Boroughmuir Thistle sub's fitness issues revealed after she comes on to score five

Eight second-half goals from Boroughmuir ensured they avoided a potential banana skin game in the Scottish Cup to progress to the next round at the expense of Edinburgh Caledonia.

Five goals from Mhairi Smith paired alongside braces from Hannah Davie and Sydney Hinchcliffe as well as goals from Molly Orr-Love and Elidih Begg resulted in an emphatic 11-1 victory for the hosts as they overcame rivals Edinburgh Caledonia. 2023 could not have started better for Suzy Shepherd’s team as they were ruthless against the League One side.

“Delighted to be able to make sure our name was in the hat for the next round”, Shepherd told the Edinburgh Evening News. “There were some really good individual performances, it was a really good team performance, with some good goals. It could have been more. A bit disappointing to lose a goal at the end but overall delighted. The game will have done the team the world of good and confidence will be sky high after that.”

Davie gave Boroughmuir the lead 10 minutes in tapping in the rebound after her initial effort was saved. Hinchcliffe scored the second after a long ball was played straight to her over the visitors defence which enabled her to bury the ball into the net. A third was added in the 37th minute as the ball was put on a plate for Hinchcliffe to tap home.

Victory ends a five game winless run for Suzy Shepherd's side. Credit: Jack Dawson.

The second half started in the best possible way for Boroughmuir as Davie’s effort looped over the keeper and into the net. Three minutes later Smith would get the fifth. Running through she took it past the keeper and smashed the ball in. Smith would get her second two minutes later picking her spot well on the break to make it six. Boroughmuir made it seven as Smith tapped home for her hattrick. Moments later Smith got her fourth when she turned well in the box to squeeze the ball into the net.

Orr-Love made it 9-0 after Smith’s initial shot hit the bar, but the ball fell conveniently for the striker to extend the lead. Jane Macrae got one back for Edinburgh Caledonia with a tidy finish 75 minutes in. Begg made it 10-1 with a cool finish. Smith rounded up the game with her fifth goal with a well-taken finish to end the game at 11-1 and put Boroughmuir through.

Shepherd was happy to see Smith put in an impressive performance after returning from injury. “Smith struggled with injury in the first half of the season”, she stated. “She dislocated her shoulder and had a few problems there but you can see she can make the difference. She’s come on and scored five great goals and could have maybe had another couple but hopefully that is her back and we can keep her fit.”

The draw for the fifth round of the cup will take place tomorrow at 6pm. Boroughmuir will be joined by fellow Edinburgh sides Hearts and Hibs, who were also victorious in their game this weekend.