Hamilton Accies Women boss heaps praise on champions on trophy day
Hamilton Accies Women boss Robert Watson got his hands on the SWPL2 trophy and says his 'brilliant' team deserve all the credit they will receive, after winning the league with a bit to spare.
Accies received the silverware on Sunday after beating Rossvale 5-1 at New Douglas Park, ending their campaign four points clear of Kilmarnock in second, having scored 103 league goals and conceded just 28, and with 21 victories from their 28 games.
With final day doubles, Josi Giard was top league scorer on 26 [27 in total] and Sophie Townsley ended on 20, with Justine Strain also on the score-sheet.
Watson says his record-setting squad deserve all the plaudits.
He said: 'Sunday was really good, being able to finish off with a really good win and put a wee bit of a show on for the crowd that come in.
'When you lift a trophy, you want to make sure you win on the day, and it was good that Josi managed to finish top scorer in the league, Sophie was aiming for 20 league goals, which she did, and Justine got another goal.
'Between the game at the weekend there and when we won it through at Gartcairn, every single player got on the pitch, which was important as well, to make sure everyone was a part of it.
'Every player has delivered something at some point over the season, so it was a really good day.
'Scoring 103 league goals and 28 conceded means we have the best attack and defence, and there was only one game we didn't score in, which was the Scottish Cup last-16 up at Aberdeen.
'There are loads of records that the club have beaten, from a club point of view, and they deserve all the credit that they've got over the last week or so, because they've been brilliant since last August.'
Watson added: 'I knew we would make chances, it was just making sure that we were clinical enough, and we were in the first half, with Josi and Sophie getting two each.
'From there we were in total domination of the game and it was probably a fitting way to finish off, hitting those numbers of goals.
'The game went a wee bit flat in the second half, we were never in danger of losing the game.
'But I have to pay credit to the subs who came on in the second half, because we definitely took a lift in the last 25 or 30 minutes of the game, and probably should have scored another couple more than we did.
'But it's testament to how much everybody has contributed over the season.'
On next season's targets in the top flight, Watson said: 'The immediate thing is finding a way to stay up. We're going to have the smallest budget, we're going to be the smallest team in the division.
'I'm sure we'll keep a few players with experience, but we're going to need to look to bring more players in and probably improve the depth of our squad.
'I'm really optimistic. I think the experiences of last season are going to stand us in good stead, both for the players who played last season and will be involved next year, and just from us as a coaching staff.
'Having had a year to build and develop a bit more of a playing style has been really important as well.
'A lot of that work has already been done.
'Aside from all of that there will be excitement from everyone, because we're playing against the big teams again.'
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