Boss Karen Mason admits Caley Thistle Women face a tough task if they want to rejoin the promotion chase from Championship North.
Last Sunday’s 3-1 home defeat against Dryburgh Athletic brought this term’s Championship Cup winners level on 24 points with ICT with a game in hand.
Caley Thistle trail leaders East Fife by nine points, but have a game in hand, while they are six points behind perfect starters Montrose, who have won all 10 matches and have played two less than ICT.
Each side plays three rounds of games, meaning Caley Thistle, who had only 13 available players last week, have still 12 of their 24 fixtures to go.
Although there are enough games remaining to generate a fresh charge for promotion, four defeats from 12 outings have been tough lessons for the group.
Mason said: “After Sunday, it felt as if we’d blown it, especially when we can’t get important results at home. How are we going to manage it anywhere else?
“There was a realisation that promotion, for us, maybe still is a long way off, but it is still there.
“There is a glimmer of hope, but until we start learning lessons from games there is no realistic chance for us unfortunately. That may sound negative, but that’s how it looks at the moment.
“We now have a run of games we’re expected to win, so hopefully we can rebuild our confidence to try and get our mojo back.”
Penalty goals left too much to do
On Sunday, a Tiegan Clark penalty gave Dryburgh the lead after just 11 minutes and, after numerous chances from ICT to level, another Clark spot-kick on the hour mark was a sore blow.
With the hosts pressing for a way back, Stacey McFadyen’s strike took the match out of reach. A late reply from Natalie Bodiam was only a consolation.
— Inverness Caledonian Thistle WFC (@ICTWFC) January 27, 2022
Mason felt the lack of a killer touch left the side with too much to do as they chased a result.
She said: “We conceded two penalties with two clumsy challenges. We still had opportunities to get back in the game and it was a familiar story in that we could not put the ball in the back of the net.
“When we did score, it was too little too late. We were 3-0 down and it was in the 90th minute, so it was not good enough. We had too many individual performances which were below par and unfortunately that let the team down as a whole.”
Looking to get back to winning ways
This Sunday, with second-placed perfect starters Montrose away to Livingston in the Scottish Women’s Cup, it means neither they or leaders East Fife are in league action.
Caley Thistle travel to eighth-placed Stonehaven, while Dryburgh are away to Westdyke, hoping for an Inverness slip-up to give them a chance to rise to third spot.
Stonehaven have not played since a crushing 22-0 hammering by East Fife on December 12, and lost 9-0 in the Highlands when they visited in October.
Mason acknowledges their opponents could still cause problems as they continue to get to grips with this division.
She added: “Stonehaven, I think, are not looking to do anything extravagant other than complete their season. They realise Championship football has maybe been a step too far for them.
“To their credit, they never give up and will be aiming to enjoy their football. We will be in for a game on Sunday.”
