Karen Mason has labelled it shocking that another opponent has failed to fulfil a Championship North fixture against Caley Thistle Women.
The Inverness team’s boss is less than impressed that, following on from Grampian forfeiting their match last week, Dundee West have also called off due to lack of players available to contest the game.
Other sides have also suffered the same fate as ICT, but two successive call-offs, not linked to illness, has stung Mason as her players have their eyes on moving up from fourth position.
She said: “We had Grampian last week and Dundee this week, so I don’t think anyone wants to travel here to play us for any reason, which is a bit of a shocker, to be honest, given the league we play in.
“If clubs are not willing to get a team together, there’s not much we can do.
“The requirements to get into this league are meant to be pretty high, so for teams not being able to fulfil fixtures at this stage of the season which are nothing to do with Covid is shocking. It shocking and shouldn’t be happening.
Dundee City West informed us today that they can not fulfil this fixture due to being unable to field a team ❌ pic.twitter.com/Q3AZWvrhKY
— Inverness Caledonian Thistle WFC (@ICTWFC) March 30, 2022
“We are in this league to compete as best we can. If places potentially come down to goal difference and we’re only getting a 3-0 win in a game where we could be scoring more then it’s pretty awful.
“We were awarded a 3-0 win last weekend and I’d imagine it will be the case for the Dundee game as it’s the same reason, being unable to raise a team.”
Three-week wait between matches
This latest call-off means the Inverness side have just three fixtures remaining this season.
The games resume with a midweek trip to Westdyke on April 13 before a game at Dundee West four days later and a final shot at home to Westdyke on April 24.
With their last outing being an impressive 1-1 draw against table-topping Montrose, the delay for action is not ideal for ICT, who could still finish in third position.
Mason added: “The Montrose match seems so long ago now and we don’t have a game next weekend either.
“We were meant to be playing Stonehaven and they’ve folded, so it’s not ideal preparation to not have a game until April 13.
“It’s been very stop-start, which is really frustrating, especially coming towards the end of the season.
“We have just three games left as we’ve played the rest of the available sides three times. We have two away games the our last one on April 24 will be at the Caledonian Stadium. Hopefully that will be at least be a nice end to the season.”
Keeper search always on at Inverness
One area of the team Mason is keen to bolster for next season is between the sticks.
It has been a case of filling the gaps when main stop-stopper this season, experienced Kim Jappy, has been unavailable.
Mason explained it’s a position she’d like to strengthen before the 2022/23 campaign starts later this year.
She said: “We’re always looking for a goalkeeper. Kim Jappy has helped us out the majority of the time, but she can’t always make it from Bettyhill.
“Our previous keeper Sarah Murphy has stepped in a couple of time, as have I, so it would be ideal if we could get a goalkeeper in place for next season. It’s always a difficult position to get someone for in this area unfortunately.”
