Match report: St Johnstone WFC 2-1 Hamilton Accies

St Johnstone Women came from behind against league leaders Hamilton Accies at Riverside on Sunday to win 2-1, both goals coming from substitute Olivia Hurrell.

Saints returned to league action after the international break, welcoming a Hamilton side which had won the previous two matches in convincing fashion 7-0 and 6-1. Sunday presented a different opportunity with a stronger side taking to the pitch than in the previous two meetings.

Talking of the strength in the side, ahead of the match two new signings were announced. Highly rated goalkeeper, fifteen-year-old Andie Townsley joins the side permanently, having previously been at Hibernian. The youngster started out playing with Jeanfield Swifts Girls before a move to Spartans.

Also joining Saints until the end of the season on loan from Gartcairn is forward Megan Wands. Wands was joint top goal scorer with Airdrie side last year and will bring added threat to the Saints front line.

A strong breeze was proving difficult for both teams to deal with, especially in the first half, when Saints were defending against the wind.

The first real chance of the match went to the away side. A long ball was played forward, with Sophie Townsley taking the ball on, striking from the edge of the box, stinging the palms of Bobby Cochran. Cochran and Townsley both went for the rebound, with Cochran getting her hands to the ball first before the boot of Townsley. While it looked like Cochran stopped the ball right on the edge of the penalty area, referee Jordan Kinnon deemed she had handled it outside the box and booked the keeper. The resulting free kick went just wide of the right-hand post.

On the half hour mark, Hamilton had another good chance when Josephine Giard, the top goal scorer in the league, was played through on goal, but Bobby Cochran read the run well and closed the striker down on the left-hand side of the penalty area.

Saints had enjoyed a fair bit of the ball in the Hamilton half but hadn’t really been able to test Accies keeper Chloe Nicolson. The best chance of the half fell to Eirinn McCafferty, but the midfielder fired just high and wide of the target.

With a couple minutes of the half remaining, Giard went down in the area with Saints defenders close by, but there would be no penalty, with referee Jordan Kinnon booking the striker for simulation.

The second half started with Hamilton countering after winning possession from Saints, deep inside their own half. The attack was snuffed out from a corner, but it was from that which Hamilton took the lead five minutes after the restart. Saints couldn’t clear the ball at the edge of the box, and it was passed to the right-hand side of the penalty area where Chloe Muir was in space to give Hamilton the lead. Just a few minutes later, Muir again went close, under pressure from Niamh Irvine but her shot was just wide of the target.

It was a physical encounter in the middle of the park, but Saints were beginning to exert more pressure as the half went on. After sixty-five minutes, they had an equaliser. Steffi Simson did well down the right and played a through ball to Olivia Hurrell who found herself in plenty of space unmarked. She drove forward and unleashed a wicked strike from just inside the right-hand corner of the penalty area high into the net which left Hamilton keeper Chloe Nicolson with no chance.

Five minutes later, Saints nearly took the lead in a well worked move. Leah Sidey made a great run down the left, crossing in low Steffi Simson who struck first time forcing Nicolson into an excellent save to win Saints a corner. Hurrell then had a chance to put Saints in front, chasing down a through ball, she just ran out of pitch before she could prod the ball past the onrushing Nicolson.

In both halves, the offside flag had thwarted several Hamilton attacks, fifteen in number according to Hamilton manager Robert Watson’s post-match interview. Also thwarted from scoring for Hamilton were Eryn Brown, Lauren Kerr and Justine Strain; on all three occasions by Bobby Cochran reading their runs into the box well and diving down to smother the ball before they could get a strike on goal. 

With fifteen minutes of the ninety remaining, Saints took the lead. Jodie Malcolm won a corner, and when it was played in by Rachel Howie, there were strikes from both Rebecca McMillan and Jodie Malcolm blocked – with shouts of handball from Saints players and bench alike both times. The ball broke from Malcolm’s effort to Rachel Howie who crossed it to the back post where Olivia Hurrell was waiting to make no mistake from six yards out. That goal takes the prolific striker to eighteen goals in all competitions for the season.  

Saints kept pressing forward but couldn’t find a way to extend their lead. At times, when seeing the game out may have been the best option, Saints were still looking to threaten. In the final minute though, the threat was at the other end when Hamilton had a great chance to salvage a point. Giard was played through, and doing well to hold off Daisy Smith, the striker got a shot away but placed her shot past both the onrushing Cochran and her left-hand post – much to the relief of those of a Saints persuasion.

Saints now welcome Aberdeen to Riverside in the quarter-finals of the Scottish Gas Womens Scottish Cup next Sunday with a 1pm kick off.

Saints: Cochran, MacIver, McLean (Malcolm), Clark (Wands), Simson, Irvine, Smith, McMillan, Sidey, McCafferty (Hurrell), Howie

Subs not used: Townsley, Telford, Gibson, Shepherd, Paterson.