SWPL Cup First Round

Glasgow City 7

FC Kilmarnock 0

IT was the sort of glamour tie the Kilmarnock players had been looking forward to after promotion last season but there was to be no fairytale as Glasgow City progressed to the quarter-finals.

In the first half, Killie equipped themselves well. The first chance fell to Sarah Wardlaw as Killie countered on seven minutes but her shot was saved by Erin Clachers.

However, the home side took the lead after 11 minutes when Nicola Docherty’s cross was headed back across goal for Kirsty Howat to head home.

Killie could have been level when Wardlaw saw Clachers off her line and hit the ball from halfway only to see her opportunistic effort cannon off the post.

Morgan Hunter did well in the Killie goal to see off efforts from Howat, Sam Kerr and Leeanne Crichton but there was nothing she could do about Abbi Grant’s deflected effort on 37 minutes.

In the second half, it was all Glasgow City and Kim Murphy’s trip on Grant saw Howat make it 3-0 from the spot on 48 minutes.

Another flowing move from the home side saw Howat complete her hat-trick on 55 minutes and she grabbed a fourth after a mix-up in the Killie defence 10 minutes later.

Jo Paton made it six on 73 minutes with an effort that out-foxed Hunter before Megan Foley rounded things off with a thunderbolt from the edge of the box with 10 minutes to go.

Hunter made two fantastic stops in the last minute to deny Howat and Lauren McMurchie on her final appearance for Glasgow City.

After the match, Killie manager Stewart Hall said: “The first half was very positive. We could come in at half time at 2-0 and we could actually say that for spells of the game we were testing Glasgow City, I was really happy with that.

“We were always the underdogs but the fact, first half, we’ve really competed and really showed that we could stand with the pace, we were really happy with that. Our priority is the league this year and to get City in the first round of the cup has been an experience. The girls have learned a lot from it, I’ve learned a lot from it.

“This is where we want the club to be. We want to be in the same division as them, we want to be in SWPL1 and we want to be a top eight team. The girls now see what we need to try and work towards.”

Photo by Ross MacKenzie