Mentor awaits Stewart in Jags border raid

Buckie Thistle manager Graeme Stewart will come up against an old mentor when the Jags face Edusport Academy at Annan in the first round of the Scottish Cup on Saturday.

Stewart said: “I know the Edusport manager Ricky Waddell as he was one of the coaches when I took my B licence at the SFA coaching course.

“We played them this year in as pre-season friendly match at Banks o’ Dee’s Spain Park in Aberdeen. We drew 2-2, so we know they are a good team.

“They’re basically a football academy who take guys over from France to attend their college. They play football every day at their base at Lesser Hampden. They benefit from full-time coaching and they have a lot of fairly physical players in their squad. Four years ago, when I’d gone back to play at Inverurie Locos, Buckie beat Annan Athletic 1-0 at Galabank where Edusport play their home games.

“A few of the lads will have experienced the setup there and their artificial pitch. I know a few guys who have played there recently and they all say that it’s a nice place to play, although the surface will give Edusport an advantage as they’re used to on it.”

Buckie have won four league matches in a row since losing 3-0 at Brora last month.

Stewart added: “After a mixed start we’re improving. The longer the season goes we’re going to get even stronger as more of our long-term injured players are going to come back.

“The boys who joined us in the summer, such as Andy MacAskill, Allen MacKenzie and Sam Robertson, are beginning to look a bit more comfortable and with guys like Shaun Wood, Craig Cowie, Sam Urquhart and Kevin Fraser closer to making a return to action there’s no doubt we’re going to get stronger.

“If the season had started a couple of months later we would have been in a much better position.

“It’s a good trip. We’re staying overnight in Hamilton on Friday and travelling down on Saturday morning.

Reunion day: Graeme Stewart