Dolan: Do not take tie for granted

Deveronvale manager Steve Dolan will stress how lucky his side are to be playing in the Scottish Cup ahead of their second round tie against Stirling University.

The former Vale full-back, whose playing career spanned two decades, will draw on his own memories of playing in Scotland’s premier cup competition as the Banff outfit bid to seal a place in the third round.

He said: “I shouldn’t have to motivate the lads too much before Saturday’s game.

“When I made my Scottish Cup debut for Deveronvale, way back in 1995, the club hadn’t been in the national competition for 30 years. In those days you had to reach the semi-finals of the Qualifying Cup to earn the right to play in the Scottish Cup.

“That season we managed to sneak into the last four of the Qualifying Cup by beating Elgin City in the quarter-final at Borough Briggs.

“Our reward for that was a trip to Albion Rovers. It was big event and we went on to beat them 2-0 down there. It was quite an achievement.”

Dolan added that he will be picking the brains of Keith boss Dean Donaldson before Saturday’s tie.

The students knocked the Maroons out 2-1 at Stirling in the first round, so Dolan is hoping to pick up a pointer or two from his Highland League counterpart.

Dolan added: “Before we beat Bonnyrigg Rose in the last round we picked up on one thing and it paid off on the day, so one or two bits of information is probably enough.”