Stewart Hall: Motherwell pay price for 'one mistake' in Hibs loss

Motherwell 0-1 Hibernian: Interim boss Stewart Hall is left frustrated by defeat

Motherwell paid the price for one mistake said interim head coach Stewart Hall as he was left frustrated by a 1-0 defeat to Hibernian at the Penny Cars Stadium.

A close-range strike from Eilidh Adams early into the second half was all that separated the sides as Hibs moved up to fourth in SWPL 1.

“It’s hard to be critical of a team who have given maximum effort and for large spells of the game, have done everything right,” Hall told Anyone’s Game.

“But this is just what happens in this league.

“Defensively since we’ve came in it has been night and day barring the Glasgow City game [8-0 defeat]. We have defended very well and literally it’s the only time during this game that we don’t defend well, and they score from it.

“That seems to be the story of our season so far. We make one mistake while defending and are punished for it, but we can’t punish teams when they make a mistake.”

The result sees Hibernian leapfrog their Edinburgh rivals Spartans into fourth on goal difference and stretches their unbeaten run to four games.

It was an evenly contested start to the game and that theme continued throughout the first half where there were very few clear-cut chances.

Collette Cavanagh looked the most likely to pose a threat to the Motherwell goal with her direct running and interchanges with Shannon Leishman.

The Women of Steel had a couple of promising counter attacks of their own through Lori Gardner and Kaela McDonald-Nguah, who linked up well. Both sides were cancelling each other out. Motherwell’s play didn’t reflect a team that had only three victories all season.

Hibs came out for the second half the stronger of the two sides, though, and they broke the deadlock within six minutes.

It was great play from Rachael Boyle down the right, but while the Motherwell defence stood off her she picked out Adams, who fired high into the top corner.

Cavanagh and Carla Boyce missed big chance to double the lead, with home goalkeeper Lauren McGregor managing to get a fingertip to push another Boyce chance around the post.

In the last 15 minutes the hosts showed real character and determination to try force the equaliser their play deserved. Hibs goalkeeper Emily Mutch pulled off a superb save from a Nicole Pullar strike, while Jade Gallon had two efforts from distance go over the bar.

Jordan McLintock was denied and ‘Well captain Jill Inglis also threatened, firing just wide from close range.

Anyone’s Game Player of the Match

The Anyone’s Game player of the match was Rachael Boyle. She did a terrific job of running up and down the wing the whole game, particularly in the second half where she set up the game’s winning goal, and all Hibs joy seemed to be down her side.

A big shout out has to go to Emily Mutch who made a match winning save late on as her side rode a late Motherwell storm. Manager Dean Gibson was full of praise for his goalkeeper after the match.