The long wait for a Scottish Cup victory is over
Well at long, long last, Annan Athletic have finally managed to win a Scottish Cup match in my many years at the club.
The last time we were victorious was back in 1998 when the club defeated Vale of Leithen 3-1 to set up a third round tie against Inverness Caledonian Thistle. Let's hope our next game against Brechin City is a little bit closer than that one was.
I had just started training with Annan before their trip to the Highlands and I remember keeping up to date with the game on ceefax. I was jumping up and down at my girlfriend's house when Norman Montgomery scored to put us 1-0 up very early in the game.
I was hoping that I could manage to get myself fit in time to play in the fourth round. Unfortunately, the final score was 8-1 to Caley Thistle and that was that!
I'd love to stay in the team and play some part this time around.
Saturday's replay was my first start since our defeat to Partick Thistle over three months ago and although I wasn't entirely happy with my own performance, it was simply about getting through the replay and getting the team in to that third round.
It felt good to play a real part in an important victory again. I might only have been in the team because Kevin Neilson missed out and with the big man possibly being back for our trip to Elgin this weekend it may have been for one game only.
I hope not and can only keep my fingers crossed I've done enough to keep my place.
John MacBeth was on target for Annan Athletic at the weekend
The game itself started really well for us with John MacBeth scoring after four minutes to calm any nerves that may have been lingering. Two further goals within 20 minutes pretty much put the game to bed and we were fairly comfortable throughout the rest of the match.
The 5-0 score line was perhaps a little bit harsh on Preston after their performance in the first match but I think there was a bit of a gulf during the replay.
Credit to them however; after being 3-0 down early in the game they could easily have folded but they kept going and gave a decent performance in the second half without causing us too many problems.
Good luck to Stevie Myatt and the players for the rest of the season. I'm sure if they play like they did in that first leg they will find themselves further up the before too long.
We're now approaching a very important stage of the season with three of our next four games away from home.
We lost a bit of ground at the weekend because of the replay and will miss out again on 20 November when we are scheduled to play Brechin in the third round.
There have been a lot of people saying that we can go top by winning our games in hand. Well, one of those games is on Tuesday night against an in-form side in Montrose and before that we face a very difficult trip to Elgin, so you might not be surprised to hear me say that we would much rather have the points on the board.
There are no easy games in this league and especially this year when we certainly feel that it is wide open.
Our game on Saturday will be made that little bit more difficult due to the fact that we are travelling to the game in the morning. In our first season the club stumped up to allow us the Friday night in an Elgin hotel.
Everyone is well aware of the cash constraints in Scottish football right now so that money is now being saved for more important things. In any case we're not the only club to do it and Elgin do exactly the same when they come down to our place.
We will hope to use it to our advantage knowing that we are in for a very long return journey if we don't get a positive result.
A great day was had by all at on Sunday afternoon and beyond. Although there wasn't a massive amount of money won I have to give special thanks to my team mate, Bryan Felvus, for his tip that romped home at 14-1.
I'm not too sure how much confidence he had in the horse because after speaking to him at training on Monday night he hadn't even backed it himself. Cheers all the same Selby!
Hi there, I'm Chris Jardine, midfielder with Scottish Third Division side Annan Athletic. I hope, throughout the season, I can give you a good insight into life at the newest Scottish League club and maybe even a few laughs along the way.
Comment number 1.
At 4th Nov 2010, jpannan wrote:Hi Chris
You are rather hard on youself regarding your contribution last Saturday. what about the assist with a well taken free kick to set up Jordan's goal.
I trust you have made it difficult for HC to pick his team.
Question regarding corners - how come you and Coxsy are always in the corner area when only one can deliver.
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