Hibs Ladies show their never-say-die attitude

Joelle Murray, left, bagged the winner for Hibs in stoppage time. Pic: Ian Georgeson

The Hibees came within seconds of losing ground in the SWPL 1 championship race until Murray intervened with the last kick of the game at K-Park to hand the Capital side a 2-1 victory.

City kept up their end of the bargain with a thumping 8-0 win over Forfar at Airdrie’s Excelsior Stadium.

It’s not the first time Hibs have left it late this season, having snatched a sensational last-gasp winner to overcome City in June’s League Cup final at Ainslie Park and Roberts believes this strength in character bodes well for the remainder of the campaign.

“We’ve got such a winning mentality since I’ve been here. We expect to win games and that’s the mindset we have,” Roberts said. “I think that really helps going into the latter stages games as we’re not thinking about holding onto a draw. It’s really positive.

“The mid-season break was needed in one way but, at the same time, it wasn’t ideal as we had built up quite a bit of momentum. We weren’t firing on all cylinders on Sunday, but I think our fitness levels really pulled us through in the second half. Although Joelle is a defender, her composure resembles that of a centre forward as she finished the chance so well.

“It would have been two points dropped against Celtic so that goal could potentially be so important. We’ve still got to play City twice, but we just have to keep going. We know if we win all our league games then we will win the league.”

Elsewhere, Spartans Women were held to a 2-2 draw at Stirling University, with Katie Reilly and Alana Marshall on target for Suzy Shepherd’s side.

In SWPL 2, Gemma Mason’s last-minute penalty gave Hearts a 1-0 victory over Hamilton at Riccarton, whilst Hutchison Vale were 11-1 winners over bottom club Queens Park.