Aberdeen Women midfielder Eva Thomson believes their 1-0 win over Hibernian sends a clear message of their capabilities to the other teams in SWPL 1.
Thomson’s strike from distance proved to be the difference between the sides, in what was an impressive defensive shift from the Dons over the 90 minutes.
Hibs were everything but ruthless in the final third, and forced Aberdeen to graft in all areas of the park – especially in the second half.
Thomson believes their winning performance has proven to their SWPL 1 rivals they’re not just in the league to make up the numbers, but can more than cope against top quality opposition.
She said: “We knew it was going to be tough, but we battled from minute one until the 90th and stuck in and defended really well throughout the game.
“It sends a message to the other teams in this league.
“Hibs are a really strong team and one of the best in our league, so getting those three points against them is huge.
“We know that the win is massive and it gives us a big confidence boost going forward.”
A strike worthy of three points
The young midfielder’s eighth-minute strike was her third goal in SWPL 1 so far this season, and her sixth in all competitions.
Thomson, who is no stranger to long-range strikes, found the ball at her feet after Hibs failed to clear a corner, allowing her to unleash a tremendous shot that left goalkeeper Gabby English with no chance.
The Scotland under-19 international was coy about the quality of her goal, but does believe getting it early doors helped Aberdeen settle into the game.
“The ball just came to me on the edge of the box – I saw the space and just hit it. That gave us confidence for the rest of the game,” Thomson added.
“When you play these sorts of teams, you don’t really get a lot of chances, so it’s important that we take them when we can – and we did that.”
And, while the Dons defended rather comfortably, Thomson felt the pressure on the pitch as Hibs pushed for an equaliser either side of half time.
She said: “The last 10 or 15 minutes of the first half, they were kind of on top of us and we knew we needed to get in with the 1-0 to settle down a bit.
“The message at half time was just to stick in, because we knew Hibs would come out in the second half and go for it.
“We took on Emma’s message of staying strong and we did that and defended well until the very end.
“There was a lot of pressure in the second half, because we didn’t get a lot of the ball.
“It felt like the game dragged on for so long the amount we were defending, but in these types of games you have to battle right until the very end – and we did that.”