Junior Cup kingpins Talbot in unusual position of being outsiders against Ayrshire rivals Glenafton

AUCHINLECK TALBOT

V GLENAFTON ATHLETIC

Tonight in Cardiff, we have the European Cup Final, tomorrow, in Kilmarnock, the Scottish Junior Cup Final. Not on the face of it games with much in common. But, in the Principality Stadium, Real Madrid are gunning for their 12th European Cup win, while at Rugby Park, Auchinleck Talbot are shooting for their 12th Scottish Junior Cup triumph. If Real are the first club you think of when the European Cup final comes around, then the same has to be said of Talbot for the Junior clash.

However, Talbot are in the unusual position of being outsiders, as they face near-neighbours Glenafton Athletic.

For all their long rivalry in Ayrshire, only once before, in 1992, have Talbot and the Glen faced-off for the big prize, at Firhill, with Talbot winning 4-0.

The A76 will be jam-packed before and after the game, as these two former Ayrshire mining villages decant along it to Kilmarnock. Junior Cup Final day is a day out for everyone in both villages, the streets, with every lampost festooned with banners in the club colours, will be deserted, and, win or lose, there will be parties in both villages tomorrow night.

Having won the West of Scotland Super League Premier Division, Glenafton should be confident against third-place finishers Talbot. But, as Alex Jess, former Glenafton player, committee-man, secretary and president, who has followed his village club for more than 70-years, admits: “It’s a final, it’s Talbot – you can take nothing for granted. Those Talbot Bees are always very difficult to beat in any final, particularly in the Scottish.”

The Glen won both league meetings between the clubs, but nobody is reading toomuch into that statistic.

However, the Glen fans believe, under manager Craig Mcewan, the former Clyde, Raith Rovers, Ayr United and Scotland Under-21 full-back, the club is playing its best football since the glory days of Alan Rough in the early 1990s, when they reached three successive finals, winning the trophyfor the only time in 1993.

Talbot have been strangely inconsistent in an injury-hit season. They have lost their last three games, but manager Tucker Sloan, for whom a win tomorrow will see him overtake the legendary Willie Knox with a sixth Scottish Cup success as boss, is confident his men will be ready for the game.

“Yes, it has been a difficult season, but, I have sensed in training this week – they are ready for the fray and to put our indifferent form behind us.”