The first half of the SWF Championship season has felt a bit like a rollercoaster for Karen Mason’s Caley Thistle Women.
Inverness kicked off the inaugural Championship campaign – after last year’s north and south leagues merged to form a national division – with a bang as they defeated Rossvale at home in a nine-goal thriller.
However, after the win on the opening day, three consecutive defeats against Hutchison Vale, Renfrew and Greenock Morton followed.
In September and October, a defeat to Livingston, was sandwiched between a 3-2 away win at Dryburgh Athletic and another high-scoring game – which finished 3-3 – with Ayr United.
The draw with Ayr started a successful month for Caley Thistle, as they finished October undefeated, also beating Edinburgh Caledonia in the League Cup, Hutchison Vale in the league and drew 0-0 with Renfrew.
That undefeated run continued into November as Inverness beat Dryburgh 3-2 at home, but it was to be their last league win of the calendar year due to subsequent defeats to Livingston and Ayr.
But Inverness did end 2022 with a victory, and it was an impressive one at that, as they defeated current Championship leaders Livingston 2-1 in the third round of the Scottish Cup.
After their final match of the year was postponed due to the weather, Inverness go into 2023 sitting fourth in the Championship, with four wins, two draws and seven losses.
They trail third-placed Renfrew by 12 points, and Caley Jags boss Mason admits it’s not where her side had expected to finish the first half of the campaign.
“Overall, we’re disappointed with where we see ourselves in the table,” Mason said.
“Our expectations, especially after the first round of fixtures, when we had played every team once, were that we should’ve been closer to the top end of the table than we were.
“We’ve had some great results that we’ve dug out with a small squad, because of injuries and unavailability, but then we’ve had other poor results that just shouldn’t have happened.
“The story has been inconsistency, so there’s been highs and there’s been lows. There have been a few things we’ve tried to address and get right – and that work continues when we get back in the new year.”
Error which saw ICT exit League Cup was Mason’s lowest moment
An adminstrative issue has been the low point for Mason so far this term, as Caley were were kicked out of the Championship and League Cup for fielding an ineligible player – which the manager took full responsibility for.
It meant their 2-0 quarter-final win over Dryburgh Athletic was retrospectively awarded to the Dundee side, who would go on to reach the final, where they were beaten on penalties by FC Edinburgh.
“From my perspective, one of the biggest lows was playing the ineligible player in the cup,” Mason added. “Having to watch that cup final was painful.
“I was sitting thinking that could’ve – or should’ve – been us.”
Development of youth players a big positive
In contrast, one of Mason’s highlights so far this season so far has been seeing young talents come through the player pathway and make their senior Caley Thistle debuts.
The Inverness boss has handed debuts to under-18 players Iona MacArthur, Millie Carr, Ellie Anderson and Emily Murray – and has been impressed with the impact they’ve made so far.
“It’s a testament to the pathway that we’ve got in place now,” Mason said. “It shows the quality that we’ve got in the youth teams, which is really promising.
“Hopefully it will help push on some of the senior players as well, because they know, if they’re not pulling up their socks, one of the young guns will come in and replace them.
Congratulations Emily 🔴🔵 https://t.co/Z5QoVGxZOG
— Inverness Caledonian Thistle WFC (@ICTWFC) December 4, 2022
“We’ve had full confidence in the girls that have stepped up. Iona MacArthur is 15 years old and she’s come in and is starting week in, week out.
“We hope for the same with the other girls soon enough as well.
“The young players coming in and doing well has been a massive high for us.”
Looking ahead to 2023
So – what does Mason want Inverness to improve on if they’re to experience more highs than lows when the fixtures resume in 2023?
“It’s consistency I’m looking for,” Mason said. “I know fine well that we can perform at the top end of the table in terms of our performances and the squad that we have.
“We have the quality to compete, but we just haven’t done that week in and week out. We need to take what we do at training into games, and not throw that work out the window.
“I want the players to play the best they can every week and not just once in a while.”
At this point in the season, Inverness have been able to reflect on their concrete ambitions for the coming months and while Mason didn’t entirely rule out aiming for promotion, she admits it’s a task her side might not quite be ready for.
“I don’t think promotion would necessarily be the goal this year,” Mason added. “We’re maybe not in the strongest position for that as a squad yet.
“The goal will remain to get as close to the top of the table as we can. We’ve given Livingston a 20-point head start, so if that gap is considerably smaller at the end of the season, then that’s progress.
“All we can really look for is seeing improvements from the first half of the season.”
Kicking off the new year with SWPL 1 test in the cup
Caley Thistle’s first game back on January 8 will be one of the biggest challenges they will face all season, as they travel to SWPL 1 side Glasgow Women in the Scottish Cup.
Glasgow Women are bottom of the top-flight, with zero points from 13 games, but that doesn’t mean Mason is writing them off.
The Caley Thistle boss recalls her side’s humbling experience against Hamilton Accies, who were bottom of SWPL 1 when they met in the third round of the Scottish Cup last year.
“For us, Glasgow Women was probably the best of the worst that we could’ve gotten because we’ve avoided the professional teams like Glasgow City, Celtic and Rangers,” Mason said.
“We took a doing (14-0) off Hamilton when we played them in the Scottish Cup last year, so we know that any game against a SWPL 1 team is really difficult.
“The game will be off the back of a long break, but it does give us a chance to test ourselves against a team who play in the best league in the country.
“The message will be the same as it was in the last round against Livingston, which is go out there and do your best and just try and enjoy the occasion.”
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