Mid Argyll girls secure a Scottish Cup win for Rangers
Here’s a novelty question. When did two players from Mid Argyll help Rangers win the Scottish Cup?
The answer is this year. Jasmine McPhie and Carla Todd were both key players in Rangers Girls triumphant run in the girls under-15 Scottish Cup.
In their run to the final, Rangers played the top four under-15 girls teams in Scotland beating, Aberdeen 5-0 in the first round, then Hamilton 8-0 and Central Girls 4-0 in rounds two and three. A quarter-final tie against Glasgow City saw the Rangers Girls win 2-1 to set up an Old Firm semi-final against Celtic Girls in which the Rangers Girls emerged 3-2 winners in a close game.
The final was played recently at the Oriam Performance Centre in Edinburgh. In a competitive match, Rangers started strongly but Hibernian began to come into the game and, while both sides had chances, the score remained 0-0 at half-time.
In the second half, Rangers took the lead in 45 minutes but three minutes later Hibernian drew level.
There were few chances in the remainder of the second half and at full-time both teams were level at 1-1. Rangers took the lead again in extra time with a deserved winner to secure the cup.
Jasmine and Carla came through the Lochgilphead Soccer Centre from primary one age to primary seven, playing in Argyll festivals.
In 2016/17, the girls were important members of the successful Lochgilphead Red Star 2004 team which won the DFDL league cup and finished second in their league.
At the end of that season, they joined Rangers Girls where they are in their second season playing mostly in the Paisley League against boys’ teams but also in national girls’ competitions.
Both girls have also been involved in Scotland national squads for their age group and the soccer centre is delighted to see them thriving with a big club.
With more than 25 girls now playing football through the soccer centre, the success of Jasmine and Carla should be a real inspiration for Argyll girls.