St Johnstone Women finished 2023 in the same place they finished 2022, Meadowbank Stadium in a draw against Boroughmuir Thistle. This time, however, it was a 2-0 win for the home side.
Saints named an unchanged side from the one which defeated Gartcairn on Wednesday evening. The conditions were not going to be conducive to a good game of football, with a strong westerly wind blowing through the pitch.
Saints won the toss and elected to shoot with the wind behind their backs in the first half. Perhaps familiarity with the conditions was in their favour, as Boroughmuir defended well, and never allowed Saints to shoot from distance and test fifteen-year-old Natalie Angelini in the Boroughmuir goal.
Saints first real opportunity came after twenty minutes when a free kick was won out wide on the left. Nicole Carter stepped up and her effort went wide of the far-right post, caught by the wind perhaps, as the pace took it out before any players were able to get a touch on it at that back post.
Alix Moodie then launched a ball into the box which was easily gathered by Angelini as Steffi Simson and Elvie McLean closed in. The conditions were challenging, at one point Saints substitute Ellie MacIver called upon to hold back a corner flag in order for Nicole Carter to be able to strike the ball.
Boroughmuir’s first chance came in the first minute of the game when a well worked move down the right was crossed in with Beth Macleod not able to direct her effort goalwards. They were also testing Saints with repeated diagonal balls which were well dealt with by Eirinn McCafferty and Megan Burns. Rebecca Robertson and Megan Paterson in the centre of defence were also putting in some strong challenges to keep the Edinburgh side at bay.
The best chance for either side in the first half came right on half time and it fell to Saints’ Ellie-May Cowie. Scarlett Brady did well to win possession in midfield and play a ball out to the left where Megan Burns crossed it back in where Cowie dived and headed narrowly over the bar.
Into the second half and the home side would soon enjoy the bulk of possession and chances. Within the first ten minutes of the restart Beth Macleod had a tame effort saved, and Maria Novoa-Torrente curled in a ball which Lauren Hall came very close to knocking home at the back post.
There were a couple of desperate scrambles in the Saints box with bodies blocking shots and Ellie Mitchell being forced into a couple of good saves to keep the scores level. Saints first opportunity of the half was an Elvie McLean effort which looped over the bar. Two Saints substitutes, Eilidh Begg and Morgan Steedman worked well with Begg playing in Steedman whose effort went wide of goal.
With twenty minutes gone Beth Macleod found herself with space on the left to fire a low shot which had Mitchell diving to her right and watching the ball only just go past the post. It was a pre-curser of what was to follow when with ten minutes remaining a near identical effort from Macleod snuck inside the post to give Thistle the lead.
Their second followed just minutes later. A free kick was sent high into the box and substitute Cara Borthwick rose to head the ball past Mitchell. She nearly got a second goal when she was played through but this time fired wide.
And so Saints finished 2023 with a defeat at Meadowbank. Interestingly enough, as it would turn out, history didn’t just repeat itself with the location of the final match of the year. In 2022 the final match of the year here was also the final match before Murdo Steven stepped away from the club due to other commitments. In 2023 the same thing happened again, this being the last match before a new job and its workload saw Jamie Reynolds stepping away from his joint manager role at the club.