By Andrew Scott

Motherwell Ladies defeated SWPL 1 side Spartans at Forthbank Stadium to reach the SSE Scottish Women’s Cup final for the first time where they’ll face reigning champions Hibernian.

Second half goals from Kerry Montgomery and Caitlin Russell sealed a 3-1 victory for the ‘Well after Tegan Reynolds had cancelled out Megan Burns’ early goal.

The Women of Steel will now attempt to complete a league and cup double at Firhill on 4 November and manager Donald Jennow looks forward to the challenge ahead.

“I said it in every interview that I did leading up to the game that we were absolutely underdogs as Spartans had been on a fantastic run, so it was going to be a massive challenge for us. The players, every single one of them stood up to it and overcame that challenge,” said Jennow.

“Yes, they got a goal against us but I kind of expected one of those games, it’s a cup tie, it’s a semi-final, you’re going to get goals.

“I thought we had to maturity and I thought we had the experience to deal with that kind of thing and that’s what we proved.”

The Steelwomen went a goal up in the first half, but the Edinburgh side pulled the game level before a late ‘Well double. Jennow praised his sides ability to go on and win the game despite the setback.

“I was never particularly concerned when the goal went in, it’s something that happens in games of football and you just need to deal with it and make sure you’ve got the character and resolve to step on and continue to execute the game plan.”

The ‘Well gaffer added that the experience he had in the squad was a crucial component to getting the win.

“We were going to use the strengths that we’ve got and one of the strengths that we have is the experience within the squad.

“I asked the players at half time how many of them had been in a cup final and how many wanted to go into another one and there was an awful lot of players that put their hand up, which definitely helped us today.”

Jennow believes that having defeated top-tier opposition in the competition so far, his players will be up for the challenge of defeating reigning champions Hibs in the final.

“It’s a massive achievement, the players were fantastic today, I thought it was a really professional performance and they fully deserved it. I thought all round to a woman they were excellent.

 “We are relishing the challenges to go play an SWPL 1 team, we relish the chance, even more, to go up and play Hibs who are up there battling for the league and winners of the cup for the last two years.

“It will be a huge challenge, a massive test, they’ve got really good players – but so do I.”

You can watch the full interview here: