Partick Thistle WFC 1 – 3 Glasgow City

A dominant Glasgow City ran away comfortable winners in the Scottish Cup 3rd Round as Thistle were unable to hold on after Cara Henderson’s equaliser. 

Lisa Catherine Evans had opened the scoring for City after lashing a shot from outside the box for past Jennifer Currie.

Henderson’s equalised from the spot after the hour mark but were unable to hold out for long as Emily Whelan restored the lead before Natalia Wrobel’s quick thinking in front of goal put the tie to bed.

Thistle had few chances, relying on quick counter-attacks to catch their opponents off guard but they were unable to test Lee Gibson.

Lucy Sinclair’s wide header was arguably the closest the side came outwith the penalty, but her contributions off the ball made life difficult for their free-scoring Glasgow rivals on the day.

With fifty-nine league goals this season, City will have been frustrated to only be a goal up at the break, having struggled to capitalise on their opportunities in the final third.

Lisa Forrest came close to doubling the lead but her effort hit the crossbar to give Thistle a much needed lifeline.

Patient in possession 

City’s early goal was apt reward for their dominance in the first half. Pressing high up the pitch, they forced Thistle into searching balls, comfortably dealt with by Kimberley Smit and Claire Walsh. The pair looking just as much at ease on the ball as off it.

Sat in front of the duo, Mairead Fulton allowed her side to circulate possession and find space down the channels, eventually rewarded with two goals which came from crosses down the right hand side.

Despite a quiet afternoon for Brenna Lovera, unable to summon a repeat of her two goal tally in November, City’s variety in attack and strength in depth saw them come away deserved winners.

Disappointing exit but Thistle continue to improve

It is often difficult to take comfort from a cup exit but there were plenty of positives to take in defeat.

Coming away with an upset was an unlikely proposition when taking into account only one of these sides is ‘professional’. Glasgow City scored twelve goals in the last two games but were held to just one until the 68th minute.

The result, albeit not the desired one, is testament to their ability to turn their physicality into a defensive weapon and make life difficult for a side that currently sits top of the league.

Despite only one in their last five, there is plenty to suggest that they can turn things around come Wednesday, as they welcome a Spartan side sat just three points behind.

What the managers said: 

Glasgow City manager Leanne Ross: 

“That’s the objective at the start of the day, regardless of how we perform, to make sure that we win the game and get through to the next round. So we’re happy with that.

“In terms of performance today, I think we can better in certain aspects of the game but we’ve done enough to get ourselves into the next round of the cup.

“I felt comfortable within the game, I didn’t think [Thistle] offered too much on the ball. They were waiting for mistakes from our defenders or looking for a long ball to go in behind.”

Partick Thistle WFC coach Ross Stormonth: 

“We’ve played against a top side today in Glasgow City. Top of the league, they’re a very good side. I thought we frustrated them for large spells of the game and we had some really nice moments as well.

“It’s tough to go out but proud of the girls today is an understatement, they were excellent.”

“We showed today a sign that we can play. We’ve not really showed that as much as we would like all season but today and last week against Hibs I thought we were much much better.”

Line-ups:

Partick Thistle WFC: J. Currie, R. Slater, C. McCulloch , D.L. Falconer, C. Henderson, C. Boyce, A. Bulloch, C. Gibb C. Docherty, S. Cowan, T. Burchill, L. Sinclair

Substitutes: A. Fearns, , R. Donaldson, H. Robinson, G. Gray, I. Longcake

Glasgow City: L. Gibson, C. Warrington, C. Walsh, M. Fulton, B. Lovera, N. Wrobel, E. Whelan, A. Gambone, L.C. Evans, K. Smit, L. Forrest

Substitutes: A. Easdon, A.J. Muir, J. Love, K. Lockwood, W. Forsblom, N. Kozlova, S. van Diemen, M. Foley

Referee: Keiran Trayner 

(Featured image credit: Craig Dunn)