Hibernian 3-1 Motherwell: Player ratings from Easter Road

Nectar Triantis ran the show as Stephen O’Donnell struggled wearing the armband.   Hibernian (3-4-1-2) Jordan Smith Little do before being beaten by the free kick. 6 Jack Iredale Looked untroubled until his needless foul outside the box allowed Motherwell back into the game. 6 Rocky Bushiri Confident on the ball and strong in the tackle. Enjoyed a relatively quiet night. On his way to cult hero status in Leith. 7 Warren O’Hara Like his partners at the back was solid at the back and kept a close eye on Maswanhise, keeping the forward who was brought on to shake things up quiet. 7 Nicky Cadden The talisman took an early knock to the face leaving a bit of blood. Brought off before he could really make an impact. n/a Dylan Levitt Solid on return to the team. Looks to be doing the things asked of him by the manager. Clearly blowing by the time he was brought off on the hour mark. 7 Nectar Triantis Couple of wayward passes but ran the game from the middle of the park. Strong interception followed by a lovely finish capped off a fine evening. 8 Chris Cadden Found space down the right early but nobody to meet the crosses. Won his duels with Sparrow. 7 Josh Campbell Pulled up his shorts in anger after wasting a good attacking opportunity. Like the other two, kept things simple which was what the game required. 7 Dwight Gayle Looks every bit the experienced player his CV suggests but frustrated by like of chances created for him. No doubt he will know the three points come first. 6 Martin Boyle (capt) Good position for opener with a cool, calm and collected penalty for the second. A player reborn in recent weeks now with four goals from his last two games. 8 SUBSTITUTES: Jordan Obita (for N. Cadden 19′) Difficult job in replacing Cadden but did very well. Assist for the first and defended resolutely in unfamiliar role 8; Lewis Miller (for C. Cadden 62′) Strong in the air and combined well with Hoilett 7; Junior Hoilett (for Gayle 62′) Kept Motherwell defenders on back foot to see out game 7; Hyeokku Kwon (for Levitt 62′) Brought the energy required maintain control of the game without having too much work to do 7; Nathan Moriah-Welsh (for J. Campbell 77′) Had little time to make an impact but no errors is all you can ask for at that stage 6; Motherwell (3-5-1-1) Archie Mair Not an ideal debut but as was not at fault for any of the goals. Will hope for a more positive outing after the first 24 hours of his time at the club. 6 Shane Blaney The yellow card he earned showed just how on the ropes Motherwell were before the break. 5 Kofi Balmer Hardly a frenetic game but struggled when it counted. 5 Paul McGinn Composed presence until head injury forced him off early on. 6 Ewan Wilson Sloppy in possession and at fault for the second goal. Hooked at the break. 4 Kai Andrews Added a bit of dynamism on the ball but like teammates, lacked bravery going forward. 5 Andy Halliday Game passed him by. Taken off with Wilson at half-time. 4 Tom Sparrow A few runs down the left but was easily contained. Looked more dangerous when cutting in but did not try it enough. 5 Stephen O’Donnell Captain in the absence of Lennon Miller. Did not step up to the plate. Gave away penalty that killed the game and had little to no impact going forward. 4 Tony Watt Not the most potent goalscorer but tries to use physicality to occupy defenders. Should have done better with the two headers he put over the bar. 5 Jack Vale Not much you can do when starved of the ball but ended the game with a straight red as the game had seconds to go. Punishing an already threadbare squad even further. 4 SUBSTITUTES: Dan Casey (for McGinn 33′) Struggled to command the backline in place of captain 5; Tawanda Maswanhise (for Halliday 46′) Showed flashes of what has made him one of the side’s best but couldn’t get into gear 5; Marvin Kaleta (for E. Wilson 46′) Had a half to make an impact but hardly saw the ball 5; Callum Slattery (for Sparrow 70′) Fantastic free-kick and had some impetus going forward at least 7; Moses Ebiye (for Watt 70′) No league goal since September and didn’t look like to end the drought tonight 5.      

Late flurry sees Celtic run out winners over dogged Thistle

A Saoirse Noonan double saw Celtic through what proved to be a challenging test, despite the scoreline. Victory tonight means they are nine points off the top with two games in hand on leaders Glasgow City. Thistle made themselves narrow and compact but it wasn’t long before the deadlock was broken, Noonan finishing a cut-back to give the home side the lead just seven minutes in.  Carla Boyce responded in stunning fashion with a long range effort from 25 yards over the head of keeper Chloe Logan after Caitlin Hayes’ was dispossessed outside the box.  On hand for her second of the night, Noonan restored the lead after turning Demi Falconer. Turning on the style, Kelly Clark and Maria McAneny put the game to bed with two goals in just three minutes. Captain Falconer responded in the closing stages with a stunning header that ultimately proved little more than a consolation. Celtic were dominant for large parts of the game. Pressing to double their lead in the first half, former Thistle Emma Lawton fired a header from an in-swinging free kick but could only direct it into the hands of a grateful Jeni Currie.  Struggling to get themselves in the final third, Thistle went long Rachel Donaldson long range effort into the arms of Logan, familiar to striker having played for the visitors against Hibernian in November as part of an emergency loan.  After recovering the ball with tenacity, Mathilde Carstens attempted another cut back, this time met by a bullet header from Amy Gallacher which saw Currie produce a strong save and recovery to step the ball rolling over for a second.  Growing increasingly frustrated Celtic looked to test the keeper from distance, Shannon McGregor’s long range effort unable to make Currie work.  Noonan came agonisingly close to second but flying Thistle bodies saw the ball out for a corner which Currie punched clear.  Called upon once again before the break Currie made a strong save by her near post to deny Gallacher.  Celtic began the second half with intent, working the ball into the box with Noonan twice hitting the woodwork after the break. First, firing an effort into the post before rattling the crossbar with her second later on.  Lawton came close with some nifty footwork followed by a shot blocked for a corner which Hayes could not direct on target with her header.  Looking to put the game out of reach, Celtic continued to pepper the goal with Natalie Ross and Noonan both forcing excellent saves from Currie. Relentless pressing and touch of class up front Celya Barclais had her pocket picked by Imogen Longcake but the midfielder found herself swamped within seconds of gaining the ball. Celtic’s relentless counter-pressing saw the right back earn it back almost immediately. Logan was guilty of fielding a sloppy pass and Longcake was on hand to attempt to deliver an equaliser but was once again smothered by the defence which refused to let Thistle breathe, forcing searching balls and resulting in a pass accuracy rate of 45%. Despite allowing the visitor’s to draw level, the squad’s class proved too much. Noonan’s seventh goal in three league games were crucial in beating an inspired Jeni Currie on the night to take her tally for the season to 22. Promising signs despite winless run Five at the back and one lone striker usually means one thing, your primary concern is closing up shop for the evening.  Little wonder that was the plan given both the gulf between the sides or the fact that Thistle’s last game took place almost a month prior.  Neither of those things meant much to Carla Boyce, whose fine goalscoring form continues after bagging her fourth in three games. Ultimately it wasn’t enough as the side’s wait for a league win stretches back to their 2-0 victory over Queen’s Park in October. However, having drawn with professional side Hibernian and running Celtic right until the end, there is evidence to suggest it’s just a matter of time before they take three points home.   What the managers said Celtic boss Elena Sadiku: “We played on Wednesday in Gran Canaria, we had a great performance. Obviously it’s different when you play in the league when you have that pressure on and I think that’s something that can affect the players but overall I think that was pretty good. “It’s going to be a bit rusty but I do think that the players tried and I think that’s good but sometimes I want them to be more ruthless like ‘give me the ball’. “[Saoirse Noonan] She’s amazing when it comes to being in the box, she’s a great finisher. She’s going to be important. “I said to the girls when the score is 1-1 that’s when we push forward ‘okay we need to switch on’. I think that mentality needs to start earlier.”   Partick Thistle boss Brian Graham: “There’s moments in the game if our quality’s slightly better, we go on and hurt Celtic. “We let them off the hook and then Celtic go in and punish you. That’s why they were in the Champions League, that’s why they were champions of the league. “We need everything on the day for the result to go our way to get a result against these top sides, that’s just the nature of the beast.”   Line-ups:  Celtic (4-2-3-1): C. Logan, C. Barclais, C. Hayes, Bruna Lourenco (K. Clark 46’), E. Lawton, A. Gallagher (M. McAneny 74′), S. McGregor (C. Cavanagh 64’), N. Ross (c), M. Carstens (L. Ashworth-Clifford 84′), M. Cross (J. Smith 64’),  S. Noonan Substitutes: L. Ashworth-Clifford, C. Cavanagh, K. Clark, L. Rodgers, M. McAneny, L. Munoz, A. Richardson, J. Smith Partick Thistle (5-4-1): J. Currie, S. Cowan, D. Falconer (c), C. McCulloch (K. Hay 81′), C. Docherty (R. Slater 62’), C. Gibb, R. Donaldson (H. Robinson 74′), A. Bulloch, L. Sinclair, I. Longcake (E. Craig 81′), C. Boyce (T. Burchill 61’) Substitutes: T. Burchill, E. Craig,

Amissah heroics can’t stop Celtic trouncing to open 18 point gap

Ross County 1 (0) J. White 60′ (pen) Celtic 4 (1) K. Furuhashi 40′, 81′, A. Engels 90+6′ (pen), L. McCowan 90+8′   An inspired Celtic met County’s resistance with brute force, putting four past the home side despite the heroics of keeper Jordan Amissah to extend their lead to 18 points, albeit having played a game more than Rangers. Having banged on the door for forty minutes, Kyogo Furuhashi was the heartbreaker as he met Alistair Johnston’s bouncing cross for a cool finish. Unfortunately the right back was at fault for County’s response, having pushed Phillips in the back as he tried to meet 14s cross with Jordan White making no mistake from the spot. That was as good as it got for the home side as Arne Engels escaped his marker to send a dipping ball into the box met by the onrushing Kyogo with nine minutes of normal time left to play. Once opened, the floodgates could not be closed in the dying moments of the game. James Brown’s foul on Yang Hyun-Jun saw Engels convert the penalty with his second attempt after Amissah’s save was denied after he was adjudged to have stepped off his line. Demonstrating the gulf in class, Luke McCowan added the fourth eight minutes into added time as the midfielder completed a devastating counter attack for the visitors. Striker Adam Idah had a chance to add a goal of his own early on, collecting the ball from Kyogo’s effort but could not hit the target. Getting himself involved on the wing, Idah provided an accurate cross to tee up Alistair Johnstone’s flick behind the leg but Amissah was equal to it. County will rue not having taken their chances when the score was level, Josh Nisbet having poached the ball off Auron Trusty laid the ball into the feet of Noah Chilvers who should have done better than fire wide. In yet another moment of class, Amissah’s reflexes were on hand to deny Kyogo as Celtic pushed for an opener after Idah’s header back to the Japanese forward’s feet was brilliantly stopped just in front of the line. At hand to deny Celtic yet again, the keeper produced a terrific double save to first keep Idah out before batting Kyogo’s effort away. Yang and Alex Valle would have their turn at trying to beat the shot stopper but the German loanee made sure their names would not be added to the score sheet. Despite three wins from five, County could find themselves in the relegation play off place should Hearts get a result against Aberdeen.   Attendance: 6,254 Line-ups: Ross County (3-5-1-1): J. Amissah, E. Campbell, K. Lopata (J. Grieves 53’), A. Wright, G. Harmon, N. Kenneh (J. White 46’), C. Randall (c) (V. Loturi 85’), N. Chilvers, J. Brown, J. Nisbet (S. Allardice 85’), R. Hale (K. Phillips 46’) Substitutes: S. Allardice, J. Grieves, J. Hamilton, R. Lamie, V. Loturi, K. Phillips, J. Reid, C. Telfer, J White Celtic (4-1-4-1): K. Schmeichel, Alex Valle (L. Scales 85’), A. Trusty, C. Carter-Vickers, A. Johnston, C. McGregor (c), Yang Hyun-Jun, R. Hatate (L. McCowan 73’), A. Engels, K. Furuhashi, A. Idah (J. Kenny 73’) Substitutes: D. Cummings, Paulo Bernardo, J. Kenny, L. McCowan, A. Montgomery, A. Ralston, L. Scales, V. Sinisalo, G. Taylor Referee: Matthew MacDermid