutes but Khym Ramsey did well to save the resulting free kick from Hayley Cunningham.
Hearts make Hibs work hard
Hibernian came through safely the Edinburgh derby at Hearts with a 4-0 victory but the SWPL 2 team held them to a goalless first half.
It was in fact 17 minutes from time before Shannon McGregor broke the deadlock with her first goal for Hibs.
Lia Tweedie soon volleyed in the second and in the last couple of minutes, Katey Turner scored from a Kirsty Smith cut back, before the latter netted herself from 25 yards.
Spartans fight back for victory over Vale
Another all-Edinburgh tie saw Spartans come from behind to win 3-1 at Hutchison Vale.
Vale were ahead inside 5 minutes through Krissy Williams but Spartans were back on level terms by the 20th minute, when Bobbie Beveridge headed home an Alana Marshall corner.
Simone McMahon struck the EHUV bar with a free kick but Rachel Walkingshaw put Spartans in front before half time.
However, the victory was not secured until the last minute, when Elena Santoyo-Brown got the visitors’ third goal.
Forfar defeat Dons
Cheryl Kilcoyne opened the scoring when rifling home a Danni McGinley cross 9 minutes short of the interval, to set Forfar Farmington on the way to a 3-0 result over Aberdeen.
Substitute Robyn Smith extended the advantage on 70 minutes when her corner flew straight in and McGinley was gifted the third in added time.
Pullar nets couple as Celtic miss two pens
St Johnstone held out for 35 minutes at Celtic, until a Heather Richards cross was nodded in off the post by Ruesha Littlejohn.
Celtic’s Josephine Giard thumped a penalty against the post and although Nicole Pullar netted from Collette Cavanagh’s delivery on 49 minutes, the hosts then again failed from the spot, as Pullar’s effort was saved and Littlejohn smashed the rebound against the goalkeeper.
The Hoops hit the woodwork twice before Giard and Pullar combined for the latter to make it 3-0 on 71 minutes, with Pullar setting up Richards for a late fourth.
Howat claims four-goal haul
Glasgow City sailed through with a 7-0 scoreline over Kilmarnock, Kirsty Howat’s four goals including three in the space of 17 second-half minutes.
Howat headed home her first competitive goal for City after a cross from Nicola Docherty was nodded into the six-yard area by Abi Grant and the latter then made it 2-0 on 37 minutes, firing in from the edge of the box.
Four minutes after the break, Howat converted from the spot and she completed her hat-trick 6 minutes later, before intercepting a backpass to net her fourth.
Joanne Paton got number six and Megan Foley fired into the top of net to round off the scoring.
SWPL Quarter Final Draw
Forfar Farmington v Stirling University
Glasgow Girls or Hamilton Academical v Celtic
Hibernian v Rangers
Spartans v Glasgow City
Matches to be played on Sunday 25th March.
Semis & Finals at Falkirk
For the first time, Falkirk Stadium will host the Semi Finals and the Final of the SWPL Cup. The Semi Finals will be on Sunday 29th of April and the Cup Final will be played on Sunday 20th May.
Fiona McIntyre, Executive Officer for Scottish Women’s Football, said, “Falkirk Stadium is a fantastic location for the cup. It’s a great facility and one that has played host to a number of Scottish Women’s National Team matches over the years. We’re looking forward to adding to that with three exciting cup ties.”
