Clinical Celtic booked their semi-final place in the Sky Sports Cup with a comfortable 3-0 win over Glasgow City.
City went closest in the opening stages with Hayley Lauder’s header narrowly wide but Celtic would open the scoring at the other end as Natalie Ross headed in Murphy Agnew’s cross after six minutes. Emily Whelan would go close to equalising, but her effort flashed across the bar from Brenna Lovera’s cross.
Both goalkeepers would be called into action in the first half with Lee Gibson making a diving save to deny Agnew before Kelsey Daugherty did well to thwart Lovera one-on-one after a quick counter-attack from City.
Celtic put themselves in command after the restart and doubled their lead early in the second half. Ross’ cross caused chaos in the City box and Amy Gallacher was on hand to capitalise.
Natalie Ross opened the scoring for Celtic (Colin Poultney/SWPL)
Kit Loferski, on at the break, would put the icing on the cake for Celtic with a fantastic solo goal in the final 20 mintues. The forward flicked the ball beyond Kenzie Weir before beating the defender for pace and showing composure to chip the ball over the onrushing Gibson.
It’s the first time in 13 years that Glasgow City have been knocked out of the competition before the semi-finals as Celtic look to replicate their 2021 success in the competition.
Hibernian reach ninth successive semi-final
Siobhan Hunter added the sixth goal for Hibernian (Malcolm Mackenzie/SWPL)
Record competition winners Hibernian extended their fine run, reaching the semi-finals for the ninth time in a row, beating Dundee United 7-0.
On her 100th appearance for the club and wearing the captain’s armband, Eilidh Adams gave the home side a narrow lead in the first 45 minutes. The forward was in the right place at the right time to finish after Naomi Powell’s cross came off the bar.
Eilidh Adams scored the first of Hibernian’s seven goals against Dundee United (Malcolm Mackenzie/SWPL)
Hibs would make light work of Dundee United, who held out for a 0-0 draw when the sides last met in the league, with six second-half goals. Jorian Baucom made it 2-0 before Adams grabbed her hat-trick with an hour played. Further goals came through Ellis Notley, Siobhan Hunter, and Lauren-Dorran Barr.
Hibernian, who reached last season’s final where they lost 2-0 to Rangers, will now look to win the competition for a record eighth time.
Rangers thrash SPWL 2 side Boroughmuir Thistle
Rangers breezed past Boroughmuir Thistle – the only SWPL 2 side left in the competition – winning 7-0 to book their semi-final place.
Tessel Middag gave them the lead with just two minutes on the clock after good play from Rachel Rowe down the left. While Thistle defended stubbornly, they couldn’t hold off the constant pressure as Megan Bell doubled their lead with 35 minutes played before Rio Hardy made it 3-0 with a fine volley from Lizzie Arnot’s cross.
A further four goals put the game well out of sight in the second half as Hardy made it 4-0 before goals from Kirsty Howat, Laura Berry, and Eilidh Austin rounded off a straightforward win.
The reigning champions will now look to reach the final for just the second time in their history and win the competition back-to-back.
Partick Thistle come from behind to beat Montrose
Imogen Longcake sealed the win for Partick Thistle against Montrose (Colin Poultney/SWPL)
Partick Thistle fought back from behind to see off Montrose 2-1.
Having won 5-0 back in August when the sides last met, the Jags were favourites to progress but were pushed all the way this time round.
The sides went in goalless at the break with no clear-cut chances, though Lucy Sinclair went closest for the home side from a Cara Henderson cross.
First blood would be drawn by Montrose as Louise Brown’s effort from just inside the box and found the net with an hour played.
Partick Thistle are hoping to reach their first cup final (Colin Poultney/SWPL)
After four changes and the Jags pushing for an equaliser, they eventually got their reward through Rachel Donaldson as she applied the finish after Imogen Longcake’s deflected shot landed at her feet.
Just two minutes later and the tie was turned on its head as Thistle went ahead. A searching ball into the box perfectly found Longcake who guided her header past Lauren Perry.
The Jags are now the furthest they’ve ever been in the competition as they look to reach their first ever cup final.