16-05-2025
Champions Hamilton Accies won't relax in final league clash as they chase goals record
Boss Robert Watson says Accies owe it to the rest of the league to go all guns blazing against Rossvale
Hamilton Accies Women are already SPWL2 champions and will receive the trophy on Sunday as they host Rossvale in their last game of the season – but there will be no let-up.
Boss Robert Watson reckons they owe it to the rest of the league to go out with all guns blazing, while also chasing a goals record.
It happens all too often that trophy day is hampered by a poor result, and Watson is determined not to let that happen.
He said: 'The day that you pick up the title you want to make sure you win as well, and that's what we'll be doing.
'I think it would be disrespectful to the league to not prepare properly, and Rossvale and Ayr United still have something to play for, so it wouldn't be right if we just took things lightly – that's not how we approach things.
'We've got our own targets, and we want to finish the season on over 100 league goals, and with the best defensive record.
'That's going to require us to keep a clean sheet and score a couple of goals, so we've still got a focus this week on what we want to achieve.
'That would be the final cherry on top for a season, but we have to go and deliver that as well.
'We're on 98 league goals going into the final game, and we have the best defensive record in the league. When you factor in the goals we scored in the cups that's 104 goals we've scored.
'There has only been one game that we've failed to score in, going into the weekend, which is just incredible.
'We've only actually lost five league games, one cup game, and in the Motherwell game we went out on penalties, so it was a draw over 120 minutes.
'We've set a club record in clean sheets as well, it has been an absolutely incredible season for them.
'I'm really keen to make sure the players get the credit they deserve, because they've worked so hard.
'It's probably no secret that I can be really tough on them at times, and I'm really demanding, but ultimately when they go across the white line it's up to the players.
'More often than not, they've delivered this season, and that's why they've picked up a title.'
It's full circle for both Watson and captain Megan Quinn, and the gaffer said: 'We won the inaugural SWPL2 title in 2016, so it's nice to bookend it. I was assistant manager in that year, Gary Doctor was the manager, and it's nice to bookend it, being the manager and picking it up.
'Megan Quinn had a great testimonial to send her off, and she's now able to pick up the SWPL2 title as the final thing in her career, having picked it up in 2016, is again a nice way to bookend her career as an Accies player and captain.'
