Muskies focus on ending long wait for senior cup

No Dundee or Tayside team has ever won a Scottish senior cup and after the premature demise of Tayside Musketeers men’s team in mid-season the prospect of a men’s victory is as far away as ever.

But at least when Tayside women take the court against Edinburgh Kool Kats at Oriam in Edinburgh tomorrow at 3.30pm five of the side will have played in the final before.

That was four years ago when Muskies also faced Edinburgh.

“When we reached the 2013 final it was a bit of a shock as we beat the Rocks on the way,” said coach Donnie MacDonald. “But it’s not a surprise now and just being there is not enough – we’re fully focused on winning the cup.”

Having lost to Kats last week when the Capital side clinched the Scottish Women’s League title on their home court, Muskies are the underdogs.

As well as going for the league and cup double Edinburgh are chasing their eighth senior women’s trophy.

But coach MacDonald is hopeful his team can spring an upset and achieve what four other Dundee sides failed to achieve in the early years of the competition.

Dundee Swifts lost in three finals to Edinburgh teams, to Auld Reekie (1961), Zephyrs (1963) and All Blacks (1966) while Dundee lost to Livingston in 1993.

Yhana Van Wees was MVP in the 2013 final at the age of only 17 and Laura Hare, Paula Foster, Kate Richards and Caitlin McLoughlin also played in that final.

MacDonald can point to the fact that only Kate Kane (Dundee Sharks) and Emma Murray (Falkirk Fury) have not come through the club’s development programme.