There’s a pretty busy four days of football coming up in Scotland. The fourth round of the Scottish Cup takes place between Saturday and Tuesday and, as well as all that, there’s some domestic league action down in the Second and Third divisions too. Up in the Highland League there are five games scheduled but, like all of the games planned, whether any or all of these go ahead depends very much on the weather.
We’ll take a quick run through the fixtures taking place (hopefully), beginning with the action in the Scottish Cup.
The Scottish Cup
Alloa Athletic v Aberdeen
Aberdeen travel down to Alloa to face the team that provided the first ever Scottish Cup opposition for the Dons back in 1904. That game, on the 23rd January of that year, was won by Alloa, but it would be the only time the Wasps would beat Aberdeen in the Scottish Cup. The last meeting in this competition was back in 2001 when the Reds won 3-0. Darren Mackie (who scored the second goal) and Derek Young are the only remnants from that team still at the club. Alloa are currently second from bottom in the Second division, but as we saw in our article about Scottish Cup upsets, lower league opposition does not always guarantee victory – just ask Stenhousemuir (at the time also a Second division side) who beat the Dons in the same competition back in 1995. The tricky surface aside (Recreation Park comes equipped with an artificial pitch), expect Aberdeen to win this one. Prediction: 0-3
Falkirk v Queen of the South
Falkirk and Queen of the South, two sides for whom the Cup is pretty much the only salvation given the poor season they’re both having, have only met twice in the Scottish Cup, both games taking place in December of 1979, The first game ended in a 1-1 draw before The Doonhamers came through 4-0 winners in the Boxing Day replay. Queen of the South are slowly sinking to the bottom of the First and currently sit level on points with 9th placed Clyde. It all seems so far from last season when the Dumfries side knocked out Aberdeen (who ironically put out Falkirk in a previous round) in the Scottish Cup semi-final and narrowly lost to Rangers in the final. That Cup run and the UEFA Cup games which followed was probably one of the high points in the SFL last year. For Falkirk who, despite some spirited displays are one point above bottom side Caley in the SPL a good Cup run is just what the doctor ordered. John Hughes is resigned to not being able to bring in new talent in the transfer window given the club’s finances, meaning that games like this take on that bit more meaning. We think Falkirk will win tomorrow.
Airdrie United v Spartans
Spartans have earned their place in the round of the Scottish Cup thanks to a bizarre chain of events that saw them complain to the SFA after Elgin City, their previous opponents, fielded an ineligible player in their 2-1 win. Hoping for the SFA to throw the Moray side out for breaching competition rules, the story had a sting in the tail when it was discovered that Spartans had themselves fielded an ineligible player – Dean Hoskins – in that tie. The game was ordered to be replayed (Spartans won 2-1) but the club have been fined £2500 for their troubles. Against Airdrie they’ll fancy their chances. The Diamonds are bottom of the First division and there for the taking we reckon – a cheeky bet on a league side to get turned over by a non-league side?
Inverurie Loco Works v Motherwell
(Postponed until January 20th – frozen pitch)
In what is probably the biggest League gap between two sides in this competition, Highland League challengers Inverurie Loco travel to Motherwell. If this mythical ‘pyramid’ league structure would ever come into existence, you’d discover that Inverurie are some 39 places behind their SPL opponents. Loco’s had been doing well in the Highland League up until recently, but game cancellations due to bad weather and other cup commitments means Locos have not played a game since the 20th December. With five games in hand, they’re now 10 points behind leaders Deveronvale. Motherwell, as we highlighted earlier this week in the preview [link] to their game with Hearts are not exactly in the chasing pack in the SPL, but are clearly too strong opposition for Locos. A comfortable win for Motherwell is how we see this one going.
Ross County v Hamilton Academical
The first ever meeting between these sides in the Scottish Cup will take place up in Dingwall. Hamilton won the First division at a canter of course, but not without getting nicely stuffed by Ross County back in March of 2007. The Accies got off to a good start in the league but recent results have seen them drop. Their win last week against a terrible Aberdeen side was well deserved and keeps the team safe from relegation – for now. Ross County sit in the lower half of mid-table (if you can follow that) after a season of indifferent results. They got to the fourth round following their win over Third division Dumbarton (it took a replay though), while, being an SPL side, this is Accies’ first game in this years competition. Got to go for an Accies win here.
Forfar Athletic v Forres Mechanics
Forres are the other Highland League side to survive, having beating non-league Dalbeattie Star in the previous round. Forfar took care of Stranraer, thus setting up this north-of-Scotland tie. Forfar finished bottom of the Third division last year making them Scotland’s worst league side, but things seemed to have picked up this season for the Loons. Under manager Dick Campbell, the club are now mid-table, safe that unless managerless Elgin City somehow make up the 13 point gap between them, the wooden spoon will not be staying as Station Park this season. Forres Mechanics, like fellow Highland League side Inverurie Locos, have not played a game since the 20th December (a 2-0 win over Nairn County) and currently find themselves mid-table in the Highland League. This could be a tight game, but we go with Forfar to come through in this one.
Inverness CT v Partick Thistle
Inverness Caley have the honour of knocking out Celtic twice in previous Scottish Cup competitions. The first, in 2003, was a narrow 1-0 win, but the second, back in January 2000 was a bit more remarkable. Not only was the huge scoreline a shock (3-1) but more the fact that Caley where a First division side at the time (it would take another 12 games for Caley to beat Celtic again). There have been four meetings in the Cup between Caley and Thistle, all won by the Glasgow side and all having to go to replays. Thistle are currently third in the First division while Caley have somehow found themselves bottom of the SPL. Manager Craig Brewster must be feeling the pressure to keep his side in the SPL, so whether this game is a distraction or a chance of at least some glory this season is open to debate. Tough to call this game – we wouldn’t be surprised if this game also has to go to a replay.
Celtic v Dundee
There’s no getting away from Celtic’s pedigree in this competition. Having win it a record 34 times (the last time in 2007), they have a bit of a lead on the Dark Blues. Dundee, enjoying a bit of a revival in fortunes under new manager Jocky Scott, won their one and only Scottish Cup in 1910 when it took two replays to beat Clyde (who knocked out eventual League Champions Celtic 3-1 in the semis). It was back in 1988 when Celtic last beat Dundee and 1984 when these two sides last played each other in the Scottish Cup. Again, a replay was needed to determine the winner, Celtic eventually coming out on top and going on to win the Cup that year with a final victory over the other team from Dundee; Frank McGarvey and Davie Provan scored in the 2-1 win. It’s hard to see Celtic losing this one to be honest but if Dundee can do what their city rivals did last week and hold Celtic to a draw then it’ll be a good result for the Dark Blues.
Stenhousemuir v East Fife
Second division East Fife are, together with Queens Park, the lowest placed team left in this years competition to have actually won the Scottish Cup. Back in 1938, they worked their way through Aberdeen, Dundee United before beating Kilmarnock 4-2 in the final replay. There’s just been the one meeting between these two sides in the Scottish Cup: back in 1956, Stenhousemuir won 3-1 away from home in the fifth round. East Fife won promotion to the Second division last season, but given Stennie’s performance this year, it wont be long before the two fight it out again on a regular basis. It’s something to look forward to anyway: there’s been some high scoring games over the years, including a 7-0 win for Stennie and a 5-3 victory for East Fife. A tough game to call, but we’re going to go with Stenhousemuir to win this one.
Ayr United v Kilmarnock
We told the story of Ayr United’s remarkable run of Scottish Cup triumphs over Kilmarnock in yesterdays posting so we wont go over it here again, but suffice to say that we don’t think an upset is on the cards this time around. Kilmarnock will win this one, nae danger!
Dunfermline Athletic v Clyde
Clyde, three times winners of the Scottish Cup (1938, 1955 and 1958) take on Dunfermline, themselves lucky recipients on two occasions (1961 and 1968). The Pars can boast a slightly better record than the Bully Wee, having been runners up on three occasions, most recently in 2007 when they lost 1-0 to Celtic after a lengthy campaign that also saw them knock out Rangers in the Third round, Hearts in the Fourth round and Hibernian in the semi-final. Unfortunately, they’d be relegated at the end of the season, but the Cup appearance did result in a short-lived UEFA Cup run. Both sides are now in the First division of course, Dunfermline having the slightly better run at the minute – second top, as opposed to Clyde’s second bottom. An exiting 4-4 draw was the last league result back in December. We’d like more of the same please, with Dunfermline to win through in the replay.
Brechin City v St. Mirren
By the time you read this, and hopefully before this game kicks off tomorrow, former Hibs and Dundee manager Jim Duffy will have take over at the Angus club. He’ll take over from Michael O’Neill who left to manager Irish side Shamrock Rovers. And what a great way to get started, a tie against SPL opposition. St. Mirren bade farewell to old ground Love Street last week in the turgid 0-0 draw with Motherwell, but it’s time to put away the hankies and get on with spankin’ some lower league fodder. Brechin are no mugs though. For a long time they’ve been in the pack of three teams chasing promotion to the First, but they’ve started to fade a wee bit and now find themselves some nine points of the lead. If I was Duffy I’d forget about this competition and focus on getting promotion instead, something that is well within their reach. St. Mirren are in 8th place in the SPL, Saints last won the Cup in 1987 after a 28 year wait. Brechin, needless to say have never won the Scottish Cup and are certainly in no danger of winning it anytime soon. Some of you may remember Brechin from last years Scottish Cup after they incurred the wrath of the SFA by fielding not one, but two ineligible players in their tie with Hamilton Accies; they where promptly thrown out of the competition. So, perhaps better luck this year? Nah. St. Mirren to win.
Peterhead v Queen’s Park
In a repeat of last Saturday’s game at Hampden, won by 2-1 by Scottish football legends and 10 times Scottish Cup winners (although the last time was 1893 when they beat Celtic in the final) Queen’s Park, it’s the turn of Peterhead to play host in this Cup encounter. The Blue Toon, managed by former Aberdeen legend Neale Cooper are fourth in the Second division while the Spiders are in 7th place. We expect Peterhead to come out on top in this game,
There are two games taking place on the Sunday, beginning at Ochilview Park in Stenhousemuir.
East Stirlingshire v Dundee United
First off, an apology to East Stirlingshire. We awarded them our prestigious “Performance of the Week” award back in December for their amazing run of results down in the Third division. Since then, the team have lost twice in a row, conceding 7 goals to Cowdenbeath and Stenhousemuir. We’d love to say that we hope they’ll do better in tomorrow’s game, but somehow we just can’t see it. United third in the league, fresh after that amazing 2-2 draw with Celtic would be looking to keep their Cup run going a bit longer and against East Stirling we see that as a distinct possibility, Mind you, the Shire did put out First division Livingston in the previous round. Dundee United won the cup in 1994 beating Rangers 1-0 in the final. An easy win for United we reckon, though if we’re proved wrong, another Performance of the Week award will be heading down to Ochilview Park quicker than you can say “3 game losing streak coming up”.
Hibernian v Heart of Midlothian
The other game taking place is another tasty Edinburgh derby, which seem to be popping up like mushrooms after the rain. A week after the last one, another one appears. Last week, an entertaining game ended 0-0, but the headlines where not about the events on the field, rather the events off the field. It all started when a minority of Hibernian supporters broke the one-minute silence held before the start of Saturday’s game in memory of the late George Miller. No doubt spurred on by this, some sections of the Hearts support then jeered Hibs’ Dean Shiels over the loss of his eye. Both clubs have come out and denounced their respective fans behaviour, but the events may well give this game a wee edge.
As far as the football in concerned, Hearts have a better record in the competition, having won the Cup 7 times in total. The last time was in 2006, when they beat Hibs 4-0 in the semi-final. Hibs last won the Cup in 1902 (a win over Celtic on that occasion).
Scottish Football League
There are a few games going on in the Second and Third divisions for those teams unlucky enough to get knocked out of the Cup in previous rounds.
In the Second division, high flying Raith Rovers take on mid-table Stirling Albion in a game they should win easily. With the chasing pack all in Scottish Cup action it’s a good chance for Raith to put even more distance between themselves and the teams below them. The Third division game of the weekend is without a doubt the meeting of second placed Cowdenbeath against third placed Dumbarton. Annan Athletic continue their first season in senior football against Albion Rovers, while Montrose take on bottom side Elgin.
The Highland League
A limited card up in the Highlands will no doubt be even more limited by the time 3pm comes around tomorrow. In case it all goes ahead, Brora Rangers entertain Cove Rangers, Fraserburgh travel along the north east coast to Buckie Thistle, Fort William will try to their single point this season with a game against second-placed Keith, Lossiemouth welcome Huntly and it’s 11th against 13th as Clachnacuddin take on Rothes.
Aye aye all – it’s Monday, which means Performance of the Week time. This week we have three nominations for you to choose from. You know the deal – we like to recognize those teams, players and events in the week just passed that deserve a special mention for services rendered in the name of Scottish football. So without further waffling, here are the nominations, each one lovingly hand-picked by the staff of Inside Left.