RANGERS sealed their place in the Sky Sports Cup final after a superb 4-0 victory and performance against Spartans at Ainslie Park this afternoon.
A pair of first-half goals from Chelsea Cornet and Kayla McCoy gave Rangers the advantage at the end of the first half, before Jenny Danielsson and Lizzie Arnot fired home the third and fourth goals in the second 45 to secure their well-deserved place in the final at Tynecastle next month.
From the team that faced Dundee United in the league campaign last week, Rachel McLauchlan returned to the backline alongside Nicola Docherty, Hannah Davison, and Lisa Martinez, with Victoria Esson given the nod to stay between the sticks behind them.
Tessel Middag and Chelsea Cornet made up the midfield with Brogan Hay, Sam Kerr, and Jenny Danielsson supporting Kayla McCoy up front.
As anticipated, Rangers showed how fired up they were to make an immediate impact in the early minutes of the game and with just six minutes elapsed on the clock, Chelsea Cornet was able to deliver the opening goal in Edinburgh.
The squad did well to navigate their way forward in the challenging conditions set by Spartans after Brogan Hay threaded a tantalising ball through the line of defence to link up with Cornet advancing towards the goal.
The versatile midfielder latched onto the end of her delivery before she dinked the keeper from the edge of the Spartan’s box to send the ball over the line and give her side the important early lead.
McCulloch’s side eagerly looked to rectify this and redirect the danger towards Esson between the Rangers posts. Rebecca Galbraith made a threatening run through to goal, but Lisa Martinez was alert and read the danger well to then intercept.
Spartans continued to play the ball forward as they looked to put everything level once more as Hannah Robinson swept the ball across the face of the Rangers goal in hopes to find a white shirt, but Davison read the play well and made a key block to head the danger away.
Rangers continued to push forward with intent as they looked to secure their second goal of the afternoon, but the home side continued to create a difficult environment on the pitch for the squad to break through.
Kayla McCoy showed impressive physicality in the middle of the park to maintain possession of the ball before she switched to Rachel McLauchlan down the right flank.
The defender curled in a delivery to meet the striker again between the posts, but the ball narrowly missed McCoy as a defender made an important clearance.
Thomson’s side continued to cause angst down the right side of the pitch after Sam Kerr raced forward and swept the ball into the penalty area for McCoy patiently waiting, but once again the threats were cleared.
Docherty did well to dart through a pocket of space with the ball before she unleashed a blistering strike towards the back of the net, but Rachel Harrison made an acrobatic save to agonisingly tip her effort over the crossbar and deny Rangers a second.
Less than a minute later, the referee pointed to the penalty spot after McCoy was brought down within the Spartans box.
With a calm demeanour, the striker stood up to execute the spot kick and slotted the ball past Harrison to stretch her side’s advantage before the end of the first 45.
As the two side’s returned for the second half, the Light Blues carried an abundance of energy as they looked to add to their tally once more.
As the clock was closing in on 60 minutes, Hay continued to be a thorn amongst the backline after the Ger made an intelligent-paced run down the right side towards the Spartans goal.
The Ger managed to pick out Danielsson pushing into the congested box and curled in a teasing ball to link up with the Ger at the back post.
Danielsson took a deft first touch from Hay’s delivery to calmly tap the ball over the line for the third time of the afternoon.
Substitute, Kirsty Howat, wasn’t shy to disrupt the opposition’s box. The striker engineered a testing strike after she intercepted a pass just outside the Spartans box. However, the Light Blue could only steer her effort wide of the back post.
The level of intensity didn't drift in the latter stages of the second half, as Howat and Hay created superb passages of play to weave their way through the defending back four.
Hay was then able to gain her third assist of the afternoon after she cut the ball back into the opposition’s box to meet substitute, Lizzie Arnot, who bombed her way towards the goal to get onto the end of Hay’s delivery.
Unsurprisingly, the striker made a confident connection with her effort to smash it into the back of the net and seal the fourth and final goal of the match to secure their place in the final at Tynecastle next month.
RANGERS: Esson, Docherty (Nolf, 61), McLauchlan, Davison, Martinez, Middag, Kerr, Cornet (Maclean, 61), Hay (Watson, 82), McCoy (Howat, 61), Danielsson (Arnot, 71).
SUBS: Fife, Orschmann, Cavanagh, McLeary
SPARTANS: Harrison, Mason (Bates, 68), Clelland, Jamieon, Marshall (McQuillan, 86), Reynolds, Galbraith, Jordan (McCafferty, 68), Robinson (Frew, 86), Smart, Ross
SUBS: Yates, S. McMahon, D. McMahon, Birse, Sidey
REFEREE: Colin Whyte
ASSISTANT REFEREES: Vicki Allan and Evan Cairns
FOURTH OFFICIAL: Rhys Struthers