Unlike the Men’s competition, every place in the top four of Women’s Division 1 is up for grabs with four teams separated by only three points. Our girls are second, two points off first but only one ahead of Clydesdale Western and Saturday’s opponents Dundee Wanderers (1400) in joint third.
The trip to Dundee will be tough but the girls take enormous confidence from their excellent current form. They beat Edinburgh University 3-2 at Peffermill before grinding out 2-0 wins against Grange and Hillhead despite something of an injury crisis last weekend.
“The run we’ve been on has been great,” said Kaz. “Obviously it was disappointing to lose on penalties to Watsons but given how many senior players we were missing I think the win at Hillhead and then taking Watsonians as far as we did speaks volumes for the squad and the character of the girls.”
“In particular, Jane McLaughlin has been outstanding in goal for us recently. Dani MacMurray has chosen to return to Australia but I really don’t think that this is the blow is might have been as Jane is so good and such a team player. To replace one international goalkeeper with another shows how strong we are as a club.”
“We have everyone back this Saturday and we are going to Dundee looking to win. The top four is so tight that we just have to focus on winning our last few games and see where it takes us. At the moment, anything is possible.”
The Women’s 2s go to league leaders Rottenrow in what looks like a tough fixture. The 3s are at home to bottom-of-the-table Ardrossan (1530).
The Men’s 1s are also facing the team bottom of their league. Gordonians have struggled badly in the top flight and are yet to register a single point. They have conceded 98 goals in just 14 games and ten of those were at Auchenhowie in the Autumn. This must be a win and an opportunity for Western to improve their goal difference.
The 2s are enduring a grim run of form. One analysis is that they are not playing any worse than they were when they were winning but whereas before they were edging games by a single goal now they are losing them by the same. Saturday’s home fixture against Kelburne 2s (1400) gives them the opportunity to put things right.
The 3s and the 4s both welcome Ayr. The 3s host their 1s at 1100 and the 4s their 2s at 1400. These games have a tendency to go the way of the home team so here’s hoping that pattern is followed on Saturday.