Gala Fairydean Rovers up for cup at Kinnoull for second time in four months

The Galashiels side are off to Perth and Kinross this Saturday to take on Kinnoull in the East of Scotland Qualifying Cup’s second round.

That tie, kicking off at 2.30pm at Tulloch Park in Perth, comes less than four months after player-manager Martin Scott’s team knocked out the East of Scotland Football League first division team there in the same competition’s semi-finals at the end of April.

Two goals each from Zander Murray and Liam Campbell saw the Borderers tied 4-4 with their hosts after extra time and they won the ensuing penalty shootout 4-3 to make it to the final, losing 3-1 to EoSFL premier division outfit Linlithgow Rose at that stage a month later.

Rovers captain Danny Galbraith missed out on that quest for silverware as he was at the end of a year-long spell at fellow Scottish Lowland Football League side Bo’ness United at the time but says he’s looking forward to trying to help the club put together another cup run this time round.

“I wasn’t there at that time but from what the lads are saying, it was a bit of a cup classic by the sounds of it,” he said.

“When Gala played them last season, that was the first time I’d heard of them, but that, to a degree, is irrelevant because in a cup game if you’re not at it, upsets happen.”

This weekend’s cup tie follows back-to-back league defeats, 4-0 away to East Kilbride on Saturday and 4-1 at Edinburgh’s Spartans a week previously, leaving them eighth in the table, with ten points from six games.

Ronan Hughes and Bob McHugh were on target twice apiece for table-toppers East Kilbride and Galbraith admits Rovers’ hosts were worthy victors.

“To be honest, we didn’t ultimately deserve anything from the game,” said the 31-year-old.

“Whether or not 4-0 was flattering to them, I suppose you could argue either way. Certainly we should have had one penalty, but even then, I think we were 3-0 down at that point.

“If you get a penalty and score, you never know what can happen in football, but I’d be lying if I said we didn’t get what we deserved out of the game because when you give goals away in the manner that we did, it’s going to be difficult to win.

“If you look at East Kilbride’s budget and their squad and their aspirations to win the league, you know they’re going to be up there in the table.

“The disappointing thing for me is not necessarily losing because they are one of the top teams in the league, but there’s a way to lose, and at Spartans the week before and at East Kilbride on Saturday, my biggest disappointment was the fact we didn’t show a true reflection of ourselves.

“Both teams have got good players and if they play you off the park and beat you, then you hold your hands up, but if you’re beaten and you’ve never shown what you’re capable of, that’s frustrating from our point of view. I think if we had done that, those games would have been closer than they turned out to be.”

Galbraith is now hoping his side can seize the opportunity presented by their cup tie in Perth to bounce back from last weekend’s defeat.

“Regardless of the division they’re in or anything else, particularly after our last few results, it’s important for us to get back to winning ways as soon as possible,” he said.