Hibernian were the first visitors to face Forfar Farmington on the new Station park 3G surface, and a three figure crowd were treated to an entertaining affair.

The matches early stages saw both teams trade blows, with a corner apiece giving no trouble to either Shannon Lynn or Cathering Fitzsimmons. Farmington had the first real chance of the match when Lucy Graham pounced on a mistake from Hollie Thompson to go one on one with Lynn. However the Scottish international keeper had no intention of surrendering a clean sheet with only fifteen minutes gone and pulled off a smart block. The clean sheet would remain intact for only a further two minutes however as Farmington took the lead. A whipped ball into the visiting box found Nicola Davidson whose powerfully hit shot was charge down only as far as Caroline Heron who deftly lofted the ball over Lynn. Hibs responded through Kirsty McLaughlin but her shot from distance on the 20 minute mark sailed comfortably into the hands of Fitzsimmons. At the other end a Heron pile driver whizzed just off target, but ten minutes later the ball would find itself nestling in the visiting net once more. A fantastic run from Emma McCulley saw the Farmington winger somehow squeeze a cross towards the back post where Caren Webster was on hand to volley home. Hibs again upped the ante with Caroline Weir and Laura Kennedy both trying their luck. The visiting pressure continued to increase with home defence requiring several attempts to halt the progress of Susan Fairlie and a tenacious Frankie Brown. The visitors would gain their rewards a minute from the break when Brown’s cross found McLaughlin who knocked the ball home despite Fitzsimmons efforts.

As with the opening period, the second half started an even affair and looked set to produce another intriguing 45 minutes of football. However the game was turned on it’s head when, in the 64th minute, Emma McCulley cleared the visiting backline with only Lynn to beat. Despite a strong call for offside, the visiting defence could only watch as Lynn upended McCulley to concede a penalty, with a red card the unfortunate reward. Joelle Murray came off the bench to replace Lynn in goal and her first task was to pick Lucy Graham’s penalty out of the net after the Farmington youngster stepped up to confidently convert. Goal number four duly arrived in the 71st minute when Heron turned provider to Kelly Clark who, having made a rare sojourn up field, bore down on Murray before steering the ball low into the net. Hibs continued to seek scoring opportunities however, with Caroline Weir proving to be an ever present danger – her 79th minute drive and shot well saved by Fitzsimmons. Farmington could have rounded the day off with a fifth goal five minutes later, but McCulley’s lob found the face of the post with substitute Abbi Grant unable to keep the rebounded ball under control.

A fine victory sees Farmington move to a point behind 3rd place Celtic, who were idle this afternoon, and further three shy of Hibs who remain in 2nd place. Next Sunday sees Farmington take on Airdrie United in the 3rd round of the Henson Projects Scottish Cup – The game kicking off at Station Park at 4pm.

Mark Nisbet Postmatch

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