Latest news with #KirstyHowat
BBC News
4 days ago
- Sport
- BBC News
Rangers trounce Boro as Dons and United draw
Rangers thrashed Middlesbrough 6-0 as they get ready for the new SWPL Howat bagged a hat-trick, with Katie Wilkinson also Bandura and Laura Berry also struck for Rangers who were managed this afternoon by assistant Craig McPherson, as they continue the hunt for a new Aberdeen drew 1-1 with Dundee Beattie opened the scoring for the Dons in the second half before Alix Moodie levelled.
Edinburgh Reporter
6 days ago
- Sport
- Edinburgh Reporter
John Hughes and Kirsty Howat make Scottish Gas Scottish Cup Preliminary Round Draws
Former Hibs captain and manager John Hughes has made the Scottish Gas Scottish Cup Preliminary Round Draws along with Kirsty Howat . The draws for the Preliminary Rounds of the Scottish Gas Scottish Cup took place on Wednesday evening at the National Stadium. Hughes tasted success in this competition a decade ago, when his Inverness Caledonian Thistle side defeated Falkirk in the 2015 Scottish Cup Final. Howat, meanwhile, has lifted the trophy on three occasions – with Glasgow City in 2019 and with her current side Rangers, in both 2024 and 2025. The pair joined host Gordon Duncan for a mammoth double draw as the First and Second Preliminary Rounds were decided for both the men's and women's competitions. The full results of the draw are listed at the bottom of this page. The Preliminary Rounds in the men's competition will be played on the weekend of Saturday, 9 August and the weekend of Saturday, 30 August. The Preliminary Rounds in the women's competition will be played on the weekend of Sunday, 17 August and weekend of Sunday, 7 September 2025. Following the draw, John Hughes reflected on his memories of the Scottish Cup, both from his playing and coaching career. He said: 'As a player, one stand-out memory was when Falkirk beat Hearts 4-0 at Brockville, with Colin Samuel scoring a hat-trick. It was a great game because Hearts were flying under Craig Levein, and with me being from the other side of Edinburgh, it was fantastic to get that result. 'At Hibs, it was disappointing with the club's history not to win the Scottish Cup. I remember we got to the Semi-Final when Alex McLeish was manager but Aberdeen beat us and that was a disappointment. 'Then as a manager, getting to the Scottish Cup Final with Falkirk in 2009 was amazing, and beating our rivals in Dunfermline in the semis. We got to the final and lost to Rangers through a wondergoal from Nacho Novo. I thought we were the better football team that day, our tactics were spot on and we hit the post but Walter Smith and Alex McCoist knew how to get over the line. I was so proud to have six academy players in that team as well.' After coming close in 2009, Hughes' crowning moment in the competition would come six years later, when he lifted the Scottish Cup with Inverness. He added: 'I remember in the Semi-Final against Celtic we had nothing to lose. We'd already beaten Celtic that season and we were a really good football team. 'Lady luck went our way that day as Josh Meekings should have been sent off for the handball, and then they were down to 10-men. But the goal was everything we worked on – one full-back Graeme Shinnie crossing it and David Raven, the other full-back, getting the winner. 'Then in the final against Falkirk we were favourites which was different but it was just about embracing the day and making history. James Vincent had to come on at right back – where he didn't usually play – because Raven was injured, then came on and scored the winner. 'I remember the celebrations the following day, going in with all the families and going on the open-top bus. You could just see what it meant to everyone. We then kept the trophy for the whole season at the reception at the stadium in Inverness and it was an amazing thing for the community. 'I can't believe it's ten years now. You sometimes you come across the photos on your phone and the memories are amazing.' The former Falkirk, Hibernian and Ross County manager has been out of work since leaving Dunfermline three years ago, but he insisted he's ready to step back into management if the opportunity arises. 'I felt out of love with football for a bit after leaving Dunfermline, if I'm being honest', he said. 'I had to take a break and I've enjoyed the ambassadorial things I've done with Hibs and the media work and spending time with the family. There's a lot of sacrifice when you're a football manager and so it's been nice to spend time with my children and even grandchildren now. 'But football never leaves you. The batteries are really recharged and I'm ready to go. I don't lose sleep over it but I still feel my CV is good so we'll see what happens.' Kirsty Howat has been fortunate enough to lift the trophy on three occasions, with the stand-out memory being her recent two-goal appearance in the final in May, when Rangers defeated Glasgow City 3-0. Looking back on her Scottish Cup memories, she said: 'This season we'd obviously had a bad result a week before in losing the league to Hibs on the last day, so we had a point to prove and it felt like a dominant performance which we probably didn't expect. 'Great memories and it was an amazing overall performance. If we'd finished our whole season on the league disappointment then it would've been tough so having the cup final the week after was definitely a good thing for us to put it right. That defeat on the final day gave us all the motivation we needed to go and do it on the day. 'It's definitely up there with one of the proudest moments of my career, scoring two in the final with all my family there. It doesn't get much better. 'I've had two good years in the cup now, winning two years in a row at Hampden. The experience of playing here is a dream come true. It's a brilliant stadium and hopefully we can keep building on the crowds.' As well as her cup final double, Howat also ended the season on a high with a recall to the national team under new head coach Melissa Andreatta and she is aiming to maintain her place in the national side for their next camp in October. 'Last season I started a bit slowly but I got a lot of minutes in the second half and scored some big goals when it mattered', she said. 'Getting the call-up to the national team just before the summer was really pleasing. It's a fresh start for everyone and I was delighted to get minutes. 'My last camp before June had been a year ago so it was great to feature in both games and help us to a positive result in the Netherlands. Hopefully there's many more to come.' Rangers Women have recently seen manager Jo Potter leave her position, but despite the uncertainty, Howat remains optimistic for another big season ahead. She added: 'We're looking ahead. It's a lot of change, with a new manager to come and new players coming in but after the disappointment in the league, winning that has to be our aim. 'It's been a few years now that we've not managed to do that. Our standards are high and we're at Rangers to win trophies. We'll be looking to put that right this season.' Scottish Gas Men's Scottish Cup Preliminary Round One Dundee North End v Culter Invergordon v Lochar Thistle Irvine Meadow XI v Johnstone Burgh Whitburn Juniors v Steins Thistle Scottish Gas Men's Scottish Cup Preliminary Round Two Auchinleck Talbot v Haddington Athletic Benburb v Easthouses Lily MWFC Blackburn United v Darvel Bonnyton Thistle v Girvan Bo'ness Athletic v Creetown Dunbar United v Cumnock Juniors Dundee North End or Culter v Whitehill Welfare Dundonald Bluebell v Edinburgh University Glasgow University v Newton Stewart Glenafton Athletic v Dalkeith Thistle Golspie Sutherland v Coldstream Hawick Royal Albert v Threave Rovers Hill of Beath Hawthorn v St Andrews United Invergordon or Lochar Thistle v Dunipace Jeanfield Swifts v Preston Athletic Penicuik Athletic v Kilwinning Rangers Rutherglen Glencairn v Newtongrange Star Sauchie Juniors v Hutchison Vale St Cadocs v Pollok St Cuthbert Wanderers v Burntisland Shipyard Tayport v Dalbeattie Star Tweedmouth Rangers v Lochee United Tynecastle v Carluke Rovers Vale of Leithen v Musselburgh Athletic Whitburn Juniors or Steins Thistle v Irvine Meadow XI or Johnstone Burgh Wigtown & Bladnoch v Camelon Juniors Scottish Gas Women's Scottish Cup Preliminary Round One Arbroath Women v Giffnock Central Ladies v Musselburgh Windsor Cumbernauld Colts v Penicuik Athletic Cumnock Juniors v Benburb Danderhall Miners v Nairn St Ninian Drumchapel United v Aberdeen City Ladies Dundee West v Bishopton Ladies Edinburgh South v Cumbernauld United Ladies Grampian Ladies v Bayside Ladies Muirieston United Ladies v Stewarton Annick Ladies Thornton Hibs Ladies v Ardrossan Winton Rovers Receiving Byes into the Second Preliminary Round: Alloa Athletic Annan Athletic Ladies Blairgowrie WFC Buckie Ladies Edinburgh Uni Thistle Gretna FC Ladies Harmony Row Huntly Jeanfield Swifts Ross County St Anthony's Ladies Stonehaven Ladies West Park United FC Scottish Gas Women's Scottish Cup Preliminary Round Two Arbroath Women or Giffnock v Ross County Danderhall Miners or Nairn St Ninian v Central Ladies or Musselburgh Windsor Drumchapel United or Aberdeen City Ladies v Edinburgh Uni Thistle Dundee West or Bishopton Ladies v Alloa Athletic Edinburgh South or Cumbernauld United Ladies v Muirieston United Ladies or Stewarton Annick Ladies Gretna FC v Grampian Ladies or Bayside Ladies Huntly Women v Annan Athletic Ladies Jeanfield Swifts v Cumbernauld Colts or Penicuik Athletic St Anthony's Ladies v Blairgowrie Stonehaven Ladies v Buckie Ladies Thornton Hibs Ladies or Ardrossan Winton Rovers v Cumnock Juniors Ladies or Benburb West Park United v Harmony Row Like this: Like Related
Daily Mail
25-05-2025
- Sport
- Daily Mail
'We won't stop till we win the league,' says Rangers boss Jo Potter after Hampden triumph seals cup double
Rangers manager Jo Potter has insisted it will be third time lucky as she set her sights on claiming the SWPL trophy. Potter led Rangers to a League Cup and Scottish Cup double for the second season in succession but the elusive league title is what she wants to get her hands on most of all. Rangers were emphatic winners in the Scottish Cup final at Hampden today, winning 3-0 against a Glasgow City side who never looked capable of asking them any questions. Two goals from Kirsty Howat and one from Mia McAulay were enough to ease the disappointment of losing out to Hibernian in the race for this year's SWPL crown — a prize Potter immediately set her sights on capturing next term. 'You don't win a trophy, it doesn't feel nice,' said Potter. 'We always feel the extra pressure at Rangers. We take away two trophies a season and everybody expects us to get three. We've been really close to that for two seasons now. 'It doesn't feel great, but we can't forget winning trophies is what it's about. 'We took a cup double again. I've won four trophies here in the last two seasons, which is a big, big achievement. Yes, it's not the one that we wanted, but we've got to celebrate these moments. 'We've got to celebrate cup victories, especially when we're turning up in two finals like that and beating two very good teams, the two teams that finished above us, in the finals with dominant performances in both. 'I'm really, really pleased for the girls that we could turn up after the disappointment of last week and get another trophy. It really means a lot.' Pressed on what it would take to go one better next season, having only lost out to Hibs on the final day, Potter insisted it was all about fine margins — but conceded the increasing competitive edge in the women's top flight would make it an even tougher job going forward. 'It's (the title) just got away from us,' she added. 'There's been no team that's been as close as we have to winning that amount of trophies. You do look at it and you think of the two different sides that's let us down in two different years. 'You're looking at the third year and going, hopefully we learn from both years and bring it all together. But that's not as easy as it's said. Look how hard it's been this year to make those finals and win these trophies and be in the top of the split and compete every single week. 'When you've got teams that are coming in and trying to push for titles now, it's getting more and more difficult. This year was so much more difficult than last year, so it's going to get even more difficult next year. 'You'd like to think there's probably another couple of teams that are going to turn the screw again and push and want to maybe go a little bit more full-time. We welcome that. We want that to happen, but it's going to get even harder. We won't stop until we're trying to get that league title again.' Glasgow City manager Leanne Ross was irked not just that her players ended up with losers' medals but that they failed to give any kind of account of themselves. 'I was actually lost for words in terms of what we actually produced,' she said. 'We never passed the ball. But again, that goes back to playing a team in Rangers that are able to go and press you high up the pitch. I don't feel like we won any duels at all today either. 'We were outfought all over the pitch. That's the biggest disappointment for me because I didn't see it coming in terms of the way that we've been playing recently. 'We've only got ourselves to blame in terms of how we approached that game. Unfortunately, we didn't show up.'
Daily Mail
25-05-2025
- Sport
- Daily Mail
Glasgow City 0-3 Rangers: Jo Potter's side seal cup double to take the edge off title heartache
Glasgow City 0-3 Rangers: Jo Potter's side seal cup double to take the edge off title heartache Redemption of sorts, then, for Rangers. Jo Potter's side, still smarting from the way the league was lost to Hibs, used their frustrations to swat away an insipid Glasgow City at Hampden and put their name on the Scottish Cup. Mia McAulay got the ball rolling with an opener midway through the first half before Kirsty Howat scored either side of the interval. To add insult to injury, City finished the game with ten players on the pitch with defender Samantha van Diemen dismissed after VAR intervened to upgrade a yellow card to red with ten minutes of the game remaining. Rangers put in a dominant, measured and clinical performance as they claimed the Scottish Gas Women's Scottish Cup, making it a League Cup and Scottish Cup double for Potter's side. It will not offset the hangover left by failing to claim the SWPL title but it will take the edge off. The optics of the campaign, too, are altered by what the trophy cabinet holds now. The frustration for Potter will be that, had her side produced this kind of performance against Hibs at Ibrox last weekend, there is every chance they would have been toasting a treble. Rangers' Kirsty Howat scores their second goal in the Scottish Cup final at Hampden Park Mia McAulay celebrates netting the opener for Rangers in a 3-0 victory against Glasgow City Rangers' players celebrate with the trophy after their convincing victory sealed a cup double That will be something for her to ruminate over across the summer but certainly the break looks far more appealing now than it would have done had this been a different outcome for Rangers. For Glasgow City, so long the dominant force in the women's game, this is now two successive seasons where they have ended up with nothing to show for their efforts. Their runners-up place in the SWPL will afford them access to the non-champions path of the Champions League but their failure to lay a glove on Rangers at Hampden will rankle. They lacked conviction and belief as they struggled to impose themselves at any point across the game. Both teams had headed to the national stadium with a point to prove. There was a suspicion that Potter had the tougher of the jobs in terms of picking up her players after the manner in which the title slipped away from them. By the time McAulay had put Rangers in front, Potter's side had twice hit the woodwork. It was a portent that City had failed to heed, with McAulay sclaffing an effort off the outside of the post in the opening stages before Kathy Hill had whacked a header off the bar. The opener came as Van Diemen brought the ball out of defence but her pass was cut out. McAulay eluded the challenge from Claire Walsh before spearing a right-footed diagonal effort low into the bottom corner. Gers skipper Nicola Docherty was forced off shortly after the opener. Injured in the opening minutes after a collision with Amy Muir as both players slid in, Docherty appeared to take a knee to the face and the full-back was forced off, clearly upset at the manner in which her afternoon was prematurely ended. It did little to put Rangers off their stride, though. City hit the crossbar through Natalia Wrobel before Rangers added a second. Katie Wilkinson was the architect, whipping a ball into the feet of Howat. She brought it down, sent Van Diemen the wrong way with a slight feint before turning and driving a low effort beyond Lee Gibson. It could have been game over for the Petershill side. Gibson was forced into a save after McAulay was allowed to break through one-on-one with the stopper spreading herself to deny the teenager. City tried to force their way into the game before the break but their pressure came to nothing as Rangers headed into the interval in firm command. The second period was still in its infancy as Rangers put it to bed. Chelsea Cornet broke through City's backline and squared the ball across the six-yard box with Howat sliding in to beat Gibson. City appealed for offside but television images showed that Cornet was well on as she ghosted in behind. City's lack of composure when they did get into decent areas undermined any hope they had of hauling themselves back into the game. Nicole Kozlova ought to have burst the net when she was picked out inside the box but, with the goal gaping, she inexplicably hit her effort wide of the target. From there on, Rangers headed to the other side of the park and flirted with a fourth, with Gibson having to deny McAulay as the Ibrox side kept at it. For all that Rangers were well on top, Potter remained on edge as she patrolled her technical area constantly barking instructions. Van Diemen's dismissal caused confusion inside the stadium; VAR is not widely in use across the women's game, and there was a long delay to check Van Diemen's foul. Rangers could have had more. Jane Ross, on for her final appearance before she now heads into retirement, unselfishly squared for Rio Hardy who blazed wildly wide when she should have buried it. Rangers did not need it. This week's post-match huddle on the turf was all smiles as they claimed the final piece of silverware of the season. There will remain a lingering sense of what might have been this season but for the moment there was contentment.
The Herald Scotland
25-05-2025
- Sport
- The Herald Scotland
Rangers Women ensure Scottish Cup sunshine after a storm
This was a win at a canter. Rangers' tears from last weekend were used as the catalyst to get their hands on the final trophy of the season. It enables Jo Potter to claim both cups on offer – and she was keen to underline that she has won four trophies out of six across her two years – but there will still be a lingering sense that the title remains elusive. Mia McAulay got Rangers up and running in the opening half before Kirsty Howat scored either side of the interval. To rub salt in the wound, City finished the game with ten players on the pitch with defender Samantha Van Diemen dismissed after VAR intervened to upgrade a yellow card to a red with ten minutes of the game remaining. Leanne Ross watched her side claim second spot last weekend and with it take the second Champions League place. Again, though, the league failure was always going to linger. That failure is compounded now with yesterday's defeat which confines City to back-to-back seasons without a trophy. For a club who have dominated the landscape of Scottish football for so long, there is no question that it will sting across the next few months. As will the manner of this performance. They were conspicuous by their absence against Rangers with no stage of the game offering a suggestion that they were capable of gaining any kind of momentum. By the time that McAulay had put Rangers in front, Potter's side had twice hit the woodwork. Read more: Steven Gerrard spotted at Anfield amid Rangers speculation Rangers Women 3-0 Glasgow City: Howat on target twice in Scottish Cup final win It was a warning that City had failed to heed with McAulay sclaffing an effort off the outside of the post in the opening stages before Kathy Hill had whacked a header off the bar. McAulay's opener came as Van Diemen – arguably her poorest game of the season- came brought the ball out of defence but her pass was cut out. McAulay eluded the challenge from Claire Walsh before spearing a right-footed diagonal effort low into the bottom corner. Gers skipper Nicola Docherty was forced off shortly after the opener. Injured in the opening minutes after a collision with Amy Muir as both players slid in and Docherty appeared to take a knee to the face, the full-back was forced off, clearly upset at the manner in which her afternoon was prematurely ended. It no impact on Rangers' dominance. City hit the crossbar through Natalia Wrobel before Rangers added a second. Katie Wilksinson was the architect, whipping a ball into the feet of Kirsty Howat. She brought it down, sent van Diemen the wrong way with a slight feint before turned and driving a low effort beyond Gibson. It could have been game over for the Petershill side. Gibson was forced into a stop after McAulay was allowed to break through one-on-one with the stopper spreading herself to deny the teenager. City tried to force their way into the game before the break but their pressure came to nothing as Rangers headed into the interval in firm command of the game. The second period was still in its infancy as Rangers put it to bed. Chelsea Cornet broke through City's backline and squared the ball across the six-yard box with Howat sliding in to beat Gibson. City appealed for offside but television images showed that Cornet was well on as she ghosted in behind. City's lack of composure when they did get into decent areas undermined any hope they had of hauling themselves back into the game. Nicole Kozlova ought to have burst the net when she was picked out inside the box and, with the goal gaping, she inexplicably hit her effort wide of the target. From there on, Rangers headed to the other side of the park and flirted with a fourth; Gibson had to deny McAulay as the Ibrox side kept at it. For all that Rangers were well on top, Potter remained on edge as she patrolled her technical area constantly barking instructions. Van Diemen's dismissal caused confusion inside the stadium; VAR is not in use across the women's game with the long delay to check van Diemen's foul. Rangers could have had more. Jane Ross, on for her final appearance as she now heads into retirement, unselfishly squared for Rio Hardy who blazed wildly wide when she should have buried it. Rangers could afford to be slack by then. There remain question to be asked over the summer but one suspects their break will offer more relaxation than City's.
