Gavin Levey believes he saw “hints” of the top performance he has been urging Aberdeen Women to produce in their 4-3 win over Dundee United.
The Dons deservedly took the lead at Gussie Park after half an hour through Bayley Hutchison, who was making her 100th appearance for Aberdeen.
It was 2-0 only two minutes later, as Millie Urquhart, who had assisted the opener, scored a superb half-volley which left Fiona McNicoll in the Dundee United goal with no chance.
United halved the deficit on the stroke of half-time when Danni McGinley stabbed the ball home from close-range, before Leigha Dobbins netted the equaliser in the 48th minute.
It was a night to remember for Urquhart as she scored her second of the night, with a goal just as good as her first to restore Aberdeen’s lead in the 64th minute.
The Terrors got themselves level again in the 71st minute when Jade McLaren scored from inside the box with a right-footed half volley, but Hutchison netted her second in the 86th minute to make it 4-3 and secure all three SWPL 1 points for the Dons.
Levey was delighted with aspects of Aberdeen’s performance, which ensured they move up to ninth in SWPL 1 and eight points clear of the relegation zone.
The Dons interim manager said: “I thought some of our football was excellent. We started the game so well and went on to score some incredible goals.
“I’ve said it for a while – this is a team waiting to put in a top performance and we saw hints of a performance like that here.
“We’re still making it a wee bit hard for ourselves with one or two of the goals we conceded, but Dundee United made it difficult and credit to them because they made it a really competitive game.
“It was end-to-end and neither team wanted to accept the draw. It was important that we were the ones to come away with the three points.”
It’s the first time that Aberdeen have secured back-to-back wins in the top-flight this season, following their 2-1 win over Hamilton on Sunday, and Levey was impressed by his side’s character against the Terrors.
He said: “We’ve worked hard on it in training, but it’s different when you have to put that into a game. We talk a lot about resilience and situations we’ve got to avoid.
“We’ve got to create good habits and the character of the squad since I’ve come in has been the biggest thing for me. Their mentality has been great.
“We’ve had the mindset in games against Celtic and Rangers, but this was a different scenario against Dundee United, it was a must-win game for us.
“The girls knew this was a chance to have one of their biggest weeks of the season. We said if it’s going to be one of the biggest then make it one of your best, and you can see with their character – they’ve totally earned the win.”
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