This week’s MOWI Game of the Week sees Fort William welcome Skye to An Aird, two sides who know each other well from 2019. We sat down with Fort William’s Arran MacPhee to find out more ahead of the big fixture.
Fort William are fresh off the back of a big derby win against Kilmallie. How did it feel to get one over your local rivals?
I am not going to lie it was a great feeling. It is probably fair to say they have had the bragging rights over the last few years, so it felt good to win and also produce a really good team performance.
The start of your season has been somewhat hampered by COVID derailments – has this had any effect on the fitness of the boys?
A few guys took unwell with COVID, which did not help, but we are fortunate that nobody has had any lasting effects. We have continued to train throughout the most of this year and the team is generally pretty fit, but it is very difficult to match actual match fitness. Not being able to get a run of games has been frustrating but hopefully now we can now get a few on the bounce.
Fort William are one of the lucky clubs who have controlled access to their ground and the club have put in a power of work to allow limited spectators to return. What kind of an impact does playing in front of fans again have as a player?
It makes a huge difference, especially games like a local derby. The club put in a significant amount of work to be able to get spectators in and the pitch was in great condition, so it actually felt like a cup final day. It was a great day after such a long time since playing competitively.
Skye are the opponents this week, what are you expecting from them?
First and foremost, a really tough game. We have had some close games with Skye in recent times and they are a team who are always difficult to beat. We will have to be at our best to get a good result.
Can Fort William win their league and is that the ambition this season?
We will go into every match we play with the aim of winning the game. There is no doubt this season will be different to most and it is difficult to predict what is going to happen, but we will give everything we have to have as successful a season as possible.