NORMAL service will be resumed on Friday evening when Glasgow City and Hibernian contest the final of the SWPL Cup. Having regularly played each other in the two domestic finals, there was a glitch last season when they met in the last four of both competitions.
Hibs again emerged victorious in the semis, but unfortunately neither Celtic, in the SWPL Cup, nor Motherwell, in the SSE Scottish Cup, gave them the desired level of competition on their big occasions. The scorelines were 9-0 and 8-0 in the Edinburgh club's favour.
“I still refer to the Celtic final as a bit of a freak result,” Hibs head coach Grant Scott said. “We were very good on the day, and Celtic were a little bit poor.
“I feel it was a bit of an unfair scoreline, but regardless it finished up a very easy game for us, as did the Scottish Cup final against Motherwell. This will be a tough one on Friday.”
Scott's side meet Celtic in the league this afternoon without influential midfielder Rachael Small, but she will be available for Friday. Small and fellow Hibs player Martin Boyle are getting married soon and she is on her hen weekend.
As well as Small, talented midfielder colleague Shannon McGregor can also look forward to game time against City, having returned from a long-term knee injury as a late substitute against Spartans last Sunday.
Hibs will be aiming to make it a seventh consecutive knock-out trophy after achieving the domestic double in each of the last three seasons. The league game between the clubs at Ainslie Park in March – again played on a Friday evening, on live television, and in front of a sparse attendance – resulted in a 1-0 City win.
Scott Booth, meanwhile, is anxious to rectify six successive knock-out defeats from the Edinburgh club.
“Mostly they have been very close, and could have gone either way, but there have been a couple when we just haven't turned up or been good enough,” the Glasgow City head coach said of the run.
On Friday Booth can call on striker Clare Shine, who has rejoined the club and scored all three goals in the 2015 Scottish Cup final – the last occasion City beat Hibs in a knock-out game.
ONE City player Grant Scott says he will be wary of on Friday is left-back Nicola Docherty. He watched her in Scotland's recent friendlies against Chile and Brazil and, like most observers, has been impressed by the big improvement in her play since switching to full-time training at the start of the year.
“She looked absolutely assured in these two games,” the Hibs head coach said. “Probably 12-18 months ago I wouldn't have thought she would be anywhere near her current level. She was a very good player, but she has really made a step up.
“She looks confident and stronger, and is maybe a yard quicker.”
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