BT Women’s Plate: strength in numbers key

After a season of rebuilding, Watsonians go into the BT Women Plate Final with belief they can cause an upset against Stirling County. This will be Watsonians third year in the BT Cup Finals day having lifted the Bowl 12 months ago.This season has been about rebuilding under new Head Coach Tristan Gray, who has recruited 35 new players to the club.Numbers dipped after the Edinburgh side were relegated to BT Women’s National League 1, mainly due to retirement, where they are currently sixth in the table with two games to go.Gray said: “The beginning of the season was tough as half our squad was new to the game.”But they’ve really come along and lots of them are now key members. There was a lot of losses at the start of the season, but in the second half it’s been 50/50 so we’re quite happy with that.”The dedication of the team has made a big difference. We’ve doubled training sessions to twice a week and getting between 15-20 players along.”They defeated Aberdeenshire Quines 24-12 in the semi-final to secure their place at BT Murrayfield.  Gray said:Most of the players haven’t played at BT Murrayfield before so it’s a really big deal to them. We’ve got a lot of competition for places so it puts us in a unique position.”In the other semi-final, Stirling County won 17-5 against Broughton – a team that Watsonians have beaten twice this season, making today’s clash an interesting affair.Stirling have struggled through the season in BT Women’s Premier League having lost a raft of players, but captain Lindsay Macnaughton said this has made the team fight harder to stay competitive. “We’ve had a different team compared to previous seasons with players new to the game and low numbers turning out, but I’m really impressed with how everyone has stuck together.”Having Debbie Flaconer in the Scotland Women set-up during the Six Nations has also boosted the squad as the prop has brought back experience and knowledge, following her first cap against England. Macnaughton added: “Debbie has become more confident and that’s had a knock-on effect.”Stirling are expecting to field a full-strength side for the Plate final, which they last won in 2010.Macnaughton said: “We’re really looking forward to the final. Watsonians will be an unknown for us because we’re now in different leagues. We’ve not played for two years and both teams have had huge turnovers so it’s difficult to call. It’ll be interesting.”BT Cup Finals Day, BT Murrayfield, Saturday 16 AprilBT Cup Final (kick-off 5.45pm)Sarah Beaney Cup Final (kick-off 3.30pm)BT Men’s Shield Final (kick-off 1.15pm)BT Men’s Bowl Final (kick-off 11am)BT Women’s Plate Final (kick-off 1.30pm)BT Women’s Bowl Final (kick-off 12pm)Tickets cost£10 for adults and£5 for U18, student and senior citizens. In the first instance, please contact your finalist club to purchase tickets as all monies are retained by the club for any tickets they sell.Read about the other BT Cup Finals here and keep an eye out for previews of the other matches this week.