Hearts hit five past Motherwell as “fantastic” Katie Lockwood stars

The 25-year-old scored a brace and also picked up an assist with Carly Girasoli, Jenna Penman and Eilidh Davies also getting on the scoresheet. Many expected the fixture to be a close tie with Motherwell coming into the capital on good form, but a sensational display ensured the result was never in doubt. Assistant manager Sean Burt was full of praise for Lockwood after the game with the attacker being central to their victory.

“Katie Lockwood has been absolutely fantastic since she signed for the club,” he told the Edinburgh Evening News. “She is so hard working off the pitch and so influential off it, we saw her at her very best today. She has been like that all season, all being very influential for us but today we saw her at her best, her most clinical and creative, it was fantastic.”

It was the perfect start for Hearts who quickly took charge of the game 10 minutes in . A fantastic ball from Esther Morgan split through the Motherwell backline and landed straight at the feet of the on running Lockwood who tapped home with a first time finish. Two minutes later, the hosts doubled their lead. A corner caused chaos inside the box which allowed Girasoli to head the ball into the net. Motherwell pulled one back midway through the half as Amy Anderson’s sensational, distanced volley buried into the corner of the net. Hearts should have restored their two-goal lead moments later as Adamolekun’s shot was pushed onto the bar after Georgia Timms’ excellent cross. However, the host’s third would come as Penman’s shot flew into the corner of the net to give them a comfortable lead at half-time.

Motherwell thought they had got themselves back into the game early in the second half when Kaela McDonald-Nguah found the net but it was brought back for offside. Hearts then looked to put the game to bed as Danni Findlay’s was inches away from Hearts’ fourth when her curly effort spun just past the post. Lockwood and Cailin Michie were next to go close but neither found the net. The game was finally put to bed when Findlay fed the ball to Lockwood, one-on-one, who made no mistake to get her second goal of the game. However, Hearts weren’t finished there. Goalscorer Lockwood became the provider as she squared the ball to Eilidh Davies to tap in the host’s fifth with her first touch as the hosts earned another resounding victory. 

“I am absolutely delighted for the girls, for the full 90 minutes they were good,” Burt added. “Motherwell, after a huge high last week were always going to be difficult but we controlled the full 90 minutes even when they had a spell in the second half when their energy levels had risen. Our game management was very good and, on another day, it could have been more. Overall, I am really happy, especially for a lot of the players because they don’t always get the plaudits. Jenna Penman was great today and Eilidh Davies came off the bench to score. These players tend to go under the radar but it just shows the strength in depth that we have.”