Written by Mark Gordon
As the season reaches its final stages, the race for promotion from the Scottish Women’s Football League Division One South hots up.
As Celtic Academy and Hibernian 23’s battle it out for top-spot over the remaining weeks, as much as seven teams below them can all still grab the promotion spot when the season ends. The top two can’t be promoted as they’re Academy/Development teams and with just 12 points separating third and tenth positions, the race to go up is wide open.
Cumbernauld Colts and Renfrew will look to establish their position in the search for third place as they take on the bottom two of Morton and Falkirk respectively.
Renfrew find themselves in a strong position as they have two games in hand over some of the teams around them, albeit one of their rearranged games is against title-chasing Hibernian. Renfrew take on a Falkirk side that have only won three points all season, from a 5-3 victory over Boroughmuir way back in March. The currently sixth placed side will be hoping to bounce back from the heavy 11-0 defeat they suffered to Glasgow City in the cup in their last outing.
Cumbernauld will look to overturn a three-game losing streak as they host Morton on Sunday. The Colts edged the visitors by three goals to two the last time the sides met back in May.
Boroughmuir Thistle and Westerlands are the outsiders to claim third place as they currently occupy eighth and ninth place in the division. Westerlands will have their work cut out for them if they are to keep in touch with the sides ahead of them this weekend. Hibernian will host Westerlands on Sunday as they look to keep their title dream alive.
Thistle meanwhile, play host to a Rangers side who currently sit five points ahead of them in the table. Despite a recent two-game losing streak, Thistle will look to the previous game against Rangers for inspiration. A 4-2 victory in Glasgow over Rangers sent Thistle on a run of four wins in a row back in May. That is exactly the sort of run that could keep alive the chances of Thistle gaining promotion.
Thistle Weir are the side currently occupying the coveted third-place spot in the table. The Jags head into the weekend’s game with table-topping Celtic on the back of seven games unbeaten. If their current run of form wasn’t enough of a confidence boost, Thistle can look back to their 4-0 victory of Sunday’s opponents to show what they are capable of against the league’s top side.
Queen’s Park are in fourth place and hot on the trail of third-placed Partick. Queen’s are on a similarly good run of form as the side sitting just above them in the division. As they head to their visit to Blackburn United, who are currently tenth and with an outside change of promotion, Queen’s will carry the confidence of a seven-match unbeaten stretch going back to before the summer break. Queen’s hammered United by six-goals-to-one in their previous league encounter.
