Edinburgh Uni Thistle show poise and composure to clinch cup

Edinburgh University Thistle showed great composure and serenity to score six goals on the way to lifting the ScottishPower Regional League Cup with a 6-1 final victory over Cumbernauld Colts at the Indodrill stadium.

Bella Pighini produced a clinical finish to open the scoring, as the bigger and stronger University side looked to impose themselves on the game in the early stages.

There was plenty from industry by the frustrated-looking Colts, and what looked a certain handball by Edinburgh Uni Thistle after fifteen minutes was missed by the referee as Lucy Foye battled her way into the box.

But Pighini was gifted a second on 18 minutes as Colts keeper Rowan Gallagher mishandled a shot and the ball crossed the line.

The pressure ramped up further when on 24 minutes Leah Burns in the Colts defence clipped Abigail Varghese on her way into the box and Gwyn Redemann converted the resultant spot kick well.

At 3-0 down and urged on by their experienced players, the Colts midfield stepped up to close down their opponents early and this gave them some more time on the ball. Foye started to enjoy more service and there were more opportunities from set pieces, Shannon Morgan floating in a free kick which evaded her own attackers.

But just when Colts had started to claim a bit of momentum, Pighini broke down the right and sent in a cross which Burns turned into her own net for Edinburgh’s fourth, and the heads were down as the players went in for half time.

The Colts squad may have had a rocket at halftime, but Edinburgh started the second half as they ended the first, the speedy Abigail Varghese lifting a tidy finish over Gallacher’s head for a fifth in the opening stages of the half.

Varghese was denied a second when she latched onto a cross and Gallacher did brilliantly to palm it away at full stretch. But Colts would pull one back on 58 minutes, when sub Olivia Prestwell pounced onto a loose clearance to score a magnificent strike from the edge of the box.

Colts mobilised again, and Erin Wilson delivered a good free kick into the Edinburgh box on 63 minutes, but Imogen Sinclair in the Thistle defence rose well to diffuse the threat. Prestwell’s goal would prove to be no more than a consolation then, and as Colts fought hard to mount a comeback the university side could exploit gaps on the break, with Varghese moved into a more central position to maximise the threat from her pace.  With ten minutes to go, Katherine Shaw unleashed an unstoppable shot from 25 yards out to grab Thistle’s sixth.

Speaking on the SWF livestream after the match, Player of the Match Varghese said: “It just felt incredible, all of us playing as a team, energetically… it was such a team effort today.”