Smith’s spot kick secures fourth as Thistle beat Saints

Boroughmuir Thistle secured at least a fourth place finish with two games to spare on Sunday afternoon after battling to victory over St Johnstone at Meadowbank.

Thistle took the lead in an entertaining encounter via Fiona Gibson before Ellie May Cowie equalised for the visitors.

Beth MacLeod restored Thistle’s lead shortly before half time but Saints hit back again via Olivia Hurrell with 20 minutes remaining.

Boroughmuir kept at it, though, with Mhari Smith scoring from the penalty spot six minutes from time to confirm Thistle will finish no lower than fourth in SWPL 2.

It was fourth vs fifth on a pleasant Sunday afternoon at Meadowbank, with both teams aiming to finish the season strongly and putting on an entertaining display for those in attendance.

The visitors came close to opening the scoring inside 10 minutes when Olivia Hurrell ballooned her effort over the bar from close range, before Ellie May Cowie cut in from the left and fired wide.

Thistle then took the lead on 15 minutes when Ria McCafferty picked up Beth MacLeod’s short corner, nutmegged the Saints defender, and played in Fiona Gibson who’d peeled off her marker to fire off the post and in from six yards.

St Johnstone equalised around 15 minutes later when Cowie arrived at the back post to tap in the rebound after Hurrell’s initial shot was parried by Beth Rennie.

Perhaps against the run of play in this physical encounter, Boroughmuir restored their lead five minutes before half time. Maria Novoa-Torrente displayed some excellent control in the middle of the park to bring the ball down, knock it past the Saints midfielder, and slip in Beth MacLeod who remained composed to slot the ball beyond the goalkeeper at the near post.

And then three minutes later, Novoa-Torrente came agonisingly close to increasing Thistle’s lead as she watched her header rattle the crossbar following a corner.

Half time: Boroughmuir 2-1 St Johnstone

The second half played out in much the same way as the first in terms of being a fast-paced, end-to-end encounter, and Thistle also looked more up for the physical fight after the restart.

Within 90 seconds, Emily Arthur - impressive throughout the match and always looking to run at the Saints defence - was very unlucky to see her effort come back off the post and trickle along the goal-line before eventually being cleared to safety.

But for Lauren Hall going close and St Johnstone swinging in a few corners, clear-cut chances were few and far between until the visitors hit back once again when Hurrell bundled the ball home after a stramash in the box.

However, Thistle didn’t let their heads drop and kept at it, with Arthur showing great determination to get to the ball first before being brought down by Saints ‘keeper Roberta-Leigh Cochran in the box. Substitute Mhari Smith then stepped up and coolly slotted the resulting penalty into the back of the net to score her second in five days and put Thistle in front for the third time.

The final 10 minutes were “a bit scrappy” as the winning goalscorer put it, but Thistle held on to secure the three points and ensure St Johnstone cannot catch them in fourth place.

Up next is a trip to face champions Queen’s Park in the penultimate league match on Sunday, with third place still up for grabs.

Full time: Boroughmuir 3-2 St Johnstone

Boroughmuir Thistle: Rennie, Goodchild, Ramage (C), Verbist, Sheehan (Smith 77’), Arthur, MacLeod (Simmons 66’), Forsyth (Hall 46’), Novoa-Torrente (Murphy 77’), Gibson, McCafferty

Subs: Murphy, Smith, Brown, Simmons, Hall, Angelini

St Johnstone: Cochran, McLean (Carter 73’), Clark (C) (Murray 56’), Cowie, Moodie, Brady, (Maciver 73’), Simson (Irvine 73’), Burns, Hurrell, McCafferty (Malcolm 73), Robertson

Subs: Maciver, Murray, Carter, Irvine, Haston, Malcolm, Bidgood, Aitchison, Steedman

Referee: Chris Newman

Post-Match Reaction