Harrison shines but Glasgow are too strong in cup final

Spartans’ wait for a first trophy goes on after they were hit for five by high-flying Glasgow City in the Scottish Women’s Premier League Cup final at Recreation Park, Alloa, last night.

City’s dominance of the women’s game in Scotland shows no signs of ending as they cruised to a 5-1 victory against the Edinburgh girls.

There was little for the Spartans faithful to cheer as the team felt the pain of a third successive League Cup final defeat but one positive was the performance of Rachel Harrison.

The young goalkeeper produced a heroic performance and repelled a rampant City side time and again with a string of super saves, however even she was powerless to prevent the seemingly inevitable.

Goals from Jane Ross, Emma Mitchell, Danica Dalziel and a double from Leanne Ross clinched the first piece of silverware this season for the champions, while the goal of the evening came from Spartans’ Lana Clelland, but proved to be little more than a consolation.

“It’s very disappointing,” said Clelland. “Glasgow are a very good team because they are so strong in every department.

“I think we showed that we are a better team than we appeared when we played them in the league recently.

“I would say that the best is yet to come from us because we have a strong, but young, squad just now and we will only get better through time.

“We will keep working hard to try and close the gap on City and we must learn from experiences like last night.

“It’s about what we do going forward that counts.”

Spartans: Harrison, Crosbie, Mason (McLaughlin 67), Fitzpatrick, Barry, McKean, Beveridge, Clelland, Young (Pagliarulo 58), Ewens (Magilton 61), Farquhar. Substitutes not used: Hutcheson, Sturrock, Moultray, Hakkinen.

Glasgow City: Johnstone, Mitchell (Melrose 72), McSorley, Love (Barnes 72), Crichton, Ross, Corsie, Docherty, Ross, Evans (Lindner 72), Dalziel. Substitutes not used: McDonald, Murray.

Referee: Lorraine Clark.