Scottish Gas Women's Scottish Cup Semi-Final
Spartans v Heart of Midlothian
Sunday, 28 April 2024, kick off 12:15pm
Hampden Park

Spartans and Heart of Midlothian meet in the second Semi-Final on Sunday, with both sides making their first appearance at the National Stadium.

The match will kick off at 12:15pm live on BBC ALBA.

Previous Meetings 

The teams have met just twice this season and both matches have been tight affairs. Spartans led 3-1 in the first match at Ainslie Park but three goals in the last 15 minutes gave Hearts a 4-3 win. The more recent match was goalless until the 78th minute when it was settled by a strike from Katie Lockwood.

Cup Form 

Neither side has won this competition, though Spartans did reach the final in 2014 before losing heavily to Glasgow City.

Spartans have enjoyed a difficult season in the league but the cup has brought some welcome relief. 

 

They defeated Glasgow Women 6-1 before beating Aberdeen 2-1 in a tight contest at Ainslie Park. 

Livingston were up next in the Quarter-Final and they were dispatched 5-0 as Jack Beesley's side sealed their passage to Hampden Park. 

Hearts cruised through the first two rounds, scoring 19 unanswered goals against East Fife and Edinburgh Caledonia respectively.

They faced a tighter game in the Quarter-Final against another top six SWPL side in Queen's Park, before  Lizzie Waldie's secured a 1-0 win.

 

Pre-Match Thoughts

Spartans' Robyn McCafferty: "The cup run has definitely been the highlight of the season.

"I think everyone agrees we’ve played our best football in the Scottish Cup. Getting the goals in the Glasgow Women game was really important for building confidence, as was getting past Aberdeen in what was a really tough game.

"In Jack's team talk before the Quarter-Final against Livingston he put a picture of Hampden up on the dressing room wall and said, “Hands up, if you have ever played at Hampden.” and obviously nobody had.

"As much as we had to focus on making sure we beat Livingston, that was a huge motivation for me, and I’m sure it was the same in their dressing room."

Heart of Midlothian's Emma Brownlie: "It’s massive to get to the Semi-Final and for the game to be at Hampden too just makes it extra special. There’s that little bit extra added to it with it being two sides from Edinburgh and the games have been close this season so I’m expecting a really good contest.

"The Scottish Cup has been a huge part of my career. Every competition you go into you want to win but it’s been a few years since I’ve won a Scottish Cup myself now so it’d be nice to get to that point again but our focus is on the Semi-Final and getting through that first."

How to Watch

The match will be live on BBC ALBA.

Match Programmes 

Programmes will be available free of charge within the stadium.