Women’s Premiership Preview | Round 6

Stewartry Sirens v Hillhead Jordanhill – Greenlaw, KO 2pm

Hillhead Jordanhill travel to Castle Douglas on Saturday to face Stewartry in Round 6 of the Premiership.

Although the home side has had a rocky start this season, there is still much to be proud of, including Phaedra Snailham who is currently at the top of the try scorer’s leader board with six to her name after adding to her tally last weekend against Watsonians (10-46).

Looking ahead to this weekend, Head Coach Alistair Lamb said: “The Sirens are into their fifth game of the season, their third at home. The squad has been working hard in training to build on lessons learned from last weekend’s game against Watsonians.

“The travelling team will again be the favourites for the clash. However, the Sirens are continuing to gain confidence and will look to capitalise on home ground advantage.”

Hillhead Jordanhill have also been excelling on the scoreboard. After just five rounds, Hills’ Amanda Jane holds 41 points, adding nine to her tally in last weekend’s 59-12 win over Garioch.

But it’s now all eyes on this weekend, and Hills’ captain Hannah Telling is excited to take to the road saying: “It’s been an intense start to the season with some great results. We’re looking to cap this off with a strong performance against Stewartry on Saturday before the rest week.

“It should be a really good, competitive match against a team who play really well at home. We’re looking forward to it!”

Cartha Queens Park v Corstorphine Cougars – Dumbreck, KO 2pm

Corstorphine Cougars are on the road as they travel to Dumbreck to face Cartha Queens Park.

Cougars came away with a 22-17 win last weekend over Heriot’s and have snuck into third place in the table standings ahead of the Blues on points difference.

Reflecting on their performance, Head Coach Eric Jones said: “We’re still looking for our 80-minute performance, we felt that we started really well against Heriot’s last week, our pack was getting rewarded at set piece and gave us a good platform.

“However, after going 15-0 up we let Heriot’s back into the game to the point that they took the lead with six mins to go – a similar situation to when they won at Union Park last season by two points.

“What is a positive though is that in those six mins we showed reliance and patience to stick to where we were strong and got the lead back. We were disappointed not to get the bonus point but we know that with a little bit more accuracy in attack we can score more tries.”

Looking ahead to Saturday’s clash, Eric added: “Cartha always put up a good fight against us and we’ve often found it difficult against them especially through at Cartha, so we’ll be looking to take control of the game and execute more chances we create.”

Cartha put in a strong performance against Stirling County last weekend and were unlucky to miss out on a losing-bonus point with the full-time score concluding 29-17 in favour of the hosts.

The Glasgow side will be hoping to capitalise on the home advantage this weekend and advance their position in the table standings.

Garioch v Stirling County – Kellands Park, KO 2pm

On Saturday Garioch will welcome Stirling County to Kellands Park.

Whilst Garioch continue to search for their first win, captain Sammy Ross has been pleased by how her team has been rising to each occasion, saying: “We knew going into the Hills game it was going to be a tough one, but we knew what we had to work on, and I think the team took the challenge well. The cliche of ‘the score doesn’t reflect the game’ really does apply here with the second half being a good contest between both teams (21-7).

“We have another tough one this weekend with Stirling paying us visit up north, but we are taking each challenge as it comes and embracing all that comes at us.”

Stirling County have now pushed into the top two, sneaking ahead of Cougars after their bonus point win over Cartha last weekend. County’s Sky Phimister somewhat stole the show last weekend, scoring a hattrick of tries.

Watsonian FC v Heriot’s Blues – Myreside, KO 2pm

It’s capital derby day as Watsonians host Heriot’s Blues at Myreside on Saturday.

Both teams have been performing excellently this season, so this could prove an exciting clash.

Last weekend, Watsonian’s maintained their winning streak with a convincing 10-46 victory over Stewartry, whilst the Blues took Cougars right to the edge, only losing out by five points at the full-time whistle (22-17).

Looking ahead to this weekend, Blues Head Coach Craig Robertson said: “Having played a preseason fixture against Watsonians this will be a great opportunity to gauge where we are in terms of progression against the current league leaders.

“Tomorrow will be the last game for our Number 8, Jade Courtney ,who has shown phenomenal commitment to the club. We wish her well with her new job down south and thank her for all her effort and dedication.”