Close defeat by 3rd placed Milne Craig Clydesdale Western

Watsonians 1 – Milne Craig Clydesdale Western 3

With confidence restored after last week’s well deserved, albeit last minute victory against local rivals CALA, the Ladies 1s faced Clydesdale Western in the late afternoon slot at Peffermill on Saturday 27th February.

Watsonians started the game strongly, moving the ball confidently between the lines and maintaining possession under pressure. Western capitalised on a circle entry 20 minutes into the first half, securing the lead after a well placed deflection by Sarah McHugh.

Watsonians responded to this by stepping up the pace and continuing with the game plan. Patience paid off and after a succession of well placed passes moving round the back and through the mid-field, Heather Elder entered the D finding Mairi Shaw for a strike on goal. The ball was dramatically placed in the back of the net following an aerial deflection by captain Nikki Stobie, making the score 1-1 at half time.

The second half brought a sustained period of pressure from Western, the current third placed team in National 1, leading to goals by Western players Katie Crawford and Millie Steiger. Watsonians continued to press the Glasgow side until the final whistle, however the score remained 3-1 at the close of play. Post match analytics revealed a relatively close game in terms of procession, with Western capitalising on their chances more efficiently in comparison to the home side. A special mention goes to Megan Metcalfe who put in a great performance in goal, making a number of key saves, in the absence of Nikki Robertson. Both teams were missing players due to the Scotland Women’s tour of South Africa, Watsonians missing recently capped Emily Newlands in defence.

Having been beaten the following day by Edinburgh University and knocked out the Cup, the Ladies 1s will continue their National 1 campaign next week with a double header league match weekend which includes games against Glasgow side Western Wildcats and local Edinburgh rivals ESM.