Captain says Caithness Ladies are ready for new challenges
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CAITHNESS Ladies FC captain Hannah Morrison said her players are relishing the challenge of playing more games this year than ever before.
Due to being based in Thurso and with the nearest women’s team more than 100 miles away or a ferry trip across the Pentland Firth, the chance to test themselves against other clubs has been few and far between.
This season is different for the club who are aiming to play at least one friendly a month against teams from across Scotland with games already lined up against Edinburgh Caledonia, Inverness City, Queen’s Park, Raith Rovers and Turriff United.
Morrison said last season was the strongest the squad had been since the club formed in 2011.
But the central midfielder from Harpsdale said the lack of matches is preventing the team from realising its potential.
The 24-year-old said: “In previous seasons, we were lucky to get a game every three months. “Covering travelling costs to play games has always been a big factor for us and Inverness is one of the closest places to us which has a women’s football team.
“Last season we had a strong squad, but we just couldn’t get the experience of playing as a team.
“We were training hard but we weren’t getting anywhere because we just couldn’t get as many games as we wanted.”
The Scottish Cup is the only competition the club plays in and the progress Caithness has made was shown last season when they were 10 minutes away from the greatest result in the club’s history.
They led Edinburgh Caledonia 1-0 until conceding a late equaliser and went on to lose out 4-1 after extra time.
Despite the heartbreak, Morrison said the result proved they could compete with other teams from across Scotland and now they want more opportunities to prove it.
“That game was so sad as we played so well,” she said.
“But it was still the best result we’ve had in the Scottish Cup. “We just need to get the practice playing other teams as it is all about getting the experience to help us progress.”
As a teenager, Morrison played at Thurso High School, but there was then no senior women’s football team in the far north. She is delighted to see the women’s game progress and hopes that talented female footballers at high school level will have the ambition to look at Caithness Ladies FC to make the next step up.
She said: “We have around 30 players taking part in the training sessions which is good. “Girls’ football when I was at school was at a good level, but there were no senior teams. “It would be great to see more school players make the step up as well as more players from the local area joining us.”
With Pentland United defender Darryn Mackay appointed the club’s new manager this season, she believes it is moving in the right direction, which will lead to positive results on the pitch.
Said Morrison: “The training and the playing standard has improved significantly over the last three years. “The squad has footballers who have moved in to the area and have made a difference.
“With the new manager in place, I’ve definitely noticed a major difference in training. We train once a week at the moment but it is hoped to increase that to twice a week soon.”
With the women’s season about to kick off, Morrison is looking forward to seeing the club make further strides on and off the pitch. One of her wishes is that the club land a home tie in the Scottish Cup, something which has eluded them in the past.
“We would love a game at home,” said Morrison. “We should have had one last season against United Glasgow at Naver, but it was scrapped as they couldn’t raise a team to travel to Thurso and we got a bye to the second round.
“If we managed to get a Scottish Cup game at home, it would be great for our club as it would get us more recognition and more support for the club.”
