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BBC News
02-06-2025
- General
- BBC News
Andreatta urges Scots to keep 'faith' as youths emerge
Women's Nations League: Netherlands v ScotlandVenue: Koning Willem II Stadion, Tilburg Date: Tuesday, 3 June Kick-off: 19:30 BSTCoverage: Watch live on BBC Scotland & iPlayer, text updates on BBC Sport Website & app Melissa Andreatta says Scotland's emerging teenagers showed "a real maturity" when coming on as substitutes in Friday's defeat by Austria as she contemplates changes for her second game as head 1-0 defeat at Hampden means the Scots head into their final Nations League Group A1 game in the Netherlands having already been the former Australia assistant has urged her squad not to lose "faith" and stressed that they are "very hungry and wanting to put in their best performance for this match to finish this campaign in a good way".Rangers' 18-year-old Mia McAulay and Manchester United's Emma Watson, who is a year older, were among those who helped in an improved performance after the break against the Austrians. Asked if she might be tempted to go with youth in Tilburg, Andreatta replied: "I think what they showed was a real maturity and able to manage the moment and they thrived."We could see an improvement in the second half and I think just that belief that they can play and choose moments to go forward with variation and I think our defending was a lot more aggressive because they had more belief and confidence with that."I think what we saw were players coming from the bench and being game changers - both emerging and experienced - and I think that's fantastic for the team and for those individual players."Andreatta is determined to see the positives from the defeat by Austria as her side prepare for "a massive test" against a side ranked 10th in the world and looking to bounce back from their own 4-0 defeat in Germany - a result that means they are now unable to now overtake the group leaders."There's going to be moments in the match where it doesn't go right, but that's where we are right now, but it's not losing faith and know that we've taken one step forward and we just need to keep taking that step forward," she said."We took a lot of learnings from it and now what we want to do looking ahead is close this campaign and then, after that, look ahead to a new start in our next camp after that."Scotland have lost all five of their games so far in the Nations League top flight, with second-half goals from Lineth Beerensteyn and Chasity Grant giving the Dutch a deserved win at Hampden in February despite the hosts leading through Emma game was under caretaker Michael McArdle after Pedro Martinez Losa was sacked following the failure to reach this summer's Euro 2025 finals - and Andreatta believes she has already seen areas where her squad can improve."It's just identifying the moments when we want to press or protect, or progress the ball and penetrate," the Australian suggested.
BBC News
27-05-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
Scotland lose Kerr as McAulay and Smith added
Bayern Munich midfielder Sam Kerr has dropped out of the Scotland squad for the Women's Nations League matches against Austria and the Netherlands, with Kirsty Smith and uncapped Mia McAulay drafted Smith, who has been released by West Ham United, had originally been dropped from the squad - the first to be named by new national head coach Melissa Andreatta - but the 31-year-old will now have the chance to add to her 62 is fresh from a starring role in Rangers' Scottish Cup final 3-0 victory over Glasgow City, the 18-year-old forward scoring the opening goal at Hampden Park on entertain Austria at the same venue on Friday needing a two-goal victory to retain a chance of avoiding relegation from League A - a match being shown live on BBC will then take her side to Tilburg next Tuesday to face the Dutch, with that game being live on the BBC Scotland TV captain Rachel Corsie will make her international exit over the two games, the 35-year-old centre-half with 154 caps having decided to retire after nearly a year's absence through a knee injury that has left her with "chronic pain" and having been released by Aston Villa. Scotland squad Goalkeepers: Eartha Cumings (Rosengard), Lee Gibson (Glasgow City), Sandy MacIver (Washington Spirit).Defenders: Jenna Clark (Liverpool), Rachel Corsie (unattached), Nicola Docherty (Rangers), Sophie Howard (Leicester City), Emma Lawton (Celtic), Rachel McLauchlan (Rangers), Amy Muir (Glasgow City), Kirsty Smith (unattached).Midfielders: Chelsea Cornet (Rangers), Erin Cuthbert (Chelsea), Lauren Davidson (Brann), Freya Gregory (Newcastle United), Brogan Hay (Rangers), Kirsty MacLean (Rangers), Amy Rodgers (Bristol City), Emma Watson (Manchester United), Caroline Weir (Real Madrid).Forwards: Kirsty Howat (Rangers), Mia McAuley (Rangers), Kathleen McGovern (Hibernian), Martha Thomas (Tottenham Hotspur).
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.
BBC News
25-05-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
Rangers end week of hurt with more commanding cup success
A week is a long time in time last Sunday, Rangers' players were sprawled on the Ibrox turf, having just lost out on the SWPL title on the final day for the second season in a on Scottish Cup Sunday, Jo Potter's side ended the day with beaming grins, buoyancy and some bullish comments after comfortably beating Glasgow truth, they never really had to leave second gear as they strolled to successive domestic cup doubles and ensured City suffered back-to-back trophyless campaigns.A commanding performance gilded with three deserved goals was more than enough, but 19-year-old winger Mia McAulay wanted more and stated Rangers "could have won about seven or eight-nil". A confident comment, albeit one perhaps overexaggerated, from the teenager who opened the scoring with a composed and mature finish. "We know what we want to do in these games, we had to start good and we got the first goal, I think that kicked us off," said 19-year-old McAulay."We dominated the whole game. We could have won about seven or eight-nil." 'On our day, no-one can handle us' Rangers' superiority in the final couldn't be questioned. Whether it should have been seven or eight though, herself inexplicably missed a glorious open goal from a matter of yards, after kissing a post in the first half, while Kathy Hill looped a header onto the for Potter, there was a dominance in their play that was non-existent last week when they had no answers to eventual league winners former England international has overseen four cup final wins in her two seasons in charge, but insists it "doesn't dismiss" missing out on the title."It shows we had a point to prove and wanted to play and win in a certain way," the head coach told BBC Scotland."It was an excellent performance and an excellent win. I wasn't surprised by how we were playing. On our day, no-one can handle us and we definitely proved that."As if they needed a helping hand, City were nowhere near their best. Samantha van Diemen, the centre-back who has waltzed her way through her first season in Scottish football, had one of her worst games of the a slack pass in the build-up to the opener, she was left for dust by Kirsty Howat for the second. Her dismal afternoon ended in ignominy as she was sent off following a VAR review for a last-ditch Dutch international was not the only underperformer for Leanne Ross' side, who now must use the summer to build not only domestically, but for their Champions League campaign earned by a second-placed league for the former Scotland international to ponder over, while her Rangers counterparts will be doing much the same once their celebrations come to an impressive Howat, who joins up with the Scotland camp on Monday, admitted they "haven't had that control enough this season". Potter and her staff will need to work out why. But for now, it's party time.
