By Graham Falk
A late Lauren Davidson penalty ensured Glasgow City took all three points from a tough encounter with Hibs at Petershill Park this afternoon.
Goals from Priscila Chinchilla (29) and Davidson (85 pen) sealed the win after Colette Cavanagh (17) had given the away side the lead.
Head coach Eileen Gleeson handed starts to Peyton Perea and Julia Molin, as City looked to build on an impressive win over Hamilton as they took on fourth place Hibs.
The first chance of the game saw a pinball in the Hibs box, with Jenna Clark and Claire Walsh both having stabs at goal, but Dean Gibson’s side managed to hack the ball away.
A fantastic ball from Tyler Dodds put Kerry Beattie clean through just before the quarter hour mark, but the Northern Ireland international saw her effort go agonisingly wide.
Chinchilla was the next to test the Hibs goal, when she wriggled beyond three defenders and fired a venomous strike that English tipped over superbly.
However, it was the away side who would open the scoring. A rare foray forward saw Gibson’s team win a corner, which City managed to temporarily clear, but only to Cavanagh who lashed a superb drive beyond the stretch of Lee Alexander.
It didn’t take long for City to respond though, when an inch perfect cross from Tyler Dodds was nodded home at the far post by Chinchilla.
The Costa Rican forward almost doubled City’s tally just before the break with another superb solo effort, but her long range drive somehow stayed out, hitting the underside of the bar..
A competitive second half saw few chances fall either way, though a tackle from Hibs Cavanagh forced off Peyton Perea with an injury just before the hour mark.
A great piece of play from City almost put the home side in front through Lauder, when she was played in magnificently by substitute Lauren Davidson, but English got her fingertips to it to turn it around the post.
City went close again when a great passage of play saw Lauder realise Chinchilla in the area, but the Costa Rican couldn’t get the ball out of her feet and Hibs cleared.
However, with City pressure a corner struck the hand of the Hibs defender and gave Davidson the chance to win the game from 12-yards out - where she made no mistake.
They had to survive a scare, as a late flurry of Hibs corner went awfully close for the away as the Hibees threw the kitchen sink at Alexander’s goal - however, City survived to keep the points at Petershill.
City: Alexander, Molin (Agata Filipa 69), Foley, Walsh, Clark, Perea (Davidson 56), Fulton, Beattie, Chinchilla, Dodds, Lauder.
Hibernian: English, Hunter, Eddie, McGregor, Cavanagh, McAlonie, Penman, Gallacher, Notley, Murray, Morrison.