Aberdeen Women interim coach Gavin Levey feels there can be no excuses after his side threw away a 1-0 lead in the eventual 3-1 defeat to Motherwell.
It was set to be an exciting contest at Cormack Park – with the game having been moved from Balmoral Stadium due to the snowy weather – as the away side were vying for a place in the SWPL 1 top-six before the league split.
The Dons named a depleted squad with only three substitutes due to injury, illness and youngsters away on international duty.
But it was an entertaining and close-matched affair, as Hannah Stewart gave the Dons the lead on 40 minutes through a penalty after a Motherwell handball in the box.
The Dons penalty came after some good play as Well goalkeeper Emily Mutch pulled of a good stop to deny Bayley Hutchison, before Aberdeen kept plugging away in attack.
The score was level at half-time as Carla Boyce pounced on a mix up at the back between Nadine Hanssen and Loren Campbell and equalised with a lofted effort over Annalisa McCann.
Motherwell were the far better side in the second half and they took the lead on the hour mark after Stewart gave away a penalty by shoving Katie Rice down just inside the box.
Boyce dispatched the spot-kick for her second of the day, before second-half substitute Kayla Jardine added Motherwell’s third effort with a fine strike on 80 minutes from the right-hand-side of the box.
The Dons interim coach didn’t hold back in his assessment of the defeat, as Levey felt his side threw away points with a disappointing second-half showing.
‘No excuses’ says Levey
Levey said: “It’s the same conversation we’ve had over the course of the season: for 45 minutes we do really well and we get the goal that we deserve, and we get that penalty from some really nice play.
“Some of the things we’ve been working on in training – like how we want to move the ball and build – showed in the first half, but it was a really slack goal to lose for 1-1.
“We looked at it at half-time to try to address things but there was no fear going into the second half because it had been a well-matched game.
“The second half was going to be about who wanted to win it the most, who had the depth of squad and who had the fitness – and it wasn’t us.
“There shouldn’t be an excuse for that, even though we had a really bare squad today because of a number of reasons. You have still got to have 11 players on the pitch giving their all for this football club.
“Unfortunately, in the second half, Motherwell wanted it more than us.”
Levey admitted there was a feeling of being “drained” after the match because of the amount of effort which had been put in by the club to make sure the game would go ahead due to the unplayable pitch at Balmoral Stadium.
He said: “I speak on behalf on all of the staff: we’ve put a lot of effort in – and that’s just to get the game on this weekend.
“For all the players they’ve had to prepare for it, but for us to get this game on this weekend, it was a massive task because the league wanted it played because of all the games needing to go ahead at the same time because of the split.
“To get to kick-off today was a massive relief but then when we get here with a squad that was very bare, but there can’t be any excuses.
“We said that in the changing room before the match, that this was just another challenge in our journey. But after that performance, especially the second half, it’s draining.”
Despite their win, Motherwell failed to reach the top six as they finished one point behind Partick Thistle, who beat Dundee United 1-0 to secure their position.
The other north results
In the SWF Championship, Caley Thistle missed their chance to win three games on the trot as they were beaten 2-1 by Renfrew in Inverness.
Renfrew were 2-0 up before Lorna MacRae pulled one back for Karen Mason’s side, but it proved to be a consolation goal.
In the Biffa SWFL North, Huntly were beaten 4-1 by league leaders Forfar Farmington, while Glenrothes Strollers put four past Dyce without reply.
Inverurie Locos were victorious in Peterhead as they beat Buchan 2-0 to move into second place, while Stonehaven picked up three points after a close 3-2 win over East Fife.
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