Sport / Girls football team put in ‘outstanding’ performance in first trip south
THE SHETLAND girls under 16 football team travelled to Inverness last weekend to play in their first match on the Scottish mainland.
The team came up against reigning champions Inverness Caledonia Thistle in the Scottish Women’s Football (SWF) U16 regional league cup.
Shetland lost in a narrow 1-0 defeat but the blues struck the bar in the opening minutes and put up a determined fight.
The satisfaction of a good performance from the Shetland Girls was dented slightly by the unfortunate injury of playmaker Kayla Shearer, who suffered a broken collarbone late on in the game.
Coach and chair of Shetland Girls Football Paul Inkster said after the game: “The lasses were absolutely outstanding, couldn’t have asked for more.
“The Inverness coaches were well impressed with the lasses as was the referee.
“We were just so unlucky, had more chances but that’s football. The future [of girls football in Shetland] is bright.”
Inkster gave thanks to the people and organisations who made the trip possible – Scottish Sea Farms, NorthLink Ferries, coach Peter Anderson, parent helper Julie Williamson and Shetland Girls Football secretary Adam Priest.
Priest added that this trip will hopefully show the way for future Shetland involvement in competitive girls’ football.
“As of last November, Shetland Girls Football are now fully affiliated with Scottish Women’s Football,” he said.
“It has been a long process to get to this point, but the reward is getting to play competitive football against the best in the region.”
The amount of interest in girls football in Shetland also shows no sign of slowing down.
“We currently have over 100 girls from age seven to 17 with training spread over three hours in the Clickimin 60:40 on Sunday afternoons,” Priest said.
People looking for more information can search for Shetland Girls Football on Facebook.
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