The Press and Journal (Inverness, Highlands, and Islands)
Romance of another run
Brora looking for more cup magic as Coldstream visit Dudgeon Park
Brora Rangers manager Steven Mackay hopes his men can recapture the Scottish Cup form which took them to the last 16 last season when they entertain Coldstream in a second-round tie at Dudgeon Park tomorrow.
Brora enjoyed an excellent run in the national cup competition last season and Mackay would love a repeat of his adventure.
Mackay said: “It really would be wonderful to match what we did last season.
“It was the first time in the club’s history we reached the last 16 and to do that again would be unbelievable.
“But first and foremost we need to focus on beating Coldstream. They have been our focus for the last few days and if we get club’s exciting through this tie we can then look forward to all the excitement which comes along with the third-round draw.”
Mackay hopes home advantage will prove important but knows it does not guarantee progress to the third round.
He said: “When we had our great run last season we played Civil Service Strollers, Stranraer, East Fife and then Kilmarnock all away from home. We only had one home tie when we beat Girvan 5-0 in the first round.
“But it will be great to be at Dudgeon Park this weekend and have our fans right behind us to face a side which faces a long journey.
“I watched them a couple of weeks ago and one of their committee told me that they will be driving up on Friday night and staying over in Strathpeffer.
“They’re doing things very professionally but so are we. We’ve done our due diligence on them and I think it would be disrespectful to Coldstream not to go and physically watch them play.
“I believe neither Stranraer or East Fife watched ourselves last year before we played them. They went on reports from others and in the end they paid the price.
“We train at the same facility in Inverness as Strathspey Thistle so we also had a word with their manager Gordy Nicolson and his assistant Tommy Wilson as the Jags went down 2-0 at home to Coldstream in the previous round.”