Forth headed west to the confusingly named Toward to take on Cowal and Bute in the first round of the Caledonian Canal Cup.  At first scores were hard to come by for Forth and the Cowal goalie denied Forth several times in the first 15 minutes.  Finally Ruth Bordoli broke the deadlock with an excellent mid-distance shot.  At this stage Cowal had already had to make 2 substitutions and Forth took full advantage of the unsettled line up.  Katy Smith, Holly Webster and Úna Henry dominated midfield while Ruth and newcomer Aoife Fitzgerald made life difficult for the Cowal forwards.  Forth's dominance allowed Katy Smith to net another goal and they went into the interval confident of having laid a solid base for the rest of the match.

After the break, however, Cowal had other ideas.  They launched right into the attack and even Mickie Imrie's (in her final match!) best efforts were not enough to prevent them from getting 2 goals to draw level.  Forth picked up the pace and Katy Smith managed another to put them back on top.  Cowal remained determined, however, and managed to beat Sophie Moyles and Mairi Lawson's usually impenetrable defence to draw level once more.  That was the last chance they had as Forth's battling midfield finally began to wear their opposite numbers out.  The chance came right at the end of the match with a ball right at the top of a crowded which Katy managed to tap in despite facing the wrong direction to win the match for the visitors.

Final score: Forth 4 - Cowal and Bute 3

Man of the match: Holly Webster