Hearts Women were eliminated from the Sky Sports Cup following a 4-1 defeat to Rangers at Oriam on Sunday.
Eva Olid made one change from the side that defeated Partick Thistle a fortnight ago. Katie Lockwood returned from suspension as Erin Rennie dropped to the bench.
It was an attacking line-up from Olid and it took the Jambos a wee while to settle into the match.
Just as it was looking like Hearts had weathered the early Rangers storm, the visitors took the lead on 18 minutes. A shot from distance was beaten away by Charlotte Parker-Smith but Rio Hardy was first to react to the second ball and she fired home the rebound.
That goal seemed to energise Hearts and in particular, Sade Adamolekun who began to get her foot on the ball and dictate play.
The Jamaican deservedly levelled the scores just seven minutes after the Jambos fell behind. Rangers were trying to play out from the back, but Adamolekun nipped in to intercept a pass on the edge of the Gers box before coolly slotting the ball under Jenna Fife to restore parity.
Hearts were enjoying their best spell of the game at this stage, but they were dealt a sucker punch three minutes before the break.
There were claims for offside as Kirsty Howat made a run down the right before squaring for Jodi McLeary to tap home at the back post and give the visitors the half time advantage.
The Jambos would’ve felt aggrieved to be behind at half-time and they almost levelled the scores in the opening minute of the second half. Georgia Timms got to the byline and her cross found Katie Lockwood, who’s effort was cleared off the line.
Timms was next to go close, ten minutes later. After skipping past two Rangers defenders, she let fly with a low effort, but Jenna Fife was on hand to produce a crucial fingertip save to keep the visitors ahead.
As we entered the final 20 minutes, Hearts were throwing caution to the wind and naturally, Rangers were going to get opportunities to kill the game on the counter.
That is exactly what happened as Mia McAulay and Howat added two further goals in the closing stages to ensure Rangers progressed to the next round.
Hearts: Parker-Smith, Morgan (Hunter, 75), Brownlie, Grant (Rennie, 46), Timms, Lockwood (Davies, 83), Waldie, Adamolekun, Girasoli, McGovern (Park, 64), Findlay (Anderson, 75)
Subs: Rodgers, Penman, Hunter, Rennie, Anderson, Park, Davies, Cowan, Michie
Rangers: Fife, Docherty, McLaughlan, Hill, Middag, Howat, Hardy, Bance, McAulay, Maclean, McLeary
Subs: Esson, Hay, Rowe, Bell, Austin, Ewens, Berry, Cornet, Colson
