Monday 14 Sep 2026

Howe Strikes to Send Celtic Women Through

Celtic Women advanced to the last eight of the Sky Sports Cup in a hard-fought 1-0 win over a resilient Spartans side thanks to a goal from Northern Ireland winger Casey Howe.

The 24-year-old from Enniskillen, who was making her first start of the season, scored the decisive goal nine minutes before the break, her second since joining the club in the summer.

“As a whole, the performance was good,” she told the Celtic website. “But there is a lot we can work on; there were plenty of positives, it was definitely good to get the win and get into the next round.

“Anytime to score is good, but I think getting the goal before half-time settled the game a bit and allowed us to play football. 

“Credit to Spartans though, they made it really difficult for us to break them down. As a winger, I like to get on the ball and get at people and I feel like I was able to do that today.”

Also on the scoresheet over the weekend was Portsmouth striker Kerry Beattie, who scored her first goal for the club following their 4-0 National League South victory at Plymouth Argyle.

In the semi-finals of the Women’s Irish FA Challenge Cup, Louise McDaniel made it five goals in four games after finding the net for Cliftonville in their 3-0 success over Crusaders Strikers.

The Reds will now meet Glentoran in the final at the National Stadium at Windsor Park on 24^th October after the east Belfast side defeated Lisburn Ladies in the other semi-final. 

In the WSL1, Rebecca McKenna started, and Rebecca Holloway appeared as a substitute as Birmingham City secured their first point of the season in a 2-2 home draw against Brighton & Hove Albion. Meanwhile, Ellie Mason played the full 90 minutes of Charlton Athletic’s 1-0 home defeat to Everton. 

In the Premier League in England, Shea Charles starred in the heart of Fulham’s midfield as the Cottagers picked up their first point of the season in their goalless draw with Liverpool at Anfield. 

Sunderland defender Daniel Ballard faced his former club Arsenal on Saturday, winning a controversial second-half penalty that was subsequently missed by Enzo Le Fée. Teammate Trai Hume watched the eventual 2-0 defeat to the Champions as an unused substitute.

Eighteen-year-old Braiden Graham was again an unused substitute as Everton picked up a point in their 0-0 draw at Spurs. The former Linfield player could though, make his Toffee’s debut in their League Cup tie against Wolves on Wednesday evening. 

In League Two, Chesterfield claimed a 2-1 victory at Oldham Athletic, with Lee Bonis slotting home his second goal of the season after reacting fastest to his own missed penalty. Elsewhere, Gillingham defeated Tranmere Rovers 2-0, though the win was marred by an injury to Ronan Hale just moments after he scored their second goal.

“He (Ronan) had a nasty kick after he put it in,” said Gills boss Gareth Ainsworth. “You want Ronan on the end of things in the box. He's dynamite around there. 

“His ankle has swelled up quite badly,” added Ainsworth. “We're going to have to make sure that we look after him.”

Finally, in the U18 Premier League, Conor Madden was on target for Brentford U18’s win at AFC Bournemouth, while former Cliftonville youngster Eamon Tohill scored his fourth of the campaign in Middlesbrough’s 1-0 win over Nottingham Forest.