SWF round up from Regional League Cup semifinals

Alloa Athletic, Penicuik Athletic and Huntly have booked a first-ever appearance at a national cup final, joining Bishopton who return to the cup they won in 2021.

The semi-finals of the ScottishPower Regional League Plate saw Alloa Athletic beat Jeanfield Swifts 3-0 at the Indodrill, while Penicuik Athletic beat visiting Buckie Ladies 4-2 in Midlothian.

In the ScottishPower Regional League Cup, Huntly stunned Edinburgh South with early goals from Bethany Cochrane and Leah Mearns, and went in 3-0 up at half-time. The capital side came out full of belief and momentum for the second half and Anna Hume struck to pull one back just after the restart. Emily Dodds scored a second at the back post on the hour mark but Huntly held on to book their place in their first final with a 3-2 win in front of over 400 supporters.

The other semi-final saw Bishopton full of swagger in Angus against Arbroath, Hannah Coyle’s opener was cancelled out by former Forfar Farmington forward Claire Hendry, but Bishopton struck three times in less than five minutes through Hannah Scott, Catriona McAllister then Samantha Davies before half time to give Arbroath a mountain to climb in the second half. Scott added another on 75 minutes to go to give Bishopton an impressive 5-1 win and a date with the final in Alloa on 24 May.

Meanwhile, Renfrew Ladies came from behind to beat Rossvale 4-3 and extend their lead at the top of the Barclays Championship to five points, after a late goal by Stenhousemuir inflicted Falkirk’s first home defeat of the season in the Falkirk derby. Ayr United and Bonnyrigg Rose played out a 1-1 draw, and in the bottom half Dryburgh beat Forfar Farmington 2-0 while Inverness Caledonian Thistle moved away from the play-off spot with a 3-2 win at Morton.

St Mirren edged closer to the top of Barclays League One with 3-2 home win over Westdyke, after leaders Elgin City were held to a 3-3 draw with Dunipace. Quuen of the South beat Cambusdoon 5-3, Inverurie Locos came away from Airdrie with a 4-1 win and Edinburgh Caledonia beat Dunfermline Athletic 3-2 at Meadowbank to give themselves the slimmest hope of league survival. The capital side are nine points adrift at the foot of the table with just three games remaining.