Swifts ease through to last 16

Swifts welcomes new club Ross County to Perth for the 2nd Round Scottish Cup tie. On a day where it was always going to be a case of maintaing standards and not allowing any chance of an upset, the Swifts put in a thoroughly professional performance against a spirited opposition.

Swifts showed their intent from the off and debutant Strachan got the ball rolling with an excellent delivery from the wide area which was volleyed home by Fox. The first half then proved to be a procession towards the Ross County goal with McIntyre and McGinley both scoring doubles to take the score to 5-0 relatively early.

Swifts were moving the ball quickly with Shaw involved constantly and the delivery from Strachan and Flynn-Scott was causing havoc for the visitor's defence.

McIntyre then grabbed her hat-trick before Thatcher side-foot volleyed home another Strachan delivery. McIntyre was certainly not finished and she added another two goals, the second from a Todd cross after the winger had replaced the injured Strachan to take the half-time score to 9-0.

HT Swifts 9 Ross County 0

The challenge set by boss McCrindle at half-time was to maintain the same standards as the first half. To be fair to the Swifts they maintained the pressure constantly and although the play was not as fluent the standard of goals was perhaps better.
As she had done in the first half Fox started the scoring with an excellent snap-shot from the edge of the box. McGinley then produced a carbon copy from the edge and then Shaw headed home a Todd corner.

Thatcher then produced probably the best goal of the game when she danced past three defenders showing great close control in the box and calmly side-footed home. Fox then turned provider when she got to the by-line and her cut back was stroked home by McGinley.
Thatcher then crossed to McDonald who headed home and another Todd corner bore fruit when Martin headed home.
Maclean kept the goals coming when she collected at the edge of the box, showed good footwork and although her shot was slightly mis-hit it sneaked home.

Fittingly it was Fox who completed the scoring and secured her hat-trick in the process.

FT Swifts 18 Ross County 0
Swifts will be delighted with the mentality shown by the players. Having lost to a 2nd Div side in last year's Scottish Cup there was no similar fate and the team showed a great desire. Ross County displayed a fantastic team spirit to the game, encouraged eachother throughout and always tried to keep playing the right way, and deserve huge credit for doing so, and we wish them every success in their development as a club.

McCrindle was pleased with his troops. "When playing cup ties against teams you know nothing about they can sometimes be a potential banana skin. We chatted before the game about the challenge psychologically and how we approached the game as the SWPL2 side and not to underestimate our opponents. Every one of the girls were fantastic, the professionalism that they showed from start to finish was superb, some of the play today was a direct result of what we have worked on and as a coach its always good to see the girls implement it. They are an incredibly talented bunch and it was joy to watch them today.