Clint Lancaster was delighted after Aberdeen Women secured back-to-back wins and clean sheets by beating Hamilton Accies 4-0 at Balmoral Stadium.
The Dons deservedly went 1-0 up after 35 minutes through Bayley Hutchison, before Hannah Stewart and Eva Thomson also found the back of the net in the 40th and 42nd minutes to make it 3-0 at half-time.
Francesca Ogilvie opened her account for the season when she made it 4-0 to Aberdeen in the 80th minute with a close-range finish.
It is a fourth win from six SWPL games for Lancaster’s side, and the first time this season the Reds have secured back-to-back victories and clean sheets.
The Aberdeen manager said: “I’m delighted. It’s the clean sheets that I’m most proud about because the backline have worked incredibly hard and they deserve that.
“We managed the game well and I’m delighted with the three points. It was a bit sloppy in the second half, but it’s sometimes hard to break down a team that comes out and sits in a block.
“It was a comfortable game for us, but sometimes the most difficult games to manage can be the ones where you have more of the ball.
“We managed those difficult moments well, found our openings and scored four very good goals.”
The Dons return to SWPL action against Hibernian at Meadowbank on Wednesday night, and Lancaster hopes his side can keep building momentum.
He added: “We just have to keep going now. It’s going to be a tough week and that’s why we made some of the changes before and during the game.
“We need to manage the workload of the players, but we believe in ourselves and now need to make sure we’re ready for a tough game against Hibs.”
Dons dominate in win over Accies
Lancaster made two changes from last weekend’s 3-0 win at Spartans with Hannah Innes and Eva Thomson replacing Jess Broadrick and Laura Holden in the starting XI.
The Dons had an early chance when Eilidh Shore sent an inviting ball into the box, but Ogilvie could only head over from a couple yards out.
Aberdeen continued to create plenty of chances with goalkeeper Chloe Nicolson denying Innes twice, before Ogilvie, Thomson and Stewart all hit efforts just off target.
The opener arrived when Stewart timed her run to perfection before laying the ball off to Hutchison in the box, who slotted home from only a few yards out for her sixth goal of the season.
After assisting Hutchison’s goal, Stewart got on the scoresheet and made it 2-0 when she hooked the ball into the net after getting on the end of an Innes cross.
Aberdeen weren’t done in the first half as Thomson scored her first goal of the campaign with a composed finish inside the box after receiving the ball from Stewart, who registered her second assist of the afternoon.
Lancaster made one substitution at half-time with Holden coming on for skipper Nadine Hanssen.
It was so close to number four for Aberdeen when Holden laid off a simple pass inside the box to Stewart, who saw her shot pushed past the post by the slightest of touches from goalkeeper Nicolson.
Stewart almost had a hat-trick of assists when she played another superb pass to find Innes, but the Dons winger was denied by some brave goalkeeping from Nicolson.
It took Accies until the 56th minute to register their first shot of the game as Josi Giard saw her effort cleared, before Eilidh Martin failed to trouble Dons keeper Faye Kirby as she hit a long-range effort well wide of the post.
Hutchison was involved in Aberdeen’s fourth as she found Ogilvie with a perfectly weighted through ball, before the Dons winger slotted it beyond Nicolson.
Hamilton had the ball in the back of the net in the 90th minute following a stramash in the box from a corner, but it was chalked off for a foul on goalkeeper Kirby.
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