Hearts boss focuses on the positives after Scottish Cup semi-final heartache against Celtic

Eva Olid insists this is just the beginning for Hearts Women after her side were defeated 2-0 by Celtic in the Scottish Cup semi-finals.

The heavy pre-match favourites dominated the game from the first whistle to the last but found it difficult to break down a terrific performance from the Hearts defence and goalkeeper Charlotte Parker-Smith, who was awarded the player of the match for her efforts.

It took until the second half of extra-time for Charlie Wellings to finally get the breakthrough. The striker then added a second two minutes later to seal victory.

It means Hearts have missed out on the chance to compete for the Biffa Scottish Women’s Cup trophy at their own stadium as Tynecastle will host their year’s final on May 29. However, Olid is content to focus on the positives, believing this game was another example of the team’s improvement over the Spaniard’s first year in charge.

Hearts player at the end of the 90 minutes after a stubborn defensive effort took Celtic into extra time

"I’m feeling a bit sad because when you get to the 107th minute and it’s still 0-0, you really believe you can make it to the final,” she said.

"When the game started you’re thinking ‘woah, they’ve got some very good players’ but as time was passing we kept believing we’d get the opportunities. You always have to believe until the final whistle.

"It’s sad we won’t be playing in the final at Tynecastle, but this is still a team that last season only won two matches and this season we made it all the way to the Scottish Cup semi-finals. To compete with Celtic for over 100 minutes, it’s a big step for us.

"This is just the beginning. We will keep growing, learning and continue to make it hard for the big teams whenever they face us, because we’re going to give everything.”

Eva Olid watched her Hearts team lose the Scottish Cup semi-final to Fran Alonso's Celtic. Picture: SNS

Jodie Bartle dominated the game in the opening 10 minutes as she constantly threatened down the right and made two great chances: Jacynta blasted over while Chloe Craig struck the crossbar. Curiously, Celtic swapped over their wing-backs shortly thereafter and Bartle dropped out of the game.

A recurring pattern soon emerged: Wellings would get a great chance but be denied by Parker-Smith. The keeper frustrated the English striker twice at her front post during the first half, then shot off her line to narrow the angle and deny Wellings shortly into the second period.

Craig missed another golden opportunity as she hit a side-foot finish wide from close range, before Parker-Smith made her most impressive stop of the day to deny Wellings once more following a terrific through ball by Olivia Chance.

The striker missed the target in the 88th minute when presented with another great opportunity, while Shen Mengyu struck the outside of the post in extra-time.

Hearts managed a couple of shots on target – one after an impressive run from substitute Amelie Birse – but it was clear they needed to hold out for penalties in order to advance.

That hope was dashed when Shen was allowed too much space on the right and Wellings was able to hit an unconventional attempt which agonisingly dribbled into the far corner. There was no doubting the quality of her second finish, though, as she lashed it beyond Parker-Smith from inside the penalty box.

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