Aberdeen Women still seeking fifth after losing to Hibs

Aberdeen Women lost 4-1 against fourth-placed Hibernian at the Tony Macaroni Arena in Livingston yesterday.

Hibs took the lead through Eilidh Adams and, despite Bayley Hutchison pulling level, the Dons went into halftime 2-1 down after Adams put her side in front again in the 38th minute.

The home side added two more in the second half, as Kelly Forrest’s own goal put Hibs 3-1 ahead, before Michaela McAlonie netted their fourth.

After an even opening 10 minutes on the penultimate weekend in SWPL 1, Hibs almost took the lead as McAlonie held the ball up before laying it off to Colette Cavanagh, but her shot from 20 yards hit the crossbar.

The Hibees were piling on the pressure, and took their chance in the 16th minute as Adams put the Edinburgh side in front. She beat Bailley Collins down the right flank, and hit a curling effort beyond Aaliyah-Jay Meach to make it 1-0.

Things went from bad to worse for the Dons, as Emma Hunter and Gavin Beith were forced to make an early change, with Natasha Bruce coming on in the 19th minute for the injured Chloe Gover.

That substitution saw a formation change, as Francesca Ogilvie moved to the left hand side, where she picked the ball up and drove towards former Don Jenna

Penman, but the Aberdeen winger misjudged her pass into the box, and the chance was wasted.

The Dons pulled level in the 31st minute after an error from Scotland international Leah Eddie.

After thwarting an Aberdeen counterattack, Eddie played a slack pass back to goalkeeper Gabby English that Hutchison intercepted, before she fired home at the near post for her 14th SWPL 1 goal of the season.

However, the game was only level for seven minutes, as Hibernian regained their lead just before half-time, after Adams netted her second with a close-range header from a corner.

Aberdeen started the second half with more intent but were left with a mountain to climb if they were to get anything out of the game as Hibs extended their lead in the 54th minute.

Hibs’ Joelle Murray played through Shannon McGregor, who squared the ball across the face of goal and Dons captain Forrest turned it into her own net.

McAlonie increased Hibs’ advantage to three in the 59th minute. After getting on the end of a long ball, she beat Forrest for pace, and burst into the box to slot the ball beyond Meach for 4-1.

Defeat against Hibs means Aberdeen’s bid for fifth continues, with the next opportunity to pick up points being an away clash against Glasgow City on Wednesday night.

Bayley Hutchison got a goal for the Dons.