Sunday, 8th August 2021
Scottish Women’s Premier League Cup (Group A)
Rangers 8 (Sam Kerr 5’, 35’; Rachel McLauchlan 10’; Jane Ross 17’, 36’, 69’; Lizzie Arnot 38’; Brogan Hay 59’)
Queen’s Park 0
With Rangers being a fully professional outfit boasting several SWNT stars, it was always going to be a difficult game for the Spiders, who were playing only their second game under their new Head Coach, Barry Rodgers, following a shorter-than-usual pre-season campaign. Lauren Ray, Hannah Fulton, Frances Hopgood and Samantha Davies, who were all part of the Queen’s Park side that faced Rangers in February 2020, were named to the starting lineup, as was midfielder Lauren Kerr, who made her long-awaited return after missing the second part of the 2020/21 season due to injury.
Despite a good start from the visitors, Rangers soon began to find their rhythm and were able to take the lead after just five minutes, when midfielder Sam Kerr tapped home following a cross from Rachel McLauchlan. McLauchlan herself got on the scoresheet a few minutes later, finding the back of the net from close range after being played in by Jane Ross. The home side continued to press forward and, just before the twenty minute mark, Ross made it 3–0 with a low strike that went past Queen’s Park goalkeeper Rachael Caddell and into the net.
Rangers had a few more opportunities to extend their lead in the opening 30 minutes of the match, but the likes of Rachel McLauchlan, Jane Ross, Chantelle Swaby and Chelsea Cornet could not convert their chances. The hosts then scored three goals in three minutes just before half-time, with Sam Kerr, Jane Ross and Lizzie Arnot all finding the back of the net in quick succession. Malky Thomson made an early substitution, with Zoe Ness replacing McLauchlan in the 40th minute, and the hosts went into the break with a comfortable six-goal lead.
HALF TIME: Rangers 6 Queen’s Park 0
Rangers made three more changes at the break, with Megan Cunningham, Tessel Middag and Kayla McCoy replacing Jenna Fife, Kirsten Reilly and Lizzie Arnot respectively.
The home side continued to dominate and create chances, and eventually Brogan Hay made it 7–0 with a powerful strike on the hour mark. Malky Thomson made another substitution as Northern Ireland international Demi Vance came on the pitch for Nicola Docherty, while Louisa Boyes replaced Frances Hopgood a few minutes later. The last goal of the match came in the 69th minute, when Ross completed her hat-trick following a cross from Middag.
FULL TIME: Rangers 8 Queen’s Park 0
Queen’s Park are back in action on Sunday, 15th August against Aberdeen in the SWPL Cup.
QUEEN’S PARK STARTING XI: Rachael Caddell, Samantha Davies, Holly McIndoe, Lauren Ray, Hannah Fulton, Lauren Kerr, Abbie McDonald, Frances Hopgood (Louisa Boyes, 63’), Demi Potts, Ho Wan Tung, Emily Shearer | SUBSTITUTES: Mhairi Fyfe, Truly Pollard, Christine MacKinnon.
RANGERS STARTING XI: Jenna Fife (Megan Cunningham, 46’), Nicola Docherty (Demi Vance, 59’), Brogan Hay, Kirsten Reilly (Tessel Middag, 46’), Rachel McLauchlan (Zoe Ness, 40’), Jane Ross, Lizzie Arnot (Kayla McCoy, 46’), Chelsea Cornet, Sam Kerr, Brianna Westrup, Chantelle Swaby.