Football is not a forgiving environment. If Ava Easdon didn’t appreciate it before Sunday’s Sky Sports Cup final, she will now.
Yet, the 17-year-old’s weaknesses were held up to the most sarcastic and condescending of critiques this weekend. Still at school and thrust into the cup final because regular custodian Megan Cunningham was ineligible to play against her parent club, Easdon did not need the pile-on that came on the back of Joey Barton’s whistle to his 2.8million lapdogs.
That the teenager was badly at fault as Mia McAulay netted the opening goal of a game that Rangers went on to win 4-1 is inarguable.