Potter pleased to keep treble alive and ‘get one over rivals’ as Rangers reach cup final

IF there were mind games at play as Celtic and Rangers went head-tohead at Hampden yesterday, there was only one winner.

Two late goals from Chelsea Cornet and Kirsty Howat dismissed holders Celtic from the Scottish Cup with Elena Sadiku’s side limp and disjointed for much of the encounter.

The question now is just what effect this result will have on the remainder of the season. For Rangers, it opens the door to the possibility of a domestic treble while for Celtic, who currently lead the SWPL with a two-point cushion, there is a question over whether they have the scope to go on and claim their first ever title.

Jo Potter had been irked at kick-off being delayed as the Celtic players enjoyed their trademark pre-match huddle but it was the Rangers who looked far more up for it from the off.

Celtic – who have scored more goals than any team in the country this season – did not manage a shot on target with Natasha Flint a frustrated figure for much of the encounter.

“These head-to-heads mean a little bit more – as it should, because it is your rivals,” said Potter. “When you beat your rivals and you are in and around it, those games mean a lot so to get one over on them, again, is big for us. And as I said to the players, it was just deserved. There wasn’t a moment where I was worried. I thought that if it went into extra-time that I wasn’t panicked because I knew we would be the fitter team. It is about remembering all of that and drawing on these moments when we go back into league action.

“I said at half-time that there was no panic and no rush. I told them that they hadn’t caused any problems, that they hadn’t ever really hurt us. I just told them that they needed a bit of quality to go and get the first goal. I thought if we got the first goal I didn’t think they would be able to come back from it.”

Sadiku has warned that there needs to be a sharp wake-up call or else Celtic will end the season empty-handed.

“It was not us,” said the Swede. “We were not confident, we were not brave. We didn’t deserve to win. That is something that we need to learn from asap because if we play like this then we are not going to win anything. That is just the truth.

“If we want to win the league, this is not what we can look like.”