Livingston fell to a heavy defeat in a tough opening day fixture against Hamilton Academical. A double from Lauren Evans were only a consolation as a rampant Accies side ran away with the three points at New Douglas Park.

The opening day saw Paul Greig give competitive debuts to new signings Rachel Pirie, Summer Laird and Mia McArthur, whilst Erin Burns made her second debut for the club.

Accies fired an early warning sign to the Livi backline as a fantastic ball by Reid was met by Giard, but the Lionesses were spared as the forward’s effort went narrowly wide. Giard turned creator as Accies opened the scoring in the 16th minute, cutting back for Kerr to fire in.

Erin Burns was denied a goal on her return after being flagged offside, before Accies passed up another good chance from Reid.

The Lionesses did find themselves level on the half hour mark through Lauren Evans. The forward rose highest and directed a header which bounced into the back of the net following a McArthur corner kick.

Accies regained the lead before half time, with their own corner kick winding up at the feet of Coakley who emphatically fired high into the back of the net.

The Hamilton captain Coakley added a second and Accies third shortly after half time, heading in from a corner. Livi’s misery was compiled as Giard capitalised on a mistake to make it four, before Townsley and Brown gave Accies a commanding lead with six goals scored.

Lauren Evans headed home a late consolation and was also denied a hat trick with a header cleared off the line. The returning Rachel Walkingshaw went close with a free kick that struck the crossbar.

A tough afternoon for the Lionesses who will need to dust themselves off as they host Boroughmuir Thistle next weekend.

Match Report: Angus McGregor

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