HMWFC Match Report | Hearts Women 1-0 Motherwell

Manager Eva Olid made just the one change to the side that defeated Aberdeen a fortnight ago, as Shona Cowan was replaced by Emma Brownlie.

After a fairly uneventful opening few minutes, Hearts managed to get themselves in front after ten minutes. Jenny Smith did well to win her battle in the middle of the pitch and she was able to prod the ball in the direction of Rebecca McAllister, who curled the ball perfectly into the top corner to open the scoring.

That goal gave the girls a lift and they went on to dominate the rest of the first half.

Georgia Timms almost doubled the Hearts lead 25 minutes in after being sent through on goal she was denied by Emily Mutch from a tight angle.

The returning Brownlie almost got her name on the scoresheet just two minutes later, but her header came back off the crossbar.

Timms was causing chaos with her runs in behind and again, the striker sprung the offside trap but couldn’t hit the target eight minutes before the interval.

Just five minutes later, another chance came and went for Hearts. This one was a real team move. Parker-Smith played a pinpoint pass out to Gwen Davies on the left, she slipped in Timms, who did well to dig a cross out for McAllister, but she couldn’t double her own and her side’s tally for the afternoon.

The missed opportunities meant Hearts’ lead was a slender one at the break, but somehow it remained 1-0 after 65 minutes. A Hearts corner from the right fell to Timms in the box, she did well to turn, and her effort came back off the inside of the post before rolling tantalisingly across the face of goal before it was hacked to safety.

For the final 20 minutes the girls had to deal with a serious amount of pressure as the visitors went in search of an equaliser. The closest they came was in the 87th minute when a Hearts clearance fell to Lauren Doran-Barr, she struck the ball ferociously and with Parker-Smith beaten, the post came to Hearts’ rescue.

The visitors continued to fire balls into the box, but the team stood strong to make it five home wins out of five in the league!

Hearts: Parker-Smith, Brownlie (Rolandsen, 76), Hunter ©, Grant, Timms, Smith, Rennie (Rood, 59), McAlister, Sampson, G. Davies, Michie

Subs: Rodgers, Penman, Rolandsen, Kaney, Aitchison, Rood, E. Davies, Young

Motherwell: Mutch, Crichton, Inglis ©, Rafferty, Watson, Anderson, Ronald, Doran-Barr, Boyce, Gardner, McDonald-Nguah

Subs: Andrews, Hay, Rice, Halpin, Lawton, Addie, Hughes