SWPL
Sunday, December 22, 2024
Ainslie Park

SPARTANS…0

CELTIC…5
(Lawton 17, 88, Noonan 28, 82, Clark 37)

Celtic FC Women rounded off 2024 with a five-star performance in the capital as the Ghirls ran out 5-0 winners against Spartans.

Having raced into a three-goal, first-half lead, Emma Lawton and Saoirse Noonan both grabbed braces, adding to Kelly Clark’s headed effort.

After bringing their European journey to a close in midweek, the Hoops were quickly back in action on Sunday afternoon aiming to round the year off on a high before the winter break.

Early openings fell the way of Shannon McGregor and Saoirse Noonan, who were both unfortunate to see shots blocked inside the penalty area.

However, it didn’t take long for the Ghirls to open the scoring as Emma Lawton netted the all-important opening goal.

A thundering effort from range by Lucy Ashworth-Clifford struck the crossbar, but Lawton reacted first to head the ball home.

That opening goal was soon followed by the first of two of the afternoon for Saoirse Noonan, who produced a lovely finish to double the advantage.

Following some terrific work on the right-hand side by Mathilde Carstens, the striker reversed her finish into the far corner to make it 2-0.

It was a dominant first half display from the Ghirls, who were putting pressure on the Spartans goal in the opening 45 minutes, and just before the break, Kelly Clark got in on the act with her second goal of the campaign.

Another superb delivery by Ashworth-Clifford from a corner was headed home the skipper, giving the Hoops a 3-0 lead at the break.

Heading into the second half the Celtic pressure continued, with another Ashworth-Clifford corner causing all sorts of trouble for the Spartans backline, with Colette Cavanagh unfortunate not to find the net.

Despite all that pressure, the Celts still had to stay focused at the break, and the returning Chloe Logan did well to deny the home side a way back into the game with a terrific one-on-one save.

With the game coming to a close, both Saoirse Noonan and Emma Lawton added to their tallies for the afternoon in the final 10 minutes.

The Irish forward stroked home her 20th goal in all competitions for the season before Lawton once again reacted quickest to a shot inside the area just moments later to seal an impressive 5-0 win.

It was the ideal way for Elena Sadiku’s squad to round off what has been another historic year, with a five-star performance in the capital.

Entering the winter break, the new few weeks offers the Ghirls a chance to rest and recover before returning in January ahead of getting back to domestic duties in the league and cup.

CELTIC: Logan, Lawton, Bruna (Richardson 85), Clark, Ashworth-Clifford (McAneny 61), Ross, Cavanagh (Gallacher 61), McGregor, M. Carstens (Cross 74), Kerner (Smith 74), Noonan.
Subs: Rodgers, Barclais, Hayes, Luana

Five-star Celts sink Spartans in final game of 2024