An incredible fighting performance from Motherwell saw them come back from behind twice to win the SWF Youth Cup. Two equalising goals from Amy Boyle clawed them back into the final, before a late strike from Jemma Woods sealed the cup five minutes from the end. Glasgow Girls couldn’t have dreamt for a better start when Olivia King opened the scoring with just 27 minutes on the clock. Glasgow regained the lead via a Millie-Jo Ward strike, but it wasn’t to be for them in the end as Well got their hands on the Youth Cup. 

 

The fans had barely taken their seats and the referee hardly blown his whistle by the time Glasgow opened the scoring inside the first 27 seconds. A clever run from Olivia King saw her shimmy in behind the defence, before side footing an unstoppable effort into the far corner. 

 

Motherwell reacted well to the early set-back, and came close to hitting back minutes later when Amy Boyle drove down the wing and tried to fashion a low ball into the path of Jenna Woods, but a combination of goalkeeper and defence allowed Glasgow to collect the ball. Dickson came close again in the seventh minute with a low free-kick, and with the aid of a deflection it whistled just beyond Nicole Cunningham’s post for a corner.

 

Hannah Sedwell tried to catch out Cunningham on 10 minutes with a high cross/shot which was tipped over for one of many corners for Motherwell, as Glasgow struggled to stem the flow of Well’ attacks. With 20minutes later King came close to doubling her lead as she gained a yard of space and hit a fierce drive, which bounced narrowly wide of the far post.

 

Motherwell deserved grabbed an equaliser in the 27th minute  as Amy Boyle exchanged passes with Woods and burst beyond the defence with a clever touch. Once in on goal, she rifled a shot into the near post, which despite the best efforts of Cunningham, found the back of the net. Glasgow were dealing with a torrid amount of pressure and It proved telling.

 

Well had a few set-pieces towards the end of the half to contend with and did well to clear them all away from trouble, as well as contending with a brief scare when a loose ball bounced in their box, which Ellie McGoldrick ultimately managed to find the target with despite not really troubling the goalkeeper.

Motherwell somehow didn’t take the lead minutes after the restart when a low drive towards Cunningham’s goal was tipped away at the last second, on the rebound Chloe Kirkwood’s effort cracked off the underside of the bar, bounced onto the goalline and drifted away from goal. 

 

The exact same scenario incredibly happened at the other end just a matter of seconds later. Along range effort from King was parried away by Dickson, but only into the path of the onrushing Millie-Jo Ward, who could scarcely believe when her shot cracked off the underside of the bar.

 

Glasgow struck the woodwork once again in the 39th minute when Abbie Cusack attempted an ambitious free-kick effort from 30 yards out, her effort also struck the top of the crossbar and was cleared away, before McGoldrick saw her low effort breeze just off target moments later.

 

After a frustrating few attempts, the finally found the back of the net and regained their lead on 43 minutes when McGoldrick cut inside the saw her effort parried by the goalkeeper, but Ward was alive in the box and rifled the loose ball beyond the reaches of Dickson. Scotland Women’s manager Shelley Kerr, who was In attendance, may have been impressed by her opportunism.

 

They could have had a third if it wasn’t for Dickson’s reactions, as she kept out a long-distance dipping effort from King who aimed for the near post, before the resulting corner was overhit. Boyle then came close to levelling the scores once again when she cleverly turned a Glasgow defender and struck a curling effort, which surely would have found the net if it wasn’t for the fingertips of Cunningham. The back-and-forth motion of this cup final was breathless at this point

 

Boyle came to the rescue for Motherwell ten minutes from the end, as the Glasgow defence cleared the ball into her path on the edge of the box. Her effort didn’t disappoint as she struck a well-controlled powerful effort into the back of the net. This was quickly turning into the Amy Boyle final who, for the second time, dragged her team right back into the match.

 

It could have been a third for Motherwell moments later as Woods turned her marker and found herself into a chase between her and the goalkeeper. The latter came out on top as she deflected Woods’ effort away for a corner. 

 

Woods didn’t have to wait long for another chance though, and this time she made sure it counted. After chasing down a loose ball in the box, she had a sight of goal and didn’t disappoint, converting her strike and giving Well the lead for the first time in this cup final with five minutes remaining. The cup seemed to be within sight.

 

A few minutes later and the cup was theirs. A stunning comeback and fighting display which got the cup final weekend off to a breathless start.