Fort William boss Alan Gray is urging his fired-up players to deliver a memorable performance against Clydebank in the Scottish Cup on Saturday night.
The Lochaber men go into the 7.30pm home showdown against their third-placed West of Scotland Premier Division opponents on the back of 6-2 midweek North of Scotland Cup loss at Highland League hosts Brora Rangers.
Last Saturday, they slipped to a 3-1 home defeat against Golspie Sutherland in the first round of the Football Times Cup.
However, this clash against the Bankies is one to relish and comes after the visitors reversed their decision not to play at Claggan Park at night.
The annual Ben (Nevis) Race bursts through the same venue in the afternoon and the tie was initially switched to Golspie before the clubs agreed to play at Claggan Park with a later kick-off time.
Fort William are early league leaders
Prior to their quickfire cup-tie double over the past week, Fort won their opening two North Caledonian League matches – 4-0 at Bonar Bridge and 7-1 against Orkney in Invergordon.
The back-to-back victories have Fort William as the NCL’s early front-runners, although a few sides have just played once.
With 14 points from their first seven league games, Clydebank, who have ex-Aberdeen, Dundee and Arbroath midfielder Nicky Low on board, are behind Pollok on goal difference and just one point adrift of leaders Beith Juniors.
📺 All the action caught by @BankiesTV from yesterday's action packed 5-2 win over @CumnockJnrsFC.
⚽️ Nicky Low
⚽️ Thomas Collins
⚽️⚽️ Nicky Little
⚽️ Matt Nivenhttps://t.co/B8HXuxGqWx— Clydebank FC (@clydebankfc) August 27, 2023
Last weekend, Gordon Moffat’s side were 5-2 home victors against Cumnock Juniors.
Two years ago, Moffat guided the Bankies to the fourth round of the Scottish Cup, taking care of League Two Elgin City and League One Clyde on the way before being edged out 4-3 after extra-time against Annan Athletic, also of League Two.
Kids can help players in showdown
Gray said: “The town will be heaving with the Ben Race being on and our game 7.30pm under the lights at Claggan Park. It should be a bumper crowd.
“The local kids will all want to be here for this tie. Over the last year, with all our football work within the local community, kids have taken the club to their hearts.
“They know the players’ names and they are wearing the club shirts. We want them to make it noisy, get behind the boys and enjoy it.
“Our guys want to play at the highest level they can- and you want to be at your very best against the bigger sides.
“Clydebank will see themselves as the bigger side, but we want to give a good account of ourselves.”
Upbeat Golspie set for Hawick trek
Golspie Sutherland are also in Scottish Cup action, when they travel to the Borders to face Hawick Royal Albert.
Hawick are seventh in the East of Scotland Third Division at present.
Although Mark McKernie will be without Steven Anderson and Ally Macleod and has a doubt over Sean Campbell, the Golspie boss is encouraged with the way his young players are stepping up to the task.
McKernie said: “With the buzz of playing in the Scottish Cup, everyone is quite excited.
“It’s a step into the unknown, but it’s a challenge we enjoy. We get to play teams we don’t normally get to play.
“We have had them watched, and I have seen a couple of clips of them online.
“Their season has started a bit like ours, a bit up and down and unsettled.
“We are a bit more confident after the result last week though. A lot of the young boys got a chance last week as we had a couple missing.
“They did well, they dug in and showed a bit of grit about them. There’s no reason why they cannot kick on from that.
“I think they have matured a bit since last season. Giving the younger boys a chance last season is hopefully going to work in our favour moving forward.
“It’s the old cliche, if you never give them a chance, they will never progress.”
Loch Ness target repeat away victory
In the North Caledonian League on Saturday, 10 teams are in action, with champions Loch Ness away to last season’s runners-up Invergordon for the second successive week.
Loch Ness posted a 2-0 win against their rivals last Saturday in the opening round of the Football Times Cup. They each won their opening league fixtures.
Clachnacuddin ‘A’ will top the table should they win against Inverness Athletic at North Kessock, albeit they will have played more matches than any other side.
Bonar Bridge, who knocked St Duthus out of the cup last week, are seeking their third successive win overall when they go to Alness United, who are on zero point from two outings.
St Duthus host Halkirk United, with the visitors looking for two wins from two against their opponents, who have one point from their first two games.
Orkney have lost their opening two matches and are home to Thurso, who have one victory and one defeat so far.
