Scottish Women's Football

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Celtic's Maria McAneny has been named SWPL Player of the Month for February.

The winger picks up the award for the first time after two impressive performances last month that helped Celtic pick up four out of a possible six points as they continue their title charge.

McAneny also won Goal of the Month for February thanks to her terrific left-footed strike in Celtic's 2-2 draw with league leaders Glasgow City and played a crucial part in the 8-0 win over Dundee United.

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Glasgow City saw off SWPL rivals Hearts in a thrilling Women's Scottish Cup clash.

Leanne Ross' side scored in extra-time to overcome the Edinburgh outfit 3-2 and land a place in the hat for the semi-final.

City scored first when Nicole Kozlova finished off a lovely team move to give the hosts the advantage after 25 minutes.

Bayley Hutchison prodded home in injury-time in the first half to level the tie at the break and scored a second after the interval to put Hearts in front.

Lisa Forrest made it all square with just 10 minutes to play to force the tie to extra-time.

Hearts were dealt a further blow in injury-time when Lizzie Waldie picked up a second yellow card and reduced Eva Olid's side to 10 players.

Kimberley Smit nudged home a City corner in the early stages of extra-time and Hearts were unable to respond.

City join Aberdeen, Rangers and Motherwell in Monday night's draw for the penultimate round of the competition.

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Rangers overcame a tricky Spartans side to continue their defence of the Scottish Cup in the semi-final.

The sides couldn't be separated at the break at Broadwood and it took second half substitute Camille Lafaix to get the hosts up and running.

Kirsty Howat doubled Rangers' lead with a stunning strike from the edge of the box.

Jo Potter's side held on until the whistle to set up another Scottish Cup semi-final tie, the draw for which will take place at half-time of Livingston v St Johnstone on Monday night.

Image source, Colin Poultney/SWPL

Aberdeen came from a goal behind to ease past second-tier St Johnstone for a place in the Women's Scottish Cup semi-final.

Scott Booth's side became the second team to put their name in the hat, after Motherwell, thanks to a 4-1 win over the SWPL 2 side.

Elvie McLean gave St Johnstone an early lead against the top flight outfit but they responded almost immediately when Holly McEvoy headed in from close range.

The Dons found their groove in the second half when Toni Leigh Finnegan scored two goals either side of Kerry Beattie's strike.

The draw for the semi-final will be made during half-time of Livingston v St Johnstone on Monday night.

Image source, Colin Poultney/SWPL

Motherwell eased past second-tier side Boroughmuir Thistle to book their spot in the Women's Scottish Cup semi-final.

Louisa Boyes got Paul Brownlie's side up and running 20 minutes into the first half at Meadowbank before Katie Rice scored directly from a corner to double 'Well's advantage.

Captain Gill Inglis got the third a minute later and the visitors headed into half time in control of the tie.

A goalless second half meant Motherwell have their name in the hat for the next round.

The draw for the semi-final will be made during half-time of Livingston v St Johnstone on Monday night.

Amy Canavan
BBC Sport Scotland

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A trip to Hampden is on the line for the Women's Scottish Cup quarter-finalists on Sunday.

Here's what to look out for...

Can Boroughmuir Thistle sting high-flying Well?

Boroughmuir are one of only two SWPL2 sides in the final eight and the promotion hopefuls have nothing to lose, but plenty to gain, in the early kick-off.

With experienced heads such as Becky Galbraith and Louise Mason, who took to the Hampden turf with Spartans last season, they'll be far from spooked by top-six side Motherwell.

Paul Brownlie, who guided Well to Hampden for the first time two years ago, has worked his magic again this term, securing a first top-half finish in the top flight.

With a spread of Scotland youth internationals across the squad, plenty of them will be eyeing the first of hopefully many appearances at the national stadium.

Home comforts for St Johnstone?

The Scottish Cup draw has been kind to the Saints so far, with the visit of Aberdeen their third home tie in a row.

Things in SWPL2 haven't quite gone to plan this season, but they enjoyed a massive, morale-boosting win against leaders Hamilton Accies last weekend, so welcome the Dons in decent form.

But Scott Booth's side also travel with a good run under their belt and with high hopes of finishing top of the bottom half after the split.

The Dons take to the Pittodrie field again next Friday. How they'd love to ensure Hampden is their next big day out.

Holders Rangers to run riot?

Fleetingly do Rangers drop points. Even rarer do they do so outwith games against Celtic and Glasgow City. But that was the case last weekend in their 2-2 draw with Hearts.

Far from a disaster, but disappointing enough to fire Jo Potter's side even more as they look to keep their hands on the Scottish Cup they won for the first time last season.

Which is a daunting prospect for a Spartans side who have shipped nine goals to Rangers in two league meetings this campaign.

However, Jack Beesley's side have their own records to uphold, and making trips along the M8 to Hampden for two seasons in a row would be quite the feat for a side fighting for their top-flight status.

Former finalists to fight out tie of the round?

Rangers were not the only ones kicking themselves over last week's draw, as Hearts were looking good at 2-0 up before the break.

After a mammoth effort, much like their endeavours in last term's Scottish Cup defeat to Potter's side, they tired towards the end and Rangers' strength in depth carried them through.

Hearts have built on that this campaign, though, and have nicked a point off this weekend's opponents Glasgow City in the league already as well as knocking out Edinburgh rivals and joint league leaders Hibs in the last round.

Not only are City top of the SWPL tree, though, they have an abundance of experience in this competition, having won it a record nine times.

Leanne Ross was at the heart of a fair few of them - seven, to be exact - and the head coach will be desperate to get her hands on silverware again.

Having already seen off reigning league champions Celtic, City will fancy their chances of going all the way... the hard way.

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A "wonderful season" from Eilidh Adams is fuelling Hibernian's surprise SWPL title challenge.

The 20-year-old striker continued her fine form by netting the only goal of the game to down champions Celtic on Sunday and leave Hibs neck and neck with Glasgow City at the top of the table.

It took Adams' goal haul to 21 in 22 league appearances this term and completed a memorable couple of weeks in which she made her Scotland debut and then first international start in the Nations League double-header with Austria and Netherlands.

Among those impressed by the young forward's exploits is former Scotland midfielder Leanne Crichton, the current Glasgow City assistant.

"She's having a wonderful season, she's coming off the back of her national team debut as well, certainly contributing," said Crichton on the BBC's Behind the Goals podcast.

"This season is up there with the best she's ever had, certainly individually and collectively as a team, and things just keep getting better and better.

"I think to be the difference maker in that type of fixture [against Celtic] for her as well, it'll do her the world of confidence. She's having a wonderful season, she's a top player and she'll only get better as well.

"Hats off to her, it's been a busy schedule and I'm sure it's been an awful lot for her to take in, but she seems to be taking it all in her stride, that's the type of person that she is."

Scotland captain Rachel Corsie praised the 20-year-old for being able to "readjust" quickly to club duties.

"Good on her, it can be tough coming back from international break and then having to quickly readjust to the schedule, a club, the environment," said Corsie.

"I always find that transition after the international games quite stressful mentally.

"There's a lot to adjust to that just adds to it, so credit to her for having a big week and then being able to just roll right back into club form."

Leanne Crichton and Rachel Corsie discuss the SWPL title race on the Behind the Goals podcast.

Listen and subscribe on BBC Sounds

Jane Lewis
BBC Sport Scotland Senior Reporter

Erin Clachers (Hibs): Celtic may not have overly worked the Hibs goalkeeper but when called upon she held on to the ball well. A big win for Hibs and as Celtic threw players forward, she played a vital part.

Sam van Diemen (Glasgow City): Comfortable at the back in the win against Motherwell and at ease venturing forward. The Dutch defender did really well as she raced down the wing to provide the ball in for Natalia Wrobel to score City's third goal.

Jess Broadrick (Aberdeen): Helped her team to a crucial win as she made some timely blocks to keep Spartans at bay.

Stacey Papadopoulos (Hibs): Stood up really well against Celtic, making vital blocks and tackles as the visitors pushed for the equaliser that never came.

Jackie Richards (Hearts): Was at the heart of everything Hearts did well in the draw with Rangers, especially in the first half. As well as clearing a shot off the line, the American was impressive driving forward to set up attacks.

Holly Daniel (Montrose): Provided the assist for Neve Guthrie to put re-establish Montrose's lead in victory over Dundee United.

Tegan Bowie (Hibs): Terrific energy and pace from the winger in driving Hibs forward. The 21-year-old showed great persistence as she beat her marker to send in a brilliant cross for Eilidh Adams' winning goal.

Laura Berry (Rangers): Managers hope their subs make an impact - Berry did exactly that. Her goal was class as she ran on to the ball and finished wonderfully. Her ball in for Rio Hardy's equaliser was inch perfect.

Brenna Lovera (Glasgow City): Scored the opener to set the tone against Motherwell. Also provided the assist for their second, scored by Lisa Forrest, as City earned a significant win to regain top spot.

Eilidh Adams (Hibs): Started and finished the move for the only goal against Celtic. It wasn't easy to keep that ball down, despite the quality of the delivery, but she showed determination and composure to secure a statement victory for Hibs.

Bayley Hutchinson (Hearts): Scored two very different but big goals against Rangers. The striker's opener showed her power and then composure with the finish. Made sure she was in the right place to tap in the second.

Image source, Malcolm Mackenzie/SWPL

Hibs manager Grant Scott: "A fortuitous victory, we put a lot of hard work into it, rode our luck a little bit in the second half in particular, but the first half we took the game to Celtic really well and I wouldn't say dominated the half, but we did a lot of good things in there.

"Those are the grinding out result ones that are important and keep you in the challenge.

"I thought Celtic looked lively and dangerous, put some balls in the box that were tricky for us to deal with, but I can't think of too many clear-cut shots from them. I think we could do better in the first half with the couple of chances we did have, so fine margin game that one. We're delighted to take the victory at the end."

Celtic manager Elena Sadiku: "We had a really poor first half in terms of being the team that we can be, being intense on the pressure and being brave enough on the ball.

"Hibs had two or three chances in the game, they scored one, which is how it's been lately for us. We create chances and we don't score, there's a big frustration in the camp and I'm very disappointed.

"It's important we find consistency in training and find a hunger of making sure we win games because we've been in this situation before.

"Last time, I came here we were seven points behind and we still managed to win the league, now we're in that situation again that we're three points behind and we just need to be at it.

"We need to be hungry, we need to chase and the mindset now is we've done it before, we can do it again and we need to strongly believe in it and be confident."

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Hearts manager Eva Olid: "We started really, really good and we had to take that momentum to score more goals, we were really good in the first half in terms of energy.

The second half, we were good in the build up, but in final third, we missed that energy that we had in the first half.

"It's what happens with these teams, they change what they did and changed the match.

"We will try to win every match, and I think that we will get points against top teams in the last matches. We have a bigger squad. We have 21 players fit. We can rotate, and that will help us for this congestive end of the season."

Rangers manager Jo Potter: "It's tough because after 45 minutes I'd have taken a draw, at the end of that we were well out of it, we weren't ourselves at all. You're looking to climb a mountain being 2-0 down against a decent Hearts team, at that point I'd have taken a point.

"But towards the end of the game, when you're pressing and you're on the ascendancy, you will feel a little bit aggrieved and the players do as well with their performance levels, but I'm hoping that's going to be a good point come the end of the season.

"Teams are going to come and do that to us, but we've got to be better at handling that situation, we should want teams to come and press us and be able to accept that pressure and break lines and be brave enough."

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Glasgow City manager Leanne Ross: "Really pleased with the result today, we knew we were in for a tough game, Motherwell have done really well to get themselves in that top six this season, they've had some fantastic results and performances, we knew they were going to be difficult to break down, and that proved to be on the day.

"Every single game now is a must win, they're not going to be wins from now until the end of the season, but we're going into them saying that we must win them.

"We're going to give everything that we can to make sure that we put up the biggest fight possible to go and win this title, but we know it's going to be tough.

"Every single team that's in that top six is going to be doing exactly the same, the neutral is in for some exciting games to end the season."

Motherwell assistant Colin Crichton: "Disappointed with the result, we really believe that we could have come here and got something out of the match.

"In terms of how we performed, I thought we were excellent, the players were really, really good, the players that started, the players that finished, plenty of energy, press was good.

"If it goes 1-1 you can at least then run them a bit closer than we did, it's disappointing to then lose a second, at that point City are in control of the match but even still, I thought the players were absolutely fantastic, the energy they gave, real enthusiasm all over the park, and that's going to try and set us up now for the rest of the season."

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Aberdeen manager Scott Booth: "I thought we started the game fairly well and, passed the ball about well, tried to move the opposition.

"They're really well organised, they've got bags of energy from mid to front, so they can really put you under a lot of pressure, but then we took our goal really well, [Emily] Kraft's finish was great, it was a nice move and I think after that, we just stopped playing as much as we had been in the early part of the game and then the game descended into a bit of a battle, to be honest.

This result was really important for us, it gives us a little bit of space and that was key. The performance today was probably not the priority, the three points were the priority but as we go on in the bottom half of the table, we need to make sure that after the split, we are playing better football, then it will become more about the performance."

Spartans manager Jack Beesley: "A sore one to take, it was the game we knew it was going to be, both of us had spells we were on top and we were under the cosh, it wasn't anything other than what we expected.

"They had the better first half, and they got a lead, we had the better second half, and we didn't do anything about it.

"The main disappointment is we came up here, got the game we're expecting, which is a really tight, tough game, but it feels like points dropped as opposed to coming up and getting thoroughly beaten undeservedly.

"I thought we deserved to get something for the game, but we've only got ourselves to blame that we didn't."

"Aberdeen scored their chances, we didn't, so we don't deserve anything."

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Queen's Park manager Iain Robinson: "It's an excellent point against a really difficult opponent. We knew coming in that we would need to work very, very hard to get anything from the game, but the girls carried out our game plan.

"We had chances to go and score ourselves, we were a bit unlucky at times defensively, but overall, I thought we played very, very well.

"That could be a big point towards the end of the season, we're going to play Partick Thistle again twice more, so we'll have belief going into those games."

Partick Thistle assistant manager Ross Stormonth: "A tough result, we didn't really create enough in the final third, at the end of the day that sums up the season.

"We created some chances, kind of half chances, but not enough to go and deserve to win the game to be honest. We need to go back to the drawing board about how we're going to create and how we're going to score goals and it's been the story of the season.

"At the end of the day, we've got to try and go unbeaten, we've got to go and try and win every game and try and get as many points on the board as we can and start looking forward again."

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Montrose manager Craig Feroz: "I don't think we played at our best today, but it's always good to get three points against one of your rivals, but I think we could have done slightly better.

"Spartans will be the next one we need to try and catch and it was important to get a win.

"I'm looking forward to the split, it's better than getting beat 10-0 every week, it's games that we can possibly win, this is probably the time of the season we get to enjoy it a bit."

Dundee United manager Suzy Shepherd: "It is a sore one, really disappointing not to take something from the game.

"I felt in the first half that we'd actually done really well and not sure how we didn't score more goals. Had a few cleared off the line and in the second half I think we just kind of went down a level, but the biggest thing is just really set pieces win and lose you a game and for us it's cost us a game, not defending set pieces properly.

"It was nice to see us getting into that final third and creating chances and it's sometimes just that final pass or that decision making. We've had a couple cleared off the line and another day they're going in."

Former player and current assistant manager Joelle Murray talks about her journey from Hibs supporter to club legend.

This segment is taken from the 28 February episode of A View From the Terrace. Watch on BBC Scotland or iPlayer.