Scotland: Are there any challengers who can upset Watsonians and Clydesdale Western in the Women`s Indoor Division 1?

Since 2020, Watsonians and Clydesdale Western have each won the women’s indoor National League Division 1 title twice (there was no competition in 2021), so will there be any change to that scenario this season?

Before that, Dundee Wanderers ruled, so will there be a Tayside revival?

Last season Watsonians triumphed with a 2-0 win over Clydesdale in the Gala Day final, Jess Garden and Emily Dark were on target that day. In the penultimate stage the finalists were joined by Wildcats and Hillhead who did extremely well to secure a spot in the top four.

Will it be different this season? Day one action on Disc on Sunday will provide some evidence.

Champions Watsonians arrive late in the day to open their accounts against Wildcats and Inverleith, and coach Keith Smith will no doubt be hoping for the six points.

But there is one factor involved this indoor season – namely the FIH World Cup Qualifying at the end of February.

We approached Watsonians coach Keith Smith to assess the impact. He revealed: “With the timing of the WCQ, our internationals will not be available to play in the competition after Christmas, and if selected for the qualifier they will also not be available for indoor club euros.

“So it’s better for them to have some extra time off from their club commitments. That way they can fully concentrate on their international preparations and don’t have to worry about combining that with indoors.”

“That also gives everyone else the opportunity to get as much playing time as possible in the competition, so that we can prepare well for the European Championship in February.”

Then Keith continued. “We’ve known for a while that the WCQs were likely to clash, so it’s not a surprise and we had a good idea of ​​what our options would be.”

So Watsonians will likely be without a number of key players, even though Scotland’s squad has not yet been announced. But they are not alone as Clydesdale Western is likely to find themselves in the same situation. The impact of this situation may become visible on Sunday. Clydesdale have three matchdays as they take on Dundee Wanderers as openers, then Grange and finally GHK in the final match of the day.

Does that open the door for others to take advantage, and who are most likely? Not easy to predict, but you’d expect the Wildcats to be there or thereabouts given their recent top four finishes. Normally they field a strong team for the competition. In addition to the champions, the Cats will take on Hillhead. And then you have Dundee Wanderers with their strong indoor tradition, but they may need some extra talent to make their presence felt. Their mettle will certainly be tested in their opening match against last season’s runners-up Clydesdale, and then they face GHK.

The other sides include Hillhead, who did so well last season, Grange, Inverleith and GHK – it will be interesting to see if any of these sides can make the breakthrough – Sunday could tell!