Robert Watson spoke of his pride after Hamilton Accies Women pushed SWPL1 side Motherwell close in the Sky Sports Cup second round on Sunday.
Accies led 1-0 at K-Park thanks to a strike by Megan Quinn on the stroke of half-time, and had a Josie Giard ‘goal’ chalked off for what Watson says is a dubious offside.
But on-loan Rangers striker Laura Berry equalised for Motherwell deep into second-half stoppage time and, after the sides couldn’t be separated in extra-time, won the shoot-out 4-3.
Watson said: “It was frustrating, but we also need to acknowledge how well we played.
“Scoring right before half-time was great, but we also had a goal from Josie Giard chalked off, which we’ve watched back…
“At the time, the assistant was telling me it was two yards offside, but had there been VAR, the lines would have been out, it was so close.
“We could have been 2-0 up, but they’ve got a quality striker on loan from Rangers, and the one time she’s managed to get free she’s scored, and you’ve got to say it’s a quality finish.
“We could have collapsed, allowed that to affect us and dropped off in extra-time, but we fought tooth and nail to make sure we didn’t lose it.
“It just hasn’t fallen for us in the shoot-out, but I’m very proud and pleased with their performance over 120 minutes.
“Even over the period of the 90 minutes, I don’t think anybody could have begrudged us winning the match.
“We maybe just didn’t have that little bit of luck to see it out 1-0, but we can only say we’re still unbeaten over 90 minutes in the season.”
Accies take that into Sunday’s SWPL2 clash against Rossvale at Kirkintilloch Sports Complex, and Watson won’t be taking their opponents lightly.
He said: “The pressure we put on ourselves is for us to remain at the top of the division.
“We need to make sure that is achieved by not underestimating any opponents and approaching every game as we have done.
“It’s a new venue and a new team for us to play, and we go in with every intention of winning the game and making sure we stay at the top, coming full-time.”
Accies this week added former player Deborah McLeod to their coaching set-up, while Brandin Sharpe came in as analyst.
Watson said: “It’s great to get a former player. Deborah was part of the team that won SWPL2 in 2016 and came all the way through our youth academy .
“She’s starting her coaching career and I was really keen to get her involved when she approached me.
“Brandin is going through his scouting and analyst accreditations at the moment.
“He approached us and he is someone that we know through a player, and know we’re bringing a person into the backroom staff who has that energy and enthusiasm that the rest of us do, to deliver more data analysis for us to help us make better decisions over the season.
“Both will be big assets over the season.”
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