Shetland Women's FC

Kemnay Ladies visited Shetland on what must have been the coldest wettest weekend of the year. They started their visit with a warm up game on the Friday night in Brae against a mainly young team, made up of Delting, Unst and Thistle players, cruising to a 10 – 0 victory. Although this came at some cost to them as one player had to be ambulanced to the Gilbert Bain when she suffered a suspected dislocated kneecap after falling awkwardly.

The main event took place at Gilbertson Park on a dreich Saturday morning against a Shetland side, minus a few regulars due to the forthcoming Hockey Intercounty. Kemnay won the toss and decided to change ends to take the wind advantage for the first half. Shetland got off to a great start when Victoria Duthie got the ball on the half way line driving on towards goal and finishing well from the edge of the six yard box to put Shetland one up with only 2 minutes gone. Kemnay were getting into their stride now and were having more possession, playing some neat passes to work the ball forward, but the Shetland back four of Zoe Irvine, Debbie Sneddon, Carrie Morrison and Monica Manson were doing a fine job keeping them out. With 20 minutes on the clock Shetland got their second when a Karen McKelvie cross found it’s way through a tangle of Kemnay legs to the waiting Amber Johnson who fired home her first of the day. Shetland were also playing some good football with Irvine, Karen Jarvie and Duthie linking up well on the right flank. On the half-hour mark the persistence of Emma Gray was rewarded after her initial shot was well blocked by the Kemnay keeper, but Gray was alert enough to pounce on the loose ball to score a well deserved goal. Shetland made a change shortly before half time with Sara McGregor coming on for Johnson.

Second half saw Lara Jamieson coming on for Morrison at full back and Lara Thomson replacing the injured Jarvie in midfield. With the wind and rain at their backs, Shetland were looking to push the Kemnay defence back and get some space to have a pop from further out. This nearly paid off on 50 minutes when Jenny Richardson saw an opening and fired off a net-bound shot from the edge of the box which needed some brave defending from Kemnay to get a body in the way to deflect it wide. The pacey Richardson was given a rest after an hour, coming off for the return of Johnson up front. Johnson made an almost immediate impact, within 5 minutes of coming on she took the ball down just outside the D neatly sidestepped her marker and fired home her second, and Shetlands fourth. Kemnay pulled one back on 70 minutes when keeper Sarah Couper was forced to parry an awkward shot, which was back spinning on the greasy surface, into the path of a Kemnay forward who side footed it into the net. A tactical change was made with 10 minutes to go, Manson came off, Duthie moved to left back and Richardson came back on to see if her pace could be better used on the wing. She seemed to suit this role, skinning the left back a couple of times by knocking the ball past and using her speed to run onto the ball, but there wasn’t enough time to make a real impact as referee Dave Ferrier blew for time right on 90 minutes

This was a very encouraging performance from an unfamiliar Shetland line up playing in difficult conditions, which should bode well for Shetland with the proposed participation in the Scottish League.

Shetland Team
Sarah Couper, Zoe Irvine, Debbie Sneddon, Carrie Morrison, Monica Manson, Victoria Duthie, Karen McKelvie, Emma Gray, Karen Jarvie, Jenny Richardson, Amber Johnson, Sara McGregor, Lara Jamieson, Lara Thomsom.