HIBERNIAN’S fourth successive SWPL Cup win over Glasgow City on Friday night was a personal triumph for vice-captain Rachael Small, as well as a tribute to the tenacity of her team-mates.

In other circumstances the energetic midfielder might have expected to be named in Shelley Kerr’s 23-player squad for the World Cup which is being named on Wednesday. Having had her international career derailed under Anna Signeul, she re-established herself in the Scotland squad under Kerr and posted impressive performances at the start of last year.

Small’s pregnancy, and the birth of her daughter Amelia in September, put an end to any notions of France. She and her fiance, Hibs player Martin Boyle, will get married on June 15, the day after Scotland’s second Group D game against Japan in Rennes.

Small returned to training with Hibs in January and turned in a performance in the final which had a huge influence on the outcome. The 27-year-old was full of energy, had what looked like a perfectly valid goal disallowed when she lobbed City goalkeeper Erin Clachers in regulation time, and still had enough puff after the 120 minutes to convert Hibs’ second penalty in the 4-2 shoot-out win.

“I was delighted to be part of the squad on Friday night and lift the trophy again,” she said the morning after, having relieved her partner of their eight-month-old so he could go to training as he recovers from a serious knee injury.

“Martin really wanted to go to the final, and we even thought about bringing Amelia, but decided it best to keep her in her routine. He had her watching it on TV till she fell asleep.”

The cup-winners’ medal capped an eventful seven days for the player, who spent last weekend in Marbella on her hen do. Most people involved in such rites do not return to their usual orbits for several days, but the midfielder is more disciplined.

“I’m not a big drinker anyway, so every-one who was on the hen do knew that,” she said. “I was well aware of the massive game I was coming back to, but I managed to enjoy myself.”

The only downside for Small, and Hibs, is that the trip to Spain meant she missed last Sunday's 3-0 loss to Celtic, a result which has seriously damaged the club's hopes of a first league title for 13 seasons. Captain Joelle Murray, who was ill, and midfielder Amy Gallacher, who was injured, also returned on Friday night to play their parts in the latest cup win.

Small's arrangements for the Marbella jaunt were made before the fixtures were released, and in any event she surprised herself by returning to full fitness so quickly – having not expected to do so until the second half of the season. Instead, the week's contrasting results demonstrated she has very quickly become a key component of the Hibs side again.

FRIDAY'S official attendance was given to the media as 981, which is comfortably more than the previous record of 651 who attended last year's final at Falkirk Stadium.

That means I have to accept I was wrong in anticipating the attendance would suffer on account of the venue and the switch to a Friday night. It would therefore be entirely churlish to point out that the majority in the ground were granted free entrance – and that under these circumstances a Sunday afternoon final, in better weather conditions, might have attracted an even bigger crowd.

WHAT has been an amazing season for Erin Cuthbert was rounded off in style on Friday night when she was named as Chelsea's player of the year. To my mind, she and Liverpool's Andy Robertson are the most inspirational Scottish players of their generation.