Boroughmuir hope that promotion run-in experience will get them over the line

Boroughmuir host Montrose on Sunday with the knowledge that a win could be enough to secure a promotion play-off spot.

Four teams are set to fight out for the promotion play-off spot on the weekend as the SWPL2 season draws to a close. Boroughmuir currently sit fourth in the league, two points off second place knowing that they at least need a win against the league champions if they are to stand a chance of playing top-division football next season. This is not an uncommon situation for the Edinburgh club as the team faced the same challenge last season losing 3-1 to Glasgow Women. Manager Suzy Shepherd hopes that her team can use this learning experience to their advantage.

“We just went on an incredible run at the end of last season and we probably over-achieved if I am being honest,” she told the Edinburgh Evening News. “It was great that we took it into the last game last season and it’s great we have done that two years running where we now have a chance of making that play-off spot. We now have that experience of being in that position, we know how nerve-racking it can be. We now know how to control that a wee bit better and we know on our day we can beat anybody in this league.”

Gartcairn, Kilmarnock and St. Johnstone are the other three teams gunning for second place. Boroughmuir needs to hope Gartcarin drops points at home to Stirling University while the Kilmarnock either draw or lose to St. Johnstone. If luck does go Shepherd’s way then they will play the 11th-placed team in the SWPL1 on June 4th. Boroughmuir can take confidence in the fact that they have taken seven points from a possible nine against Montrose, scoring three times in every fixture against the champions this season.

Boroughmuir are unbeaten in their last four fixtures. Picture: Craig Doyle

“There are still four teams that can reach the play-offs,” Shepherd explained. “We are just really excited, we know it is going to be a really hard game. Every time we have played Montrose, the scorelines have been really close. They have wrapped up the league but you can see from the result last week against Queen’s Park that they are definitely not taking their foot off the peddle; they will be going in to win the game. For us, we just need to go into it and control the balls in the midfield, try and win the game and see what happens. We are just really excited and looking forward to it.

“I remember saying at the start of the season how competitive the league is going to be this season and you can see that. Everybody is taking points off everybody. Gartcairn could have wrapped it up last week but St. Johnstone has went and beat them. We just need to control what we need to control, that’s our game. We need Kilmarnock and Gartcairn to drop points whether that be a draw or a loss. We just need to focus on ourselves and get our game over the line first.”