Hearts Women were defeated 3-0 by Rangers at Broadwood on Wednesday night.
There wasn’t a lot in the game, with Rangers leading by a single goal for the majority of the match, but two late strikes added some more gloss to the scoreline.
Eva Olid made one change to the side that saw off Spartans in the Scottish Cup semi-finals on Sunday. Georgia Timms was unavailable, having picked up an injury in the aforementioned victory and she was replaced by Kathleen McGovern.
Hearts were dealt an early blow as skipper Georgia Hunter was replaced after just 12 minutes. The defender looked to clear the ball and after getting a slight bump from a blue jersey, appeared to jar her knee in the AstroTurf pitch. She left the field on her feet, and was replaced by Jess Husband.
It was always going to be an uphill task for the women in maroon from that point onwards and despite there being little in the way of opportunities, Rangers found the breakthrough on the 20-minute mark.
It was initially a really good defensive header from Carly Girasoli to clear a Gers corner, but the ball dropped to Chelsea Cornet who struck a powerful volley, which was deflected, past Parker-Smith.
The first half continued in a similar fashion, and by their own high standards, Hearts had struggled in possession. Parker-Smith was called into action to deny Lizzie Arnot’s long-range effort just after the half-hour mark.
Brogan Hay fired well over from distance to close out a first half of very few chances.
Half-time: Rangers 1-0 Hearts
The second half continued in similar fashion with neither side really creating anything of note.
The clock ticked past the hour mark with Hearts very much still in the game and a triple change on the hour mark was made with the intention of providing some more energy. Erin Husband, Cailin Michie and Sade Adamolekun were all introduced.
The Jambos continued to match Rangers, but the second goal did eventually arrive on 73 minutes. It was on the counter attack, and as the ball was worked wide left to Arnot, she placed the ball across Parker-Smith and into the bottom corner.
After a tough shift in the semi-final at the weekend, Hearts began to tire and Rangers added a third in the final minute of normal time through substitute Libby Bance.
The final scoreline was harsh on the women in maroon, but results elsewhere mean a victory over Partick Thistle on Sunday will go a long way to securing fourth spot for the second consecutive season.
Rangers: Esson, Docherty ©, McLaughlan, Hill, Hay, Howat. Hardy, Arnot, Cornet, McLoughlin, McLeary
Subs: Fife, Middag, Rowe, Bance, Ross, Austin, Ewens, Martinez
Hearts: Parker-Smith, Brownlie, Hunter ©, Grant, Forsyth, Lockwood, Waldie, Handley, Mooney, Girasoli, McGovern
Subs: Johnstone, Penman, Rennie, Adamolekun, Michie, E. Husband, J. Husband, Chomczuk
