RANGERS were forced to settle for a point in this afternoon’s Old Firm tussle at Broadwood Stadium in the ScottishPower Women’s Premier League.
The Gers led the contest for an hour after Kirsty Howat’s sumptuous finish in the opening exchanges, but an Amy Gallacher equaliser deep into the second half salvaged a point for the away side.
Indeed, the draw extends the Light Blues’ unbeaten run at this crucial stage of the campaign and means they trail Glasgow City, their opponents this midweek, and Hibernian by a solitary point at the summit of the SWPL table.
Potter named two changes to the side which routed Hearts at Ibrox last time out in the league, with top goalscorer Katie Wilkinson given the nod in attack alongside a return to the starting lineup for Lizzie Arnot.
And the former wasted precious little time in worrying the Celtic defence, collecting a pass from Brogan Hay on the byline before fizzing a low delivery across the face of goal that Kelsey Daugherty got down low to smother.
No matter, though, as Rangers immediately went about business and broke the deadlock inside ten minutes.
It was the opposite flank which unpicked the away side on this occasion as Arnot’s dangerous cross to the near post, intended for Camille Lafaix, broke invitingly to Howat lurking intently on the edge of the penalty area who met the breaking ball and guided a delicious finish into the top corner.
Rangers had their tails up as a result and almost doubled their advantage less than 60 seconds later when Lafaix prompted a smart stop from Daugherty down to her left from ten yards out.
It was one-way traffic in Cumbernauld, although the visitors threatened a response when a delivery from the left trickled all the way through to Celya Barclais at the far post and Nicola Docherty was fortunately on hand for the Light Blues to deflect the full-back’s effort out for a corner.
Howat almost produced another moment of ingenuity with ten minutes remaining of the opening period, lifting a clever effort over Daugherty but off target after the Celtic goalkeeper had punched Docherty’s deep free-kick only as far as the forward.
By and large, Celtic’s attacking threat had been limited to moments on the counter-attack; Katherine Loferski seeking to exploit space down the left-hand side of Rangers’ backline.
Clear-cut opportunities were at a premium, however, and, down the opposite end, Howat would have been forgiven for bemoaning her misfortune when, two minutes before the interval, she rattled the woodwork from 12 yards out after striding onto a loose ball from Hay’s delivery.
The visitors fashioned the first dangerous moment of the second half inside two minutes when a mazy run from Lucy Ashworth-Clifford almost saw the wing-back’s subsequent delivery float over Jenna Fife and into the back of the net.
A quick corner routine from the Light Blues carved out a decent opening for Lafaix, but the American couldn’t quite keep her finish under the crossbar from Howat’s deft lay-off.
The hour-mark ushered in a triple substitution from Potter as Rio Hardy, Liv McLoughlin and Mia McAulay entered the fray; the latter making her return from injury at the most opportune moment in the campaign.
The momentum was still with the Light Blues as they sought the all-important second goal, but with the advantage still slender in nature they were all too wary of giving Celtic any encouragement.
However, Celtic struck the leveller with 20 minutes remaining as substitute Amy Gallacher, introduced moments prior, slammed home in space from Emma Lawton’s pull-back.
It was harsh on the home side given their superiority in the contest, but it set up a pulsating final stanza in a derby which had suddenly come to life.
Kirsty Maclean’s dipping free-kick sailed into the grateful arms of Daugherty, while Laura Berry was introduced for the final seven minutes plus additional time in an attempt to provide a cutting edge.
Both teams, however, were forced to settle for a share of the spoils as Rangers now look ahead to Wednesday’s trip to Petershill Park.
RANGERS: Fife, Docherty, Eddie, Hill, Hay (McAulay, 60), Howat (Berry, 83), Arnot, Cornet, Lafaix (McLoughlin, 60), Maclean, Wilkinson (Hardy, 60)
Subs not used: Ivarsdottir, Middag, Ross, McLeary, Cruft
CELTIC: Daugherty, Barclais, McGregor (Ross, 68), Clark, Noonan (Gallacher, 68), Loferski (Agnew, 77), Ashworth-Clifford, Lawton, Costa, Nakao, McAneny (Cross, 85)
Subs not used: Rodgers, Smith, Harrison, Carstens, Cavanagh
REFEREE: Cameron Stirling