RANGERS lifted the Scottish Women’s Cup for the first time in history this afternoon as Jo Potter’s side ran out 2-0 winners over Hearts at Hampden Park.
In doing so, the Light Blues completed the collection of domestic honours up for grabs in Scotland, delivering a cup double in Potter’s maiden campaign in charge.
And there are few goals more fitting to mark the occasion than the strike which opened the scoring for Gers, with Rachel McLauchlan’s 35-yard thunderbolt nestling into the top corner midway through the first half.
It was one-way traffic throughout as Rangers endeavoured to double their advantage, and it duly arrived four minutes from time when Lizzie Arnot swept home from the edge of the penalty area to spark scenes of jubilation among the Gers support.
Indeed, it was a cagey opening in Glasgow’s southside, matched by the mood of the grey skies hanging overhead, with a scooped Nicola Docherty effort all that Rangers had to show in the first ten minutes after the captain latched onto a Brogan Hay delivery from the opposite flank.
Kirsty Howat then linked intelligently with Kirsty Maclean on the edge of the penalty area eight minutes later, but the 19-year-old’s effort was straight down the throat of Charlotte Parker-Smith in the Hearts goal.
The Edinburgh side had offered little attacking threat in the first half, although they briefly worried the Light Blues when a cross from the byline forced Vic Esson to be on her toes to collect in the six-yard area.
That proved the cue for Rangers to take firm grip of the final, supercharged by the right boot of the irrepressible McLauchlan on 23 minutes.
There didn’t appear to be any immediate pressure on the Hearts defence when Maclean moved possession infield to McLauchlan, yet space continued to open up for the Scotland international who required no second invitation to let fly from 35 yards out and arrow an unstoppable effort into the top corner.
The Gers had their tails up as a result of the opening goal, with McLauchlan finding herself in another promising position five minutes later when Hay’s clever dummy allowed the full-back to stride onto the ball and lift an effort off target.
It was little surprise that Hearts’ most dangerous effort on the Light Blues goal arrived from a dead ball situation, but Carly Girasoli’s glancing header from 12 yards out caused Esson no trouble.
Rangers perhaps ought to have doubled their advantage before the half-time interval through a sequence of chances for Howat.
First, the 27-year-old sent a header wide of the target from a delicious cross from Docherty, before she latched onto McLauchlan’s through pass after the full-back regained possession in an advanced area and stabbed a finish beyond the near post.
Yet it remained the slender goal advantage for the Gers as they emerged for the second period, with Hay striking the first chance for Potter’s side when the ball broke kindly to the winger and she lifted her finish over the crossbar on her weaker left side.
Rangers continued to monopolise possession as they went in search of the all-important second goal which would kill the final.
Indeed, Maclean nearly danced her way through a cluster of Hearts bodies inside the penalty area on the hour mark, but she couldn’t quite manufacture the space to fashion a shot before Parker-Smith smothered the midfielder.
That would prove to be Maclean’s last involvement as she was replaced by Rachel Rowe, while Mia McAulay and Rio Hardy also entered the fray.
Hardy was played in beyond the Hearts backline almost immediately by a slide rule pass from Howat, but the substitute’s initial touch was on the heavy side which allowed Parker-Smith to spring from her goalline to dive on the loose ball.
As the Edinburgh side committed more bodies forward in search of the leveller, it allowed Rangers to create numerical superiority going in the opposite direction.
Rowe appeared to be round Parker-Smith when the Welsh international was released in-behind, but she couldn’t quite get the ball out in front of her which allowed the Hearts stopper to thwart her advantage.
The substitutes had certainly livened up Rangers’ attacking endeavour, with Rowe bustling her way into the penalty area before the ball ricocheted off Howat and into the grateful arms of the Hearts goalkeeper.
Eva Olid’s side reminded Rangers of their own offensive threat when a seemingly innocuous floated free-kick landed at the feet of Girasoli on the right-hand byline and her flashed effort required Esson to tip around the goal for a corner.
However, Rangers put the icing on the cake with four minutes remaining when Rowe took her time to lift her head and lay a pass into Arnot who guided a first-time finish into the bottom corner to ensure the Scottish Cup would don red, white and blue ribbons.
RANGERS: Esson, Docherty, McLauchlan, Hill, Middag (Hardy, 59), Hay (McAulay, 59), Howat (Ewens, 86), Arnot, Cornet (Bance, 90), Maclean (Rowe, 59), McLoughlin
Subs not used: Fife, Ross, Austin, McLeary
HEARTS: Parker-Smith, Brownlie, Grant, Forsyth, Lockwood, Waldie, Adamolekun (Rennie, 59), Girasoli (Penman, 90), McGovern, E. Husband (Michie, 90), J. Husband (Mooney, 83)
Subs not used: Johnstone, Chomczuk, Fraser
Sophie Anderson, a UK-based writer, is your guide to the latest trends, viral sensations, and internet phenomena. With a finger on the pulse of digital culture, she explores what’s trending across social media and pop culture, keeping readers in the know about the latest online sensations.
