It's a huge weekend for both the men's and women's first teams as the play-offs get underway at Glasgow Green.
The boys go into their game against Hillhead full of confidence (1530). They comfortably made second place and feel that they have enough in their locker to beat the west end side, in spite of Hillhead's outstanding season. Honours are with Western thus far after thumping Hillhead at Glasgow Green 3-0 thanks in no small part to two goals from Gary Maitles (we only credited him with one at the time and so feel that a measure of sycophancy is merited at this juncture) before a 4-4 draw in a tousy fixture at Auchenhowie.
Western are, of course, a side capable of great things on their day while prone to mediocrity when not on their game (last Saturday's home defeat to Dundee Wanderers being an excellent case in point). One theory is that Western play best when focused and under a degree of pressure to perform. If this is the case, then Saturday should suit them. One thing is for sure, Hillhead have been written off before now and come back to prove they are well worth their place in the top four. Underestimate them at your peril.
Harry said, "We have a very confident group going into the match on Saturday. Its important we do not underestimate what is required as Hillhead have without doubt started well but more importantly continued playing well for the full season. They will be a hard team to beat. However, if Western have aspirations of playing in Europe, we need to beat them. It’s also possible we will play the same team twice so, even if we win on Saturday, we may very well meet Hillhead again a week later."
One advantage he feels Western have is the fact that they have been around the block where big games are concerned. "What's great about the group is the amount of experience we have," he said. "So many of the team have played in this sort of pressure fixture before either for Western or for national teams and the younger guys who haven't are very focused on meeting the standard required. We are really looking forward to the challenge."
Western have a full squad for the match on Saturday and expect to field a full squad for each of the play off matches unless there are injuries.
The winner of Western versus Hillhead automatically goes through to play-off for the final next Saturday. The loser plays the loser of the Kelburne versus Grange game in Sunday's second bite match, the winner of which makes it to next Saturday too. The winner of Kelburne versus Grange goes straight to next Sunday's final. Feel free to read that through a few times till you've got it.
The girls have hit a nice wee run of unbeaten form recently with five points from three games. They have the toughest of their games in Relegation Pool A on Saturday - against Kelburne at 1330 - before facing GHK on Sunday (1130). Wildcats have been bouyed by their emphatic 3-0 over the Paisley side last Saturday and feel that they have the measure of GHK having taken four points from their two games against them already this season.
Kaz said, "We have been playing really well recently and it's important that we keep that going into the play-offs. We believe that we are one of the top ten teams in the country but we now need to actually prove it by winning the games that count. The girls are looking forward to the challenge and are excited about the weekend."
Wildcats have Catriona Booth missing but everyone else available.
It isn't just the top teams playing crucial fixtures this weekend, though. The Men's 2s have slipped a bit in recent weeks with three straight defeats and find themselves looking down the barrel of relegation again. They play second-bottom Stepps 2s at Millerston (1530) on Saturday. Win, and Western are nearly home and dry. Lose and they must pick up six points from their last two games. Squeaky bum time indeed.
The Women's 2s are also battling the drop. They must win their last two games, both of which are at the weekend. On Saturday they are at home to Dumfries (1400) and on Sunday play Greenock at Auchenhowie (1400).
The Women's 3s play their final league game at home to Strathclyde University 2s (1530).
The Men's 3s are still in with a shout of second place in West District Division 1. They are at home to Glasgow Accies (1030) on Saturday and will expect to win given their splendid 6-0 victory last week. The 4s are at home to Kelburne 5s (1200) and the 5s are at Glasgow High School to play Rottenrow 3s (1500).