Hibs bounce back to close gap on Hearts, Spartans fall further into trouble as Rangers lose unbeaten record - SWPL round-up

Hibs closed the gap on fourth placed Hearts in the Scottish Women's Premier League (SWPL) with a big win over Partick Thistle.

A huge 2-0 victory for Hibs over sixth place Partick Thistle saw the race for fourth place reignited as Grant Scott's side moved level on points with Capital rivals Hearts in the first game of the SWPL split.

With the leaves now into the split, Hibs welcomed Partick Thistle to Meadowbank looking to extend their one point lead over them and edge closer to their Gorgie rivals who sat three points ahead of them in fourth at the start of the afternoon.

Goals in either half from Lauren Doran-Barr (16) and Poppy Lawson (68) saw the Hibees pick up a comfortable win as Thistle boss Graham was given his marching orders on the touchline for two bookings just before Hibs' clinching second goal.

"We wanted to come and get the three points and bounce back from last week," explained goalscorer Doran-Barr. "During the game we were a little disappointed with the intensity in our play in the first half. We've come out second half and got the job done. We reflect and regrouped after the second round of fixtures. We've set new targets going into the split, take as many points as we can and see where we can end up" added the defender,

On the other side of the city, Eva Olid's Hearts were downed 2-0 by champions Glasgow City as their four game unbeaten run came to a halt at the Oriam. An early goal by Scotland international Fiona Brown gave the visitors a dream start before Irish international Emily Whelan smashed home a second just before the break to secure a comfortable win for the reigning champions.

Staying in the Capital, Spartans relegation fears deepened in Aberdeen as a 2-0 loss to the Dons ensured a second league defeat in row would leave them languishing just three points from the bottom of the table ahead of a two week break in the SWPL.

In the biggest game of the week, two goals from on-loan Liverpool striker Natasha Flint handed Celtic a massive 2-1 win over Old Firm rivals Rangers at the Excelsior Stadium. Jane Ross would pull a late goal back for Jo Potter's Gers side but it wasn't enough to stop them slipping from their first league defeat of the campaign and losing their firm grip on first place.

The Hoops first victory over Rangers this season sees both themselves and Glasgow City move within a point of the Light Blues as the SWPL draws towards yet another thrilling conclusion.

Elsewhere, Montrose would ease their relegation fears with a huge win over Dundee United that see would see them move six points clear of the drop as The Terrors remain joint bottom of the SWPL and without a win in 12 league games. Hamilton also suffered a huge blow to their survival hopes as they were blown away 4-0 by rivals Motherwell at home to leave them bottom of the league on goal difference.