Despite a tough start to the Arnold Clark Women’s Premiership season, there have been some positives for Cartha Queens Park so far and now they are ready for a big game against Garioch on Saturday (2pm).
To date in the eight-team top flight for 2026/27, the Dumbreck outfit have lost to Stirling County, Heriot’s and Biggar.
Garioch have also lost their first three outings and, with just one team going down come the end of stage one and stage two of this league, this weekend’s game is an important one for both sides.
Cartha will have home advantage and their vice-captain Izzy Desoindre, who is supporting skipper Shona Jessiman this season, said: “It’s been a tough start to our campaign and not the one that we hoped for, but there are definitely some positives.
“We know what our ‘work ons’ are, we have an influx of new players and the group has gelled together really quickly and that close-knit nature of the squad is one of our biggest strengths.
“Some of the new players who are integrating into things this season are youngsters who are part of the Scottish Rugby pathway and we are delighted to have them with us.
“Everyone is really behind the vision for the club for this season and recent defeats have not altered that at all.
“The work rate is high at training and so are the numbers and that means that we can keep building and keep moving forward.
“Before this weekend’s game, at training this week we have put an emphasis on breaking the gain line with every run we make. We also want to really fight for the ball and look after it when we have it and fight for each other throughout the game.
“We’re expecting a tough encounter against Garioch and a match that will test our patience in the ‘red zone’.
“We are keen to take our chances in attack when they come while we are ready for a physical game and we won’t shy away from that challenge.”
It is the only Premiership game on this weekend.
Izzy Desoindre is pictured
It is shaping up to be an exciting 2026/27 season for women’s rugby in Scotland and GH Media will be covering it in detail – if any companies are keen to support this content please send an email to gary@gh-media.co.uk