The top three teams in the SWPL avoided one another in last eight of SSE Scottish Women’s Cup when the draw was conducted earlier today at BBC Scotland’s Glasgow base, Pacific Quay.
The draw is as follows with ties to be played on Sunday 16th September:
Renfrew v Glasgow City OR Stirling University
Edinburgh University Hutchison Vale v Hibernian
St Johnstone v Motherwell
Spartans v Celtic
The only remaining Scottish Women’s Football League side, Renfrew, have been drawn at home to Glasgow City or Stirling University. Their opponents will be decided on August 22nd after the game was postponed for City’s UEFA Women’s Champions League campaign.
Speaking after the draw was conducted, Renfrew Player, Kirsty McGunnigle, said, “Both teams are going to be great competition for us as underdogs in the cup. It’ll be a good stepup, a good challenge for us, and it’ll be good to see how we react under that pressure.
“It’s a great achievement for Renfrew. To not be part of a big club, it’s great for the team. It gives us a bit of confidence going forward. We can only press and see how far we can get (in the competition).”
There’s one all SWPL 1 match as Spartans host Celtic in Edinburgh. Currently sitting third in the league, Celtic will be expected to progress over bottom of the table, Spartans.
Both teams will be under new managers compared to the start of the season. Eddie Wolecki Black will be in post as Celtic Head Coach before the match and Debbi McCulloch took over as Spartans Head Coach before they returned from the summer break.
“I think it’s a tough draw” said Celtic player, Cheryl McCulloch. “We’ve played them a few times this season and they’ve been tough games. It’s an away fixture as well, so that’ll be tough to go there but we’re confident. We’ve done it before (got results at Spartans), so let’s hope we can do that again.
“Preferably you’d want a home draw but obviously you’ve got to take any game that comes. You need to play as well as you can and hopefully get through to the next round.”
The current holders of the SSE Scottish Women’s Cup, Hibernian, have got an Edinburgh derby as they take on Edinburgh University Hutchison Vale (EUHV) of SWPL 2. While Hibs will be the favourites, EUHV caused a shock on Sunday by knocking out SWPL 1 side, Hamilton Academical, 2-1. EUHV are also unbeaten at home in the league and in this competition, so will be pleased to have been drawn first.
The final tie is an all SWPL 2 match between third placed, St Johnstone, and league leaders, Motherwell. The two sides met most recently on Sunday 5th August with Motherwell winning 2-1 away from home. They’ll be favourites with perhaps extra focus on the cup as the league title could be sealed before this Quarter-Final match, though Eddie Wolecki Black (as above) will no longer be Manager.
