Home discomfort

Posted on Sunday, March 10th, 2013

In the build up to the game much was written and said about how lucky we have been to play so many home cup games this season. That’s 2 home cup semi-finals, 2 close games and 2 losses for ‘The Spartans’ this past few weeks…trust me, I don’t feel like a lucky manager today.

However, I’m also far from being despondent, there are lots of positive we can take away from our performance level yesterday. On the day, we were un-done by 2 x set pieces, which is hugely disappointing…the fine detail cost us and it’s left a scar, however, the learn has also been banked.

Yes luck does play a part, however, in the great scheme of things I believe it does even itself out. After we beat WWFC 2-0 last October, the day after Micky talked about how sometimes ‘it just isn’t your day’…yesterday it was our turn to feel that way. We lost to a very good WWFC side, one that has enjoyed a great week with both of their league rivals dropping points + a cup semi-final win to celebrate (our 2 recent clean sheets and wins at Peffermill look much better today following Stirling Uni’ last min of extra time equaliser yesterday).

WWFC’s experienced and talented squad of 15/16 players is too good to be ranked as an underdog. Whitehill won a cup last year, Stirling won the league + cups…sadly for Spartans, we failed to win anything last season. Rest assured, we will continue to work hard and give everything to deliver silverware…there remains lots to play for this season. As for the Challenge Cup, I hope ‘The Welfare’ go on and beat Dalbeattie in the final.

In tennis terms we are ‘1 set all’ vs. The Welfare. In my 8 years playing for WWFC, we only played 4-5-1 once….against Alloa Athletic in a Scottish Cup replay (a game we lost). It’s a compliment to our new side that Micky set-up 4-5-1 yesterday. It takes time to get your rewards in this and/or any other game, so to speak. Sir Clive Woodward recognised this when he coined the phrase ‘winning doesn’t happen in a straight line’. We remain firmly focused on achieving our goals, one of them being to win trophies. Our Team kept going yesterday, we never gave up despite the heavy legs and that nagging feeling that the ball wasn’t bouncing in our favour.

Finally, it’s interesting to note we’ve not lost on the road this season…on their home ground most teams play with 2 or 3 up against us…which makes for a more open game and a chance for us to score on the counter-attack. Next Saturday, we are back on the road @ Riccarton, when winning 3 points will be our goal.

Just now, Stirling & WWFC are most people’s favourites for the title, however, we are in the hunt and determined to ensure it stays a 3 horse race until we meet both of our fellow title challengers later down the line.