Aberdeen Women defender Loren Campbell reckons they got their revenge against Spartans in their cup comeback win.
The Dons came from 2-1 behind to beat Spartans 4-2 and progress to the quarter-finals of the Scottish Women’s Cup, where they will be at home to Celtic.
🏆 We have been drawn to face Celtic at home in the quarter-finals of the Scottish Cup.
🗓️ Full fixture details to be confirmed. pic.twitter.com/INcWO79uTH
— Aberdeen FC Women (@AberdeenWomen) February 14, 2022
It was an intense game with the first half especially being end-to-end, which resulted in each team scoring two goals in the first 45 minutes.
Aberdeen went in level at half time, but Campbell says that they were able to use January’s 3-2 SWPL 1 defeat to Spartans as motivation to go out and claim the win.
She said: “It feels really good to get the win, that was obviously the aim before we went into the game and that was a bit of revenge that we needed.
“We spoke about it (the 3-2 defeat) at half time and we gained confidence from the fact that we’d already come back from being 2-1 down to go into half time at 2-2.
“It has been a learning curve, but we’re really starting to understand these teams and gain confidence to slow the game down so it suits us and then get back ourselves back in it.”
The half-time team talk clearly worked as the Dons ended up winning reasonably comfortably thanks to two late goals from Eilidh Shore and Bayley Hutchison.
Campbell said of the intensity of the game, and her side’s ability to adapt when things weren’t going their way: “The first half was very frantic. It’s probably the fastest game we’ve played in a long time.
“I think the pace maybe dropped a bit because we didn’t come out quite as good in the second half, but we kept ourselves in the game.
“We were playing counter-attacking football and thankfully it paid off.”
Attacking threat
Against Spartans, Campbell played an important role going forward as she did as part of the backline.
As a full-back, she got herself up and down the wing, with one such run into the Spartans half forcing a corner that led to Donna Paterson netting the Dons’ first goal.
It was an impressive attacking showcase from not only Campbell, but from the whole team – with four different players getting on the scoresheet and providing assists.
“It’s good to get different goal scorers because you don’t rely on a sole source. We’ve got a lot of attacking threats and it’s great for the girls to spread the goals,” Campbell added.
“I’ve got to thank the likes of Eilidh in centre midfield, who will sit in so I can go forward, but it’s a team performance.
“That’s how we work and thankfully it means I can go forward, which suits me.”
The 12th man
Aberdeen were backed by a decent support at Balmoral Stadium, and the crowd was vocal against Spartans, which helped spur the team on and bag two late goals.
FULL TIME!
Two late goals send The Dons through to the next round of the Scottish Women's Cup!#COYR!
FT | 🔴 ABE 4-2 SPA 🔵 | #StandFree pic.twitter.com/AbmQuc0e9f
— Aberdeen FC Women (@AberdeenWomen) February 13, 2022
The defender believes Aberdeen have some of the best fans in Scottish women’s football, and other teams are more than aware, as Campbell’s friend who played for Hibs attested to when they played at Balmoral last weekend.
Campbell explained: “When we were playing Hibs last week, she was astounded and asked: ‘Is this is the crowd that you get every week? Because we don’t get that.’
“It’s a testament to the crowd and the fans coming to support us every week.
“The boost from the crowd is massive, you hear them a lot and they edge you on.”