Bella Viana looking for Inverness Caley Thistle to turn up the heat on Rossvale in SWF Championship title race
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Caley Thistle Women have a real chance to ramp up the pressure on Rossvale in the SWF Championship this weekend, according to Bella Viana.
The American has been a stand-out for ICT so far this season, and made her debut for the club the last time they took on Rossvale.
Now, circumstances have changed somewhat. Rossvale had gone into the winter break with a perfect record at the top of the table, but a surprise defeat to East Fife last week has opened the door for Inverness to stake their claim for the title.
Victory at Millburn Academy on Sunday afternoon would move the Caley Jags three points off the top with a game in hand.
Viana, then, is determined to pick up all three points to kickstart what could be a very exciting second half of the campaign.
“They definitely helped us out by losing last week, so hopefully we can capitalise on that,” she reasoned.
“I think that we will, because when we played Rossvale last time down there I left that game thinking we shouldn’t have lost it. Hopefully this weekend it will be different.
“I’m very competitive and I wanted to win, but because it was my first game I wasn’t as invested then as I am now. Now it’s about everyone and how we can work together to get the win.
“They are in first place in the league and we want to go after them. That’s what I’m hoping for – if we can win this game, we will put them on their toes and be in their rear-view mirror.”
With last weekend’s trip to Ayr postponed because of the weather, ICT’s most recent game was their Scottish Cup defeat to Rangers.
In front of a record-breaking crowd for women’s football in Inverness, even a one-sided scoreline could not dampen the enthusiasm in the Inverness camp – and Viana says the squad are still riding that high weeks later.
“It is crazy to think about, because those girls at Rangers are playing for their national teams,” Viana reflected.
“They are full time, training every day and getting food cooked for them – this is their job and their livelihood. It was great to go up against them.
“It has been so positive since. Of course for us, there were no expectations. It was just about going in there and doing our best, and work our hardest and we would see what happened.
“I do think in the back of everyone’s head, there is that wish that the score was just a little bit lower, but at the end of the day it was a great opportunity for the community to watch the best team in Scotland play. Sadly it wasn’t us, but that’s fine!
“I know that I am – and I would assume a lot of the other girls are too – still running off the high of that Rangers game, so if we work as hard as we did in that game against Rossvale, it will be positive for us.”
When Viana signed for Caley Thistle, she outlined that her long-term ambition was to get back to playing football full time.
Rangers provided a taste of the level she is aspiring to get to, but even in defeat she was encouraged in her pursuit.
With boyfriend Callum Haspell having relocated to Glasgow after signing for Queen’s Park, Viana’s long-term future in the Highlands is something of a question mark.
For the time being though, she is not going anywhere and is fully focused on helping ICT win matches.
“Getting back to playing full time has always been in my mind, and playing against Rangers was definitely a positive for me,” Viana added.
“It actually made me more confident, even though we lost 12-0, in the sense that I definitely think I can get to that level.
“Getting that outlet somewhere is definitely my goal, but it has been difficult to get a visa.
“With (Haspell’s move) happening, it does open up quite a few doors for me in terms of playing around Glasgow, but I’m not sure yet what’s going to happen.
“I don’t know who that would be with yet, but the main thing for me right now is just to try and win against Rossvale this weekend.
“The last few months with Inverness have been great. I’ve been really privileged, and I do think moving forward that if something were to come up and I left, although that would be really amazing for me personally I would be quite sad.
“It will be an adjustment because I’m so used to these girls now and what they bring to practice – so much positivity and fun at and lots of hard work.”
