Rangers 2 Hibs Women 1

We fought valiantly but were narrowly defeated in North Lanarkshire by Rangers in our first ScottishPower Women's Premier League match of 2026. 

Following an early dismissal for Kirsten Reilly, Hibs would concede from Katie Wilkinson and May Cruft late in the first half. While Kathleen McGovern pulled one back in stoppage time, it unfortunately wasn’t enough to bring the team back into the game.

Joelle Murray made two changes to the starting team from last weekend’s match in the Scottish Cup. 16-year-old Jess Ramsay was brought into the line-up for her first-ever league start while Jess Fitzgerald also slotted into midfield; with the pair replacing Ciara Grant and Tiree Burchill. 

After a quiet opening quarter, Rosie Livingstone presented Tegan Bowie with an opportunity on the left-hand side. The midfielder shot from 15 yards out, but the chance fell into Jenna Fife’s gloves.

Rangers almost broke the deadlock in the 28th minute after Katie Wilkinson delivered a dangerous cross to Mia McAuley, but her headed effort hit the post.

We took a significant blow in the 29th minute after being reduced to 10 due to a high challenge from Kirsten Reilly, which brought down Rangers forward Laura Berry, and earned the midfielder a straight red card. 

Berry played a strong pass to connect with McAuley on the outside of the box, but Lauren Doran-Barr expertly blocked the attacker's strike.

However, just moments later, the defence was unable to block Wilkinson’s powerful shot as she opened the scoring in the 40th minute.

In added-on time for the first half, Rangers doubled their lead after May Cruft fired low into the bottom-left corner.

As the second half got underway, Noa Schumacher made a pivotal save as McAuley looked to add her name to the scoresheet - but our keeper caught the Rangers winger's effort.

Berry threatened to net a third Rangers goal in the 70th minute, after the hosts cleanly pressed the ball up the field. Berry and her teammate, Quinty Sabajo, both worked together to fight their way up the right side, where the former took an ambitious shot only to see her effort fly wide.

After being wounded down to 10 women on the pitch, Hibernian kept the pressure up in hopes for redemption.

The perseverance started to pay off in stoppage time as substitute McGovern - making her first appearance in over two months - pulled one back, catching Fife off guard from 20 yards out with a near-post effort.

It was too late for Hibs to mount a memorable comeback, however, with the referee blowing for full-time moments after the restart.