Home   Sport   Article

Sky is the limit for Buckie Ladies as squad limber up for return to league action


By Alan Beresford

Easier access to your trusted, local news. Subscribe to a digital package and support local news publishing.



Click here to sign up to our free newsletters!

THE return of league action after a break of over a year has got the Buckie Ladies FC squad buzzing.

Buckie Ladies FC are raring to get back into league action after over a year. Picture: Daniel Forsyth
Buckie Ladies FC are raring to get back into league action after over a year. Picture: Daniel Forsyth

As with the rest of football, the Covid pandemic and lockdown restrictions has played havoc with the team's fixtures. Indeed, the very weekend last March when they were to undertake their first Highlands and Islands League fixture saw the SFA put the sport in lockdown.

However, the waiting is finally over, with the Merson Park side due to make the trip up north to play Brora Rangers on Sunday, June 27 in their first league fixture.

Eagerly awaiting the chance to return to competitive action is Buckie Ladies manager Mel Smith.

She said: "It's been a long, long time since we've played a league game and there's been so much uncertainty about what was going to happen due to the lockdown restrictions.

"Until our friendly against Nairn the other week, we haven't played a game since November.

"Although we were allowed to start training again in April, we couldn't do contact training until three weeks ago. Moray was a week later than most of the rest of the country going down to level 2 so we are effectively a week behind the rest of the league on that.

"The squad are just buzzing at the prospect of getting back into league action, especially after such a long break.

"They've kept themselves in very good shape despite the lockdown, I've been very impressed with them in training.

"I was also very impressed with their performance in our first friendly against Nairn when we won 5-0.

"Covid has been tough on them but they quines are mega-chuffed to be back playing games again."

Due to the long lay-off Buckie Ladies, as with other teams in the league, have a lot of new faces, making it more difficult to gauge opponents.

Smith went on to say there will be an element of trial and error initially.

"I'll stick with the 4-2-3-1 formation I've been using; I might change that later but I think I'll run with that for now until I see how the league beds it.

"Like a lot of other teams we've basically got a whole new squad.

"I've a lot of confidence in the squad we've got at the moment. There's a lot of strong midfielders in the squad and we've got exciting players like Abbie Marshall, who is outstanding on the wing, and young striker Milly Findlay, who got a hat-trick against Nairn.

"One of the things I am looking to to do is get the team playing wider rather than through the middle.

"As I said, they'll all need time to bed into their positions.

"We're always looking for more players/work and family commitments mean that we can be down to the bare bones on match day even though we've got a sizeable squad on paper."

Although the season is starting again, it will not be in the same form as before.

Smith continued: "Normally we'd start around March but due to the lockdown we're starting in June.

"As a result, we're only going to play each other once rather than twice.

"We haven't had a proper pre-season due to the Covid restrictions although that's been the same for everyone.

"There'll be a lot of unknowns and basically I want Buckie Ladies to finish as high as possible. Once we get into the swing of things I think we'll surprise a few people along the way.

"A top half finish is a possibility, we've got a good squad who are very committed and we have the ability to do it."

BLOB For more information about Buckie Ladies, including their training evenings, visit their Facebook page.


Do you want to respond to this article? If so, click here to submit your thoughts and they may be published in print.



This site uses cookies. By continuing to browse the site you are agreeing to our use of cookies - Learn More