Rosie the baller, tactical headache, learning curve - 3 talking points from Hibs Women's cup final defeat

Hibs Women were unable to add an eighth SWPL Cup to their trophy cabinet when they were defeated 2-0 by Rangers in Sunday’s final at Tynecastle Park. Here are three talking points from the action…

Player of the match

Lizzie Arnot deservedly won the player of the match accolade for the game overall but if there was a player on the Hibs team deserving of similar recognition it was Rosie Livingstone. Despite her tender years, the 17-year-old was one of Hibs’ stand-out players in the first half, before making way for Liana Hinds early in the second period. The academy graduate is exciting to watch, forward-thinking, tenacious in the tackle, and her inviting cross from the right flank shortly before half-time deserved to have someone on the end of it.

A performance like this in such a prominent game will be good for her and on Sunday’s evidence, you wouldn’t be dropping her from the team any time soon. If there is a lingering criticism of this Hibs team then it would be that they don’t always create what they should in the final third. Livingstone, on this showing, can certainly help to turn the dial in the right direction – and if this is how talented she is at 17, one can only imagine how much of a baller she will be in the next 18 months to two years.

Rosie Livingstone of Hibs skips away from the challenge of Rangers' Chelsea Cornet during the Sky Sports Cup final. Picture: Malcolm Mackenzie

Tactical observations

Since leaving Hibs in the summer, Colette Cavanagh hasn’t been able to nail down a regular starting berth for Rangers; perhaps unsurprisingly so, given Malky Thomson’s midfield options. ‘Cav’ was a stand-out for Dean Gibson’s side last season and chipped in with a good few goals from midfield, but her current status as a squad player somewhat underlines the gap in resources between the two teams.

Her departure has also appears to have left Hibs without a viable option on the left. Micky McAlonie has been utilised on the left in recent weeks but looks a lot more effective in the middle while Shannon McGregor and Ellis Notley seem more at home in central positions as well. Eilidh Adams was shifted out to the flank when Hibs changed to a 4231 in the first half but the Scotland under-19 cap is very much an old-fashioned centre-forward than a wide attacker although she plugged away.

Five in midfield may not work against every team but at the moment Hibs would appear to have the players to suit it, and they did look better when they switched to a 3-5-2 in the second half. Parry, Liana Hinds, and Shannon Leishman can all operate as wingbacks while in McAlonie, McGregor, Notley, and Ava Kuyken and Eleni Giannou there are options in the middle of the park.

Learn and go again

Rangers were the better team on the day but Hibs also didn’t play to the best of their abilities – perhaps to be expected with a young team that has taken time to gel, but it will be frustrating for Gibson that the same team capable of beating Glasgow City in a semi-final were unable to lay a glove on their opposition in Gorgie.

There will be plenty for Hibs to learn from a rather chastening day at the office so that the next time they reach a final they are able to give a better account of themselves.