Caley Thistle Women’s boss Karen Mason is calling on her players to prove they can handle high-pressure Championship North contests.
A sore 2-1 home defeat by East Fife on Sunday was the second loss by that scoreline against their promotion rivals, having lost to them on the opening day of the season.
The Inverness side were also beaten by leaders Montrose early on in the campaign, but a solid run of five victories and plenty of goals gave them a chance to move into second place at the weekend.
🗣 Dryburgh Athletic Women welcome @ICTWFC to the City of Discovery this weekend in the @SWFChampionship North.
⏰ KO 2pm
🏟 Regional Performance Centre, Mains Loan, Dundee
👏🏻 Come along & cheer on the teams!
🟣🔵 #SWFChampionship pic.twitter.com/5RsI0lxL4V
— Dryburgh Athletic Girls & Women (@Dryburghgirls) November 16, 2021
However, the result at Inverness Royal Academy saw them fall to fourth spot and they now sit three points behind Sunday’s opponents Dryburgh, who they tackle in Dundee.
Side have to handle heat better – boss
Mason admits the latest performance really must act as a wake-up call to the Caley Jags squad as they seek maximum points on Tayside.
She said: “We were really disappointed. If we can’t perform in these big games, we all individually need to look at ourselves. We need to consider what we could have done better.
“Everyone felt they let one another down. They let themselves down, they let me down and we had an opportunity and we blew it.
“We’re not even halfway through the season, so there is still a long way to go. This has been a wake-up call for the girls.
“They have to realise we have to perform in these big games and we haven’t done it. We didn’t do it against East Fife or Montrose earlier in the season and we’ve lost to East Fife again.
“Although there’s lot of time and games left, if things don’t improve and shake up quickly, it’s going to be a longer season than we expected.
“It will have to be a quick learning curve if we’re to turn this around. It’s a case of dealing with the pressure better. That needs to be addressed.
“The girls are so good in training and I didn’t see a performance like Sunday coming.”
Down in numbers for Dryburgh clash
Inverness CT have yet to play Dryburgh as a Covid issues hit Athletic when they were due to play at the Caledonian Stadium.
Mason explained their prospects for facing Dryburgh are hampered in terms of player availability.
She added: “The good thing is there is always a game around the corner to bounce back from. We’ll be looking for a reaction.
“However, we’re almost struggling for a squad this weekend. We have gone from having lots of numbers to having lots of injuries.
“Our captain, Kirsty Deans, didn’t make it on Sunday after getting injured and she was a massive miss. We also have Jana Brady out as well, so our central midfield is very weak, so that’s an area we’re working on without having those two big players.”
Reaction came too late to earn point
After slipping to a 2-0 interval lead against East Fife, a strong response came from ICT, but Julia Scott’s goal was not enough to peg back their visitors.
Mason felt their reaction came all too late. She said: “We only seemed to get going in the second half. It was like we panicked in the first half.
71’| 1-2
GOAL! Julia Scott gets one back after meeting Tina Kelly’s cross in the middle!
📺 Watch live here 👉 https://t.co/JqwXC79pHi
— Inverness Caledonian Thistle WFC (@ICTWFC) November 14, 2021
“We had only two players perhaps play to their potential. Everyone else was hiding and underperformed by far compared to the standards we’re capable of.
“We gave them a two-goal start and, although we came out fighting in the second half, it was too late. The damage was done.”