Caithness aim to learn lessons from defeat to leaders Buckie before Highland League Cup final
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CAITHNESS Ladies manager Tom McKenna hopes his team learn lessons from their 1-0 defeat to Buckie in the Highlands and Islands League before they face each other again in the League Cup final.
The countdown is on for the biggest game in the club's history when Caithness face Buckie in the Highlands and Islands League Cup final at Station Park in Nairn on September 24.
However, McKenna says his team will need to improve their performance from their narrow defeat against the league leaders at Naver on Sunday.
Emily McAuslan scored the only goal of the game to give Buckie victory on the artificial pitch in Thurso.
McKenna says it was a poor performance from his team, but they will look to learn from the clash before the two teams meet in the final next month.
"In all honesty, we really underperformed," he said.
"I said to them after the game, in my time as manager, that was the worst performance they have put in.
"I don't know if it was nerves playing against the league and cup holders, and the fact Buckie are top of the league, that they couldn't get over the mental block.
"But we only had two shots on goal, and nothing went right, with not enough players turning up on the day.
"There was a mental block there and perhaps they put themselves under unnecessary pressure and gave Buckie too much respect.
"Perhaps the pitch was the problem, we had to play at Naver instead of Castletown and i'm not sure the girls suit the all weather pitch.
"But there is a positive to take that we underperformed but only lost 1-0 and knowing that we can play a lot better than that.
"I just hope they can use Sunday as a bit of motivation and hunger to approach the final, knowing that we need to do better."
Caithness have two league games before the Highland and Islands League Cup final, when they will travel to North Kessock to face Ross and Cromarty on Sunday, before hosting Brora Rangers in Castletown on September 17.
Caithness are in third place in the league in their best campaign since the competition was established in 2019.
However, the league title is out of reach for Caithness, as they are 15 points behind Buckie, with only four games remaining.
McKenna says with the league title out of reach, he will be approaching their remaining league games as preparation for the League Cup final on September 24, aiming to win their first ever piece of silverware.
"The girls have been training twice a week and they are really invested into what we are doing at the club," he said.
"We need to have continuity, but we are not going to win the league, despite going above and beyond the expectations we set ourselves.
"The next two games and the training sessions prior will be focussing on the final and setting ourselves up for that one game.
"I probably will experiment and try out the thoughts I have in my head and attempt to put that into practice and give the girls a better understanding what is expected.
"We are looking to build up confidence in the next two matches before the cup final."
