Livingston Women’s manager Paul Jaconelli was delighted there was no ring rust during his side's 6-0 Championship South win over Airdrie Ladies, writes Angus McGregor.
The Lionesses weren't in action the previous week but showed no sign of a dip in sharpness with a comfortable win at Volunteer Park in Armadale.
Ashley Fish netted a treble with Sophie Gilchrist coming off the bench to score twice along. Jen Dodds also got her name on the scoresheet with a penalty just before the break.
Jaconelli said: "By not having a game last week, we really had to get back up to pace and I thought we did that from the start. We were right up to pace, the conditions weren’t too great but we adapted to that.
”You have to compete first and then we started to play, you have to earn the right, especially when playing teams away from home and win your individual battles.”
The boss hailed the return of full-back Sharon Hughes-Lee who didn't miss a beat in her first appearance for a month. She wasted little time making an impact, being the provider for the game’s first goal as she delivered an exquisite cross with the outside of her right foot for Fish to head home.
A delighted Jaconelli said: "We told her to get in behind and she showed that she’s a seasoned professional. She’s just back from injury, recently had an operation but is steadily getting herself back into the game.”
The performance of Livingston’s full-backs against Airdrie showcases exactly how Jaconelli wants his side to play, with deep runs being found by his creative midfield players.
He added: "When we play at home, we have such a big park that we’re expecting our midfielders to create. The likes of Rachel Walkingshaw and Shannon Mulligan have the ability to see those passes and it works well for us. But for us to come away on a smaller park, compete and excel at our plan is even better.”
Fish's treble made it eight goals on the season in just five appearances. The striker was taken off shortly after half-time with an injury concern, with Jaconelli hopeful she’ll be able to shake it off before a massive game next weekend.
He said: "She took a bit of a knock at the end but she’s come into the squad and settled in really well. She puts a lot of effort into the game for us and as we have a tough game next week, we’ll need something similar.”
Livingston have a great chance to catch up on league leaders Edinburgh City as they face off at the Tony Macaroni Arena this Sunday.
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