Hibs master Spartans in ladies’ derby

Hibs Ladies’ boss Willie Kirk admits he would have been seeking a refund if he had been a paying punter at the Edinburgh derby showdown with Spartans – despite watching his side win 4-0.

With both teams struggling to find any rhythm, the first half made for a disappointing viewing for the supporters at Ainslie Park. Hibs however looked the livelier and made the breakthrough in the 35th minute when Susan Farlie flicked a Kirsty McLaughlin cross into the net.

That’s how it remained until the 75th minutes when Hibs struck twice inside 60 seconds, first through McLaughlin’s powerful strike before Fairlie grabbed her second goal of the afternoon. In time added on Caroline Weir completed the scoring when she latched onto a poor clearance to lob goalkeeper Rachel Harrison.

Kirk said: “The first half was extremely poor from both teams and if I was a supporter I would have been asking for my money back. In the second half we were much better. We could have scored more having hit the post and missing an open goal.”

Spartans Debbie McCulloch was obviously disappointed with the result but felt her team played okay in parts. She said: “We have lost a bit of confidence and, even though we played well at times, we need to work harder both on and off the field. Hopefully we will see a reaction at training this week.”

Elsewhere, Hutchison Vale kept up their impressive post-split form when they defeated Falkirk 2-1 thanks to a double from Kat Smart.

Head Coach Ian McDonald was delighted with the victory, but felt it should have been a lot more comfortable for his side.

He said: “It was good to pick up full points but our performance was frustrating.”