Evening Telegraph (First Edition)
Can Kirrie upset the odds in cup?
KIRRIE Thistle host Tayport in the semi-final of the GA Engineering Cup tomorrow.
Boss Jim Finlayson feels the opportunity of reaching a major final will spur on his players.
Certainly, Thistle can approach the tie against their Premier opponents with some confidence, having only been beaten by Bonnyrigg Rose on penalties and Hill of Beath, both Super League sides, in the other two knockout competitions.
Tayport will be without Gary Sutherland, who is cup-tied, while Kieran Conway (illness) and player/manager John Ovenstone (suspended) also miss out.
On paper, Broughty Athletic will be hot favourites to topple Violet at Glenesk but Fed manager Keith Gibson will be guarded about going into the tie over-confident.
The Pansies’ league form has been extremely disappointing but they have reserved some of their best performances for the cup competitions and they have reached the semi-final stage with some solid displays.
In the second round they travelled to Hall Russell and beat them 1-0.
Either side of that victory they had a whopping 7-0 victory over Forfar Albion in the first round and beat East Craigie 5-3 to reach the last four.
Broughty’s path to the semis has been something of a stroll.
They kicked off with a 5-1 win over Brechin Vics and followed with a 5-2 success against Blairgowrie.
Hermes were expected to give them a game but the Fed easily brushed them aside at Whitton Park, cruising to a 5-1 win.
So, while Broughty will be hot favourites to go through to the final, Violet won’t make it easy for them, although manager Ralph Henderson does face a massive selection headache.
Barry Wilson, Ciaran Conway, Aaron Kane, Chris Tawse and Connor McLeod are out injured, while Lawrie Mitchell and Gary Robertson are cup-tied.
Just to add to the selection problems, Gavin Hood is suspended, while Scott Tovey and Kevin Scott are unavailable.
Broughty manager Gibson hopes to be able to name a full squad.