Partick Thistle WFC v Hibernian WFC – 18th February 2024

Partick Thistle returned to Petershill a week after the historic point gained from the league leaders to take on Hibernian as they looked to maintain their perfect start to the year.

The visitors have had a good season so far, sat one point above the Jags in 4th and looking to recover from the 3-1 loss to Celtic in their last outing. Previous fixtures between the pair have been successful for Thistle, with the brace from Sinclair awarding the three points in the league before that historic match a month ago where the strikes from Taylor and Slater gifted Thistle a place in the Sky Sports Cup final.

For this top six clash, Brian Graham had almost an entire squad at his selection as Ferguson returned after being illegible against Rangers, as was keeper Cunnigham but she remained out of contention through being recalled to her parent club on an emergency seven-day loan. A win for either side would prove pivotal as the SWPL1 season worked towards the split, so Thistle had to maintain their strong performances seen in their unbeaten year to get the points in their favour.

Partick Thistle’s defensive work was assessed early into the tie as Hibs burst down the park, the ball eventually pushed from danger by Docherty who returned the second clearance from the box moments later. The visitors kept the attacking threat as their angled shot from the box was forced away by Easdon before the switch play ball rolled out of play.

The opening goal for the visitors fell at an unfortunate own goal on the 26 th minute. From a heavy period of pressure, the deflected pass made its way back to a Hibernian jersey outside the box before the cross was sent back towards the back post. Reached first by Falconer who tried to shield play from the visitors and force the ball away from danger, it was knocked into the back of the net and subsequently put the Jags behind as Hibs wheeled away in celebration.

With the match progressing towards half time, Thistle had a few instances where they worked their way past the Hibernian backline and had got into attacking areas but were stopped by intercepted passes. Despite their efforts, they headed to the dressing rooms a goal down in a match that tested their defences from early but allowed them to grow into the game as it progressed, with the next 45 minutes holding a big significance for the league standings.

The second half started bright for the Jags who introduced both Donaldson and McAllister to play. The cross was played in the direction of Donaldson in front of goal, but the midfielder’s header didn’t have the power to beat the keeper from close range. Thistle’s number 12 posed her next effort at goal moments later as a neat passage of play saw the ball reach her just outside of the box, but the shot glanced over the crossbar.

Adding to their already grown attacking presence, Thistle kept on the front foot, making use of the space created down either wing as they frequently got into enticing areas and forced the turn of play when it had gone against them. The visitors had an ambitious looped shot from range punched away by Easdon before Thistle resumed their press.

The goal came for the Jags 7 minutes from the full time whistle in a well worked team move where having won possession, play was worked down into the path of Henderson whose looped pass landed to Donaldson who collected in on the bounce before sending it well over the head of the keeper and into the back of the net for the equaliser.

Despite a series of late set pieces for the visitors, Partick Thistle maintained their unbeaten start to the year against their nearest league competitors and so sit 6th in the SWPL table as league action pauses for a round of international fixtures. Their next match comes away from home against league challenges Celtic on the 3rd of March, kick off 2pm.