After a difficult day at the races for AFC Women on Sunday, on-loan striker Emily Kraft took time to reflect on a challenging 90 minutes that had started so well.

“We weren’t happy with the score, we set ourselves high standards. We wanted a better score than we got the first time we played them because we knew that our previous game wasn’t our best performance, we’d just come together as a team and had never really played together. So, yeah, we wanted to prove a point to ourselves but also to Scott, with it being his first game as our coach. Going up 1–0, we were all really buzzing and happy. Going into halftime with it at 1–1 was a big moment for us and gave us motivation. But obviously games aren’t won at halftime.”

“Going into the second half and then conceding the 2–1 and then the 3–1—that’s when our heads started to drop. And from there, it just went downhill. That’s where we, as a team, need to be better, to refocus, and just not let that happen again. It’s a lot of little things that add up. When you let your head drop, and the other team has momentum, they’re eager to keep going. We know how tough this league is and how sometimes it comes down to goal difference. They were just eager to keep going and they hit us when we were vulnerable. As a team, we need to get better at staying focused until the last minute and not letting our heads drop too early.”

Although it meant little in the grand scheme of things on the day the striker grabbed her third goal for the club and her second in as many games on the afternoon, as she continues to settle into life in Aberdeen.

“Obviously it’s always nice to be on the score sheet. And like I said, with it being the opening goal, it gave us all a bit of a boost. It showed us that we can achieve things against big clubs. I’m happy with that. But it’s disappointing as an end result, not being able to keep that scoreline intact.”

The arrival of Scott Booth last week was an exciting one for the Irish striker after the two had previously worked together at Lewes in England.

“It’s been good, with the new manager even in just a week. We’re all pretty happy to get back to normal, with a coach in place. Everyone that helped us did a brilliant job, and we’re grateful for the support they provided over the period. It wasn’t the ideal situation. No one expected it to be the way it was.  I believe things happen for a reason. For us, it made us grow closer and take things on ourselves. Even scoring the first goal against Hibs—that’s something we wouldn’t have done a few weeks ago. We just have to keep building on that.”

“I’ve played with Scott before, so I was thrilled to hear he’d be coaching us. I only have good things to say about him, especially about his work with younger talents, and with us being a young team, there’s a lot he can do for the club. It being his hometown makes it even better. I really like his work, especially with young players and their development. Being a former attacker himself, he goes into great detail in his coaching. The other girls who played under him would agree. In training, you can see his attention to detail. It’s really good. It’s exciting for us as a team to work with him now and see where things can go. Yeah, actually I have saw clips of him playing! You can see from his coaching style what type of player he was—it really resembles him.”

A difficult Sunday needs to be put firmly in the rearview mirror however as the side look ahead to the visit of Motherwell to the Balmoral on Wednesday night, after the original fixture was postponed a few weeks ago. It presents a chance to bounce back quickly, although Kraft and the group are aware of the challenges they will face.

“We’re a team that’s good at learning from the past, even building on what happened last time. With Motherwell next, we know we need to get points from that game, but we also know it won’t be easy. We’re ready to give our best because we don’t want a repeat of what happened yesterday. Thankfully, the game comes up quickly, so we can get back to work soon.”

“That’s why a Wednesday game, right after a Sunday loss, can sometimes be a good thing. The loss is still fresh, but so are the good things we did in the first half. It’s not a long break, so we can just go into it and prove people wrong.”

All in it together is the ethos that both Booth and his group of players are keen to continuing hammering home.

“Sticking together is massively important. It’s become our slogan. With the coaching situation, we’ve naturally had to stick closer together. I think that’s our philosophy now—to stick together and keep going. Scott really hit the mark with reinforcing that, and we all agree.”

“The fans are massive. When people say fans are like a 12th player, they’re not lying—it’s true. Knowing you have people behind you, even with a loss, drives you as a player. Going up 1–0 and hearing the fans cheering us on, even when we went down it just pushes you forward.”

“At the start of the game, we love seeing the fans and hearing their support. So, I can’t agree with Scott more. I just hope they keep coming, backing us, and cheering us on—even when things are tough. We’ve proven that we can compete with big clubs, so I hope they continue supporting us.”