Hamilton Accies Women seal promotion - to relief of boss Gary Doctor

By Ben McNicol

Hamilton Accies Women boss Gary Doctor admits he feels relieved to see the club's hard work pay off with promotion.

Accies secured their return to the top-flight of Scottish women’s football with an emphatic 3-0 win over Kilmarnock at New Douglas Park on Sunday.

Josephine Giard netted her 11th and 12th goals of the season either side of half time before Georgie McTear’s howitzer midway through the second half ensured Doctor’s side finished in second place behind champions Aberdeen.

The result sparked fantastic celebrations following the full-time whistle, as the players headed to the stands to celebrate with their families, friends, and the fans.

Gary Doctor says Accies have been striving to get back to SWPL1 since they were relegated in 2018 (Ian Steele Photography)

Doctor said: “We are all feeling an enormous sense of relief after getting over the line as there were a lot of nerves. It’s absolutely brilliant.

“I think we deserved to win the game and 3-0 was a fair result in the end.

"There were understandably a lot of nerves in the team and Josie’s early goal helped settle team a bit.

"Her second goal was even better and it ultimately killed the game and we are all rightly proud of the players efforts.

“It was fantastic to have the fans back inside the stadium. We always get brilliant support from family and friends and I see a lot of familiar faces in the stands.

"It’s been a huge squad effort all season and you could see how much it meant to everyone."

Giard’s contribution to Hamilton this season has been second to none and her tremendous performances, countless assists and 12 goals have seen her nominated for the SWPL 2 player of the year award.

The German arguably left her best performance of the season until when it really mattered and her two goals played a massive role in Sunday’s success.

She gave her side a perfect start with an angled shot under Lauren McGregor before slotting home her second of the afternoon after an outstanding pass from goalkeeper Sarah Rhind.

Giard said: “I’m really happy, I think we really deserved that win to get us over the line and seal promotion.

"Despite scoring early on in the game, I don’t think we were at our best but we got the goal in the second half and that helped massively.

“I gave it my all and so did the whole team."

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