I’D LOVE TO DO IT COL AGAIN
THE Scottish Cup will always be special for Hearts legend Colin Cameron.
And he is looking to create more tournament memories with Edusport Academy when they host Highland League Buckie Thistle this afternoon.
Cameron, who scored a penalty after less than two minutes of the 1998 Cup Final when Hearts beat Rangers 2-1, is now the assistant manager at the Lowland League side.
And the former midfielder admits the Cup still gets him excited.
Cameron, 45, said: “It’s a great competition. I’ve played in it all the way to the final and won it – and the sense of excitement every team in this round is feeling is still there for me.
“Everyone sees this as a good opportunity to take a step closer to playing against the big guns and are determined to take it.
“Our manager Ricky Waddell has had Buckie watched and has built up a good knowledge about them.
“We are going into the game disappointed at losing to BSC Glasgow last weekend but we’re not down-hearted. We tried a few things in that game that never came off and we will be back on more usual lines for Buckie.
“It would be great if we could bounce back from that and set off on a decent cup run.”
Auchinleck came through two preliminary rounds to make it to the first round proper but they won’t have their usual coach loads of fans supporting them at Wick Academy today.
The cost of making the 700-mile round trip from Ayrshire ruled out the supporter buses running.
But Talbot boss Tommy Sloan is hoping some fans make the long trip.
He said: “It’s not the greatest draw in terms of getting fans there but this is what cup football brings.
“We are always well backed and I’m sure some of our fans will find their way there.
“We’re doing everything we can to prepare properly by going up on the Friday night, which is a big commitment for a junior club to make.
“It’s always good to compare our standard to the Highland League.
“We won 10-0 in our last preliminary fixture against Wigtown & Bladnoch and are expecting this game to be a lot tighter.”
Another long-distance tie sees Beith head for Nairn County.
And the junior side’s boss Johnny Millar said: “We will travel north on a high after coming from two goals down to beat Kilbirnie last weekend.
“I asked the boys to put in a shift to recover the situation and they did that.
“Nairn will be tough on their own patch but if we work as hard again then we can win up there.”
Strathspey Thistle are looking to record a first Scottish Cup win in their history when they host fartravelled Coldstream.
Jags boss Gordon Nicolson said: “We’re at home and are going into the game in good form. But we can’t underestimate Coldstream or our hopes of progressing to the second round will be gone again.”