celtic ladies hit aberdeen for eight

Kayleigh Cameron
CELTIC LADIES sealed a second consecutive victory over Aberdeen in five days, with an emphatic 8-1 victory at Lennoxtown on Sunday.

The Hoops put in a spectacular performance that keeps them on course for a third place finish in the Premier League and propels them into their crucial double header against Hibernian this week.

Yet another spread of goals across the team secured all three points as the Celtic players staked their claim for a starting place in this Saturday’s Unite Scottish Cup final.

The game kicked off late with both Aberdeen and the match referee getting lost on the way to Lennoxtown, but it was the visitors who started the game stronger.

Camped in the Celtic half for the first 10 minutes, it seemed as though the Dons were determined to avenge their Scottish Cup semi-final exit at the hands of the Hoops.

However, the game soon settled down and Celtic eventually worked their way in. And, with less than 15 minutes on the clock, captain Becky Stokes opened the scoring, having stolen in on Gemmell’s ball and she slotted it past the keeper with ease.

Suzanne Malone got the only other goal of the first- half with a trademark one-on-one finish against the keeper. Jenny Beattie played her through and the strong centre forward rolled it under the on-rushing keeper.

Hayley Cunningham struck the cross bar on 35 minutes with a free-kick, but found the net early in the second half to put her side three up.

Aberdeen hit back with a scrappy goal that was poorly defended on Celtic’s part but it wasn’t enough to stop the onslaught.

Jenny Beattie scored soon after and Christie Murray grabbed the next. She turned sharply and fired her shot low into the bottom corner from 18 yards.

Beattie struck again to complete her brace but Scotland team-mate Murray wasn’t to be outdone, as she tapped in from Findlay’s pinpoint cross to also notch her second of the day. Nicole Findlay finished the rout with a flashing header on 87 minutes from a Clare Gemmell cross.

“Credit must first go to Aberdeen who started well after a long journey and played throughout with their usual energy,” said Head coach Brian Delaney after the game.

“But once we joined the game we kept possession really well and created a number of chances. We showed a great variation in our play today which resulted in some terrific goals.

“Now we look forward to the two games against Hibernian this week, with our thoughts most certainly resting on the Scottish Cup final.

“But make no mistake, we want to win every game and will go for the three points on Wednesday.”

Celtic Ladies play Hibernian in the Premier League at Dalkeith Juniors tonight, Wednesday, May 14 (KO 6.30pm), and again in the Unite Scottish Cup final on Saturday, May 17 at McDiarmid Park, Perth (KO 3.15pm). Entry to the Cup Final on Saturday is FREE.

Women’s Premier League
Sunday, May 11, 2008
Lennoxtown

CELTIC 8 –1 ABERDEEN
(Stokes 13, Malone 24, Cunningham 56, Beattie 59, 72, Murray 65, 77, Findlay 87)

Celtic: Johnstone (O’Donnell 80); Quigg, Robertson, Dalziel (Palmer 80), Seagrave (Emmerson 80); Stokes, Love, Gemmell, Beattie, Cunningham (Findlay 69), Malone (Murray 63)