ABERDOUR coach Lisa Norman admits that this Saturday’s clash with league leaders Ballachulish is as big a game as they’ve played all season.

The West Fifers are third in South Division One and trail the table-toppers by three points with just four matches to go after a 0-0 draw at Oban Celtic at the weekend.

‘Dour know that a defeat could prove fatal to their title dreams but victory at Silver Sands over the side who ended their Balliemore Cup ambitions could see them take the chase for the championship down to the wire.

Norman was missing a number of key players due to holiday commitments and injuries for the trip to the north west, but her side dug deep to claim an historic point.

She told Press Sport, “We ended up with a bare squad and of all the times we have been in Oban at senior level, we’ve never taken a point so that’s a positive. We held out, kept a clean sheet and although we didn’t create as many attacking chances as we would normally like, a point keeps us in it. We took a boy who’s been playing on and off for our seconds and who played his first game for the seniors, but he more than held his own and did well.

“We had to deal with a lot of pressure and I was pleased that we did that. We’ve now just got four games left and the teams we have to play are around us in the table which means it’s really in our hands rather than anybody else’s. That’s a good position to be in and if we can beat Ballachulish, then who knows. It’s a big match.” She continued, “We’ve nothing to lose; we’ve done quite well this year and progressed as a team. At the start we said that it would be something nice for us if it happened as it wasn’t really a target for us.

“We’ve got a full squad to pick from this week and I can say to the guys to go out, play well and enjoy it because the pressure’s off us a little bit.

“They’ve got a couple of key players suspended so if there’s a moment to do it, it’s on Saturday but we’re taking nothing for granted. We’ll go into it knowing it’s going to be a difficult game - but one where we’ll give our all.” Throw-up for the game is at 2pm and the seconds round off their league campaign away to Inverary.