Talbot secretary hoping for cup win and a home tie
FRASERBURGH v AUCHINLECK
REACHING the third round of the Scottish Cup might not sound like much of a journey to some.
But for Auchinleck Talbot and their merry band of fans it’s been a trek which would rival even Billy Connolly’s World Tour to the furthermost corners of the land. And it’s about to get even crazier.
By the time the Ayrshire juniors return home from today’s third-round tie against Fraserburgh they will have clocked up a mammoth 1400 miles in this season’s competition.
Not bad going considering some clubs have won the trophy having barely left their home city.
A 600-mile round trip to defeat Wick Academy in the first round turned the ignition on Talbot’s road trip. That was followed up by a trek to Aberdeenshire to play Highland League Cove Rangers.
Now after dumping Cove in a replay, Tommy Sloan’s side are on their travels again with a 440-mile round trip to the furthermost Aberdeenshire club to face Fraserburgh.
The man in charge of co-ordinating the whole journey, secretary Henry Dumigan, laughed and said: “We’re considering just joining the Highland League!
“Honestly it’s been unbelievable the way the draw has panned out. I don’t think we could have drawn three further away ties and it might have been even worse as we beat Banks O’Dee from Aberdeen in the preliminary round but thankfully that one was in Auchinleck.
“We are really enjoying it though. You’ve got to. The upside is the involvement in the Scottish Cup and testing yourself against this grade of football.
“The downside is the cost and especially for our loyal supporters. For every round we have left on the Friday and booked into a hotel in the Aberdeen area to give the players a chance to relax.
“We’re using the same hotel again this weekend. We’ll points at this rate!
“We have good sponsors and the SFA help out with some of the fuel costs which combined means the club aren’t hit too badly in the pocket.
“It’s certainly not the case that we’ve lost money from the cup run.
“And the players are certainly enjoying getting away and being treated like professionals.
“I remember after the Wick game we went back to their club and we were listening to the draw for the second be due loyalty round on the radio. The roar went up from the players when we were drawn away to Cove – but the committee were sitting with their heads in their hands!
“Seriously though we want the run to keep going as long as possible and, if we are lucky enough, then the dream is to get through and draw a tie against a Premiership side just like we did against Hearts in 2012.
“Hopefully it will be a cracker of a cup tie today with a Talbot victory at the final whistle of course.” career in limbo, Dumbuya will pour all of his energy into helping Falkirk recover from their nightmare start to the campaign.
He joined the Bairns in November after being released by Partick Thistle at the end of last season and is determined to make up for lost time.
Dumbuya is set to make his debut against Stenny and said: “Now I’m 100 per cent fit and ready to play my part. Falkirk called me at a good time and the move felt right.
“The chance to stay in Scotland was perfect. This has become like a second home for me.”
FRASER WILSON