Far from peazy: Donaldson screamer gives Partick the points in gruelling win- Partick Thistle Women 1-0 Motherwell Women
The Jags secured all three points after a tiring 90 minutes against Motherwell a wet and windy SWPL clash at Petershill Park.
Motherwell started off the game with an array of attacks on the Thistle goal forcing ‘keeper, Megan Cunningham to bail the home side out with a resilient show of strength to keep the score-line even.
The visitors eventually hit the target after a free-kick was forced in through Kaela McDonald-Nguah, however, it was called for offside.
The hosts also got themselves some big chances in the first half as Abbie Ferguson found herself in a one-on-one after a defensive mistake by Motherwell.
Ferguson dragged the ball around Emily Mucth, leaving her with an empty net, but she blazed the ball wide leaving both teams to go into the break at a stalemate.
Partick and Motherwell battle the elements (Image: Sam Scouller)
Partick would eventually open the scoring through a sterling finish from their number 12, Rachel Donaldson.
Donaldson received a perfect ball across the park from Clare Adams before curling the ball sumptuously into the top right corner.
Motherwell were far from done though as they continued to battle in the tough conditions all the way to the final whistle.
Cunningham once again remained resilient in the hosts’ net as she held on for the clean sheet despite Motherwell’s constant pressure in the final 10 minutes.
Thistle coach, Brian Graham reflected on the match saying:
“I felt in the first half, Motherwell had the wind and I was happy to get into half time at 0-0 to be honest.
"Things went our way in the second half though and we went and utilised that.”
Commenting on Rachel Donaldson’s impressive goal, Graham said:
“It wasn’t a surprise to me; Donaldson has that talent in abundance and we’re lucky to have her.
“I just want more from her and to see her get her confidence levels up because the talent is there.”
Donaldson herself reflected on her winning goal saying:
“It felt amazing, I was waiting a while and I wasn’t sure if it was going in or not but the celebrations felt unbelievable.
“Believe it or not, I’ve actually scored a couple quite similar to that in training.
“It just felt good to finally get one in the game, I’ve been looking for it for a while.”
She reflected on the team’s performance as a whole saying:
“We were quite disappointed with our start to this season but there’s nothing more dangerous than a team that’s out to prove itself.
“We’ve been building every week and I think there’s definitely a lot more to come from this team and a lot more to come from myself too.”