Bishopton Ladies put in a “superb all-round performance” to smash Bayside and lift the SWFL League Cup trophy in style.
Bishopton and Bayside started Sunday’s much-anticipated final at Livingston’s Tony Macaroni Stadium in a style fitting of two teams sitting top of their respective divisions, with both playing some eye-catching football early on.
The Fifers Ellie Eboji tested Bishopton goalkeeper Kylie Sims’ reflexes, with the impressive keeper plucking the striker’s fierce drive out of the air with consummate ease.
It was Bishopton who opened the scoring after just six minutes when Julie Melrose played the ball into the onrushing Jenny McMahon on the edge of the box.
The midfielder expertly hammered the ball into the left corner to put Bishopton in front.
Eboji again was causing the Renfrewshire side problems when she broke through the defence, only to drag her shot narrowly wide.
Bishopton produced a goal of sublime quality to double their lead.
Several one-two’s and some neat interplay led to a superb backheel from Caitlin Greaves finding strike partner Laura Inglis on the edge of the box.
She curled emphatically into the far corner to put Bishy two ahead just on the stroke of half-time.
After the break Bishopton looked to have settled their nerves and started to produce more of their trademark free-flowing football.
A quick corner routine saw Melrose pick out Bishopton skipper Colleen Donnelly, who had ghosted into the box unnoticed.
Her clinical back post header gave the Villagers a healthy three-goal advantage.
The Renfrewshire side weren’t finished yet though.
Substitute Danielle Mullen nicked in to rob Bayside’s left back and calmly slotted past the keeper with 15 minutes left on the clock to put the gloss on an already impressive scoreline.
Delighted Bishopton co-manager and club chairman George Morrison told the Anyone’s Game podcast: “It was a thoroughly enjoyable 90 minutes.
“We’ve been playing great football all season but Bayside were a very tough opponent. It took us a long time to settle into the game.
“Some games we’ve been dominating from the outset and winning comfortably but this was a step up. We did well to overcome them in the end.
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“It was a superb all-round performance. Every single player played to their potential and every one of them was a star.
“We used three subs and every single one of them made an impact, with one of them scoring.
“Our keeper Kylie was absolutely first class as well. She made some tremendous stops during the game.
“It was a real team performance and they did us proud.”
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