Scottish Cup | Lowland League titans tussle in tie of the round

Posted on Friday, December 11th, 2020

In arguably the tie of Preliminary Round 2, it’s the clash of two Lowland League giants as Spartans welcome East Kilbride to Ainslie Park in the Scottish Cup.

Speaking to the Edinburgh Evening News, gaffer Dougie Samuel said, “It’s arguably the toughest draw we could have got. East Kilbride have built a squad and recruited a manager with a higher level in mind. However, it’s the Scottish Cup, a one-off game where anything is possible.

“It’s a competition which holds happy memories for us. Our recent good form and results mean we can go into the game confident we can cause an upset. We are desperate to write another memorable entry in the Spartans Scottish Cup journal.”

Samuel has a near fully fit squad to choose from with Ian McFarland, Mikey Allan and Harry Stone all back in the mix for selection to take on a Kilby side who have had a decent start to their domestic campaign, including a 2-0 win over Spartans when the sides last met in the League back in October.

It’s the fourth time the clubs will have locked horns in one of the oldest cup competitions in the world. It took a replay and a Jack Beesley hat-trick (including that free-kick!) to guide Spartans to a 2nd round victory back in 2014-15, a cup campaign that saw Spartans reach the 5th Round before losing out to Berwick in a midweek replay where more than 1,000 Spartan Army fans crossed the border to cheer their side on.

Two years ago the teams met at K-Park with Adam Corbett scoring his side’s only goal in a 3-1 defeat, leaving the tale of the tape going into Saturday’s match all even with a win apiece and a draw in the mix.

Kick-off is 3pm. No fans are allowed to attend due to Scottish Govt guidance.

Scottish Cup Stats:

Saturday will be our 67th Scottish Cup tie.

Wins 25 | Draws 13 | Losses 28 | For 104 | Against 102

Goalscorers: Keith McLeod 13 | Robbie Manson 6 | Donal Henretty, Jack Beesley and Jamie Dishington 5