Charlie Christie: Scottish Cup provides potential cash injection for Highland League clubs – and chance for positivity amid difficult times at Inverness Caley Thistle
League business takes a back seat tomorrow for Scottish Championship, League One and League Two clubs as they turn their attention to the Scottish Cup along with the 14 non-league sides who have progressed to round three.
The Highland League is represented by five clubs aiming to cause an upset and take their place in round four, which is when the Premier League sides first join the competition, and the prospect of a glamourous money-spinning tie comes into focus.
Buckie and Brechin are involved in two ‘non-league’ affairs when they travel to Clydebank and Cowdenbeath respectively and, whilst Buckie will need to be at their very best to get a result, I would expect Brechin to overcome a Cowdenbeath side currently struggling in the Lowland League.
Brora have been handed the most difficult draw of the five as they head to the tricky artificial surface at Livingston in what will be a real challenge. Steve Mackay’s squad have both quality and experience though, and I hope that serves them well on Saturday afternoon.
The remaining two Highland sides Fraserburgh and Banks O’ Dee will be expecting bumper crowds as they entertain Annan Athletic and Hamilton and it is not the draw either league side would have picked. If either don’t approach the game correctly then an upset could well be on the cards.
Caley Thistle also travel east to face Cove Rangers for the second time in three weeks and a repeat of our recent league result would do just fine.
That match was decided by fine margins with Cove missing a penalty midway through the first half which would have put them two goals in front, after which we responded well to go on to claim a very valuable win.
Both sides have suffered injury problems since that league encounter, and it has been particularly frustrating for us given that we were starting to show some real character in matches and looked like gaining some much-needed momentum.
However, it offers up the opportunity for others to stake a claim and it is up to those individuals to grasp the chance and show they can play their part going forward.
We are running with a very tight squad at this time, and everyone will need to contribute over the next few weeks if we are to continue our upward spiral.
Since our debut in the Scottish Cup in December 1994, ICT have enjoyed a quite incredible Scottish Cup record and there is no denying the ‘feel good’ factor that a cup run can bring to a club.
In this most challenging of seasons, it would be fitting if our Scottish Cup history was extended by perhaps another chapter or two.
