Day & Date: Sunday 18th August 2019
Fixture: AFC Women v Stonehaven Ladies
Competition: SWF League North
Kick-off: 1.00 pm
Venue: Aberdeen Sports Village

Aberdeen saw off a Spartans side which play two leagues above them to claim a place in the last sixteen of the SSE Scottish Women’s Cup at the weekend. Stand-in captain Chloe Gover grabbed the winner at Ainslie Park and she wasn’t surprised that her side caused a cup shock.

“We played well from the start, we had a game plan and we really wanted to come away with a good performance. We got to half-time at one-nil down and we thought we could go on and win it and we went out and took our chances in the second half”.

The 19-year-old has played with Aberdeen Ladies at a higher league level previously and she admitted that Spartans provided a tougher test than they had been used to of late. “They were much better at passing and a lot more physical, I really noticed a difference in their strength on the ball. They are in Premier League so you would expect them to be better all-round than the teams we’ve played in our league”.

Gover took over the captaincy on Sunday in the absence of skipper Kelly Forrest and it’s a role which Chloe feels brings out the best in her. “It was decided at the start of the season that Kelly was the captain and I was vice-captain. I enjoy being captain but it makes me nervous, I feel like I have to make sure I play well and also be there for the team as well. I like the extra pressure of it though as it helps push me to do better”.

The left-midfielder clearly enjoyed the pressure on Sunday as she scored the winner with a trademark free-kick, after Lauren Gordon had drawn the sides level. Gover is something of a dead-ball expert, scoring from free-kicks, penalties and even direct from a corner over the first half of the season. “I think I’ve been alright in the first half of the season. I don’t think I’ve had too many bad games and I’ve managed to get a good amount of goals”.

Despite that positive appraisal of her season so far, Chloe admits she can be her own harshest critic. “I’m quite tough on myself, even when I’m playing without the captaincy, I put pressure on myself. I think it helps me. If I have a bad game, I think about it all week and it helps focus me to improve going into the next match”.

Aberdeen went into the summer break at the top of SWFL1 North and that is exactly where Gover expected them to be. “The first half of the season has been good but it’s what we expected from ourselves to be honest, we need to get up to the next league. We’ve been winning games and we want to keep doing that but we’re always looking to get good performances as well so we are prepared for next season”.

The Dons will have to see off nearest challengers Dunfermline if they are to gain promotion to SWPL2. The Reds have a three-point advantage over the Pars having played a game less but Chloe believes Aberdeen still need to beat their title rivals. “We’ve still got Dunfermline to play twice and I feel like we really want to go out and beat them. I still feel like we need to beat Dunfermline in both those games, even though we might be ahead of them just now. I still think it’s important that we beat our closest rivals”.

The vice-captain credits her side’s management team of Emma Hunter and Harley Hamdani for the difference they have made off the field as well as on it since taking over at the start of the season. “They’ve made us more of a team and we’ve been more together. In previous seasons there have been maybe little groups within the squad but this season we’re all together and we all know exactly what we’re doing. The training has been much more organised and I feel I’ve noticed that I am much stronger with the weight training we do. We really needed that strength at the weekend and that game showed the work we’ve been putting in”.

The Aberdeen squad is a young one, borne out by the fact Chloe is nowhere near the youngest in the side at nineteen. She enjoys helping the younger players in her role as vice-captain. “I’ve been with Aberdeen since I was twelve and I’ve been in the first-team for a good few years now. I know what it’s like for younger player to come and play with all these older players, for me, it’s just a case of speaking to them and making sure they’re ok”.

Stonehaven are the visitors on Sunday as the Dons get back to league business at Aberdeen Sports Village. As the title challenge continues, Chloe is also hoping for a Scottish Cup run. “The cup is good for playing different teams and giving ourselves a different test. It also lets other teams see what we can do and see what we’re all about”.

“I think it was good to play a big team at the weekend. I would prefer to get a Premier team again as we go further in the cup. It’s better to measure how we are progressing and to show everyone what we can do against a team from the top league”.