Murray: Red Card Aided Disappointing Result

Head Coach Joelle Murray bemoans the red card that played a significant role in Hibs Women's narrow 2-1 defeat against Rangers on Sunday evening.

The team were stunned by Kirsten Reilly's dismissal on 29 minutes at Broadwood Stadium after the midfielder fought for a loose ball in the middle of the pitch with Rangers forward Laura Berry, and were hampered by the loss of the experiened midfielder.

The home team quickly raced into a two-goal lead by half-time despite the best efforts of the Hibees, who fought hard to keep the scoreline tight before clawing back a goal inside second half stoppage-time through Kathleen McGovern.

"It's a really disappointing defeat. There was definitely nothing in the game up until the decision, a contentious one at that," Murray told Hibs TV. "I think thereafter though, we can't fault the girls' work ethic, their receptiveness to personnel changes, and to formational changes.

"We were tweaking things as the game was progressing to try and get something, but ultimately in the end, we just couldn't get the second. 

"We've watched [the red card decision] back. We had a stream on the bench, we've watched it back. We'll probably need to see it back again. But for me, I don't think it's a red card. But yeah, it changes the game. It's a difficult one, but it definitely changes the game at that point, but I'll need to see it back."

"Formationally, up until that point, I thought we were solid," Murray added. "We weren't giving much away and we were also getting entries into the final third. But you then go a player down and it becomes really difficult. The work rate goes up. It just changes the dynamics of everything."

A positive note from a frustrating evening in Cumbernauld was seeing Jess Ramsay handed her first-ever league start in senior football.

The 16-year-old midfielder started our UEFA Champions League win over Apollon back in August, and had made six appearances total before the match at Broadwood.

With injuries mounting, Murray states she had zero hesitations in starting the youngster, who impressed across her 62-minute performance. 

"Jess Ramsey's been given an opportunity today and I think she's a player that will definitely be one for the future. But we've got great trust and belief in her and that's why we started her in the 10 today.

"We've got a few injuries, a few players coming back from injury and it's trying to manage that as best possible when there's players on restricted minutes.

"She's come in and she can go away today and be proud of her performance because she shows it week in, week out at training that she's capable of playing on this stage. This will be the first of many minutes for her."