Getting the pitch right for the day

Dec 12 2008 by Our Correspondent, Perthshire Advertiser Friday

TOMORROW pitch inspections will no doubt be the order of the day.

There has been no fixtures played as far as Perthshire clubs are concerned over the past two weeks due to pitches being frost-bound and unplayable.

A degree of optimism has prevailed at some of the grounds this week due to the modest change in the weather.

If as predicted by the forecasts that the Friday and Saturday temperatures show an improvement there could be a chance that some of the pitches will be given a clean bill of health and there will be games played.

The Scottish third round has been hit hard by cancellations as there is nearly half of the ties still to be played.

SJFA secretary Tom Johnston will no doubt be hoping that those ties or at least the majority of them will be played tomorrow as the draw for the fourth round is due to take place in the Evening Times’ office in Glasgow at 7.30am on Tuesday, December 16.

Jeanfield Swifts and Coupar Angus will be nurturing high hopes that they will make it through to the fourth round draw, but firstly they have to overcome Dyce and St Anthony’s respectively.

Swifts have an almost full strength squad available for their twice postponed tie against Dyce at the Riverside.

Mike Waring, out with a fractured nose, has been given the all clear and this leaves long term injury victim Gerrard Kelly the only player unavailable.

Manager Eddie O’Connor expects to have a squad of 18 available.

Eddie has been scratching around trying to find a team that would be in a position to play a friendly at the drop of a hat if Swifts game is called off.

But that could be a shot in the dark as the pitch problems are pretty general.

It may yet prove to be third time lucky for this Scottish Cup tie, if not players will have a training session.

Swifts opponents Dyce, who are in the top half of the north regions super league with a total of nine points from five games played, made it to this round of the Scottish Cup by beating Brechin Vics 2–0 in the previous round and that took Dyce through to the third round of the Scottish Cup for the first time as far as they can remember.

Swifts will be going all out to make sure they won’t add to their history by making the round four draw.

Coupar Angus are due to meet Glasgow club St Anthony’s at Foxhall and again it will be a Saturday morning inspection that will decide the fate of this game.

Only player missing for Coupar Angus is Mark Traynor, out with a fractured wrist.

Coupar co-managers, Dave Martin and Derek Grier, expect to have a squad of 17 available.

St Anthony’s who play in the west regions central league division one are in the lower half of the table with just five points from six games played.

Bankfoot are also engaged on cup business but in a quite different context.

Bankies are away to Downfield in the preliminary round of the Redwood Leisure Cup.

Downfield will be difficult opponents to overcome as they are going well and are one of the leading contenders in their championship race.

This will be Bankies goalkeeper Darren McGarry’s last game as he leaves next week for a year in Australia. Bankies boss Robin Wood expects to sign up a replacement for Darren quite soon.

Robin’s only doubt for tomorrow’s game is central defender Gary Campbell who is still nursing a troublesome hamstring injury. Bankies expect to have a squad of 18 available.

Blairgowrie and Kinnoull clash in the premier league at Davie Park, which will also be the subject of a pitch inspection tomorrow morning.

A plus side to the enforced layoff as far as Blairgowrie boss Billy Mackay is concerned is that his rather lengthy injury list has been cleared up and he now has a full squad of 18 available.

This could have a crucial effect for Blair in their quest for points that could secure their place in the premier league.

Kinnoull managed to get a bit of match practice last week when they played a friendly with Montrose Roselea.

Neil McCallum who has been out for a couple of months with a fractured hand played for the full 90 minutes of this game.

The striker celebrated his comeback with a terrific goal and he is in the squad for the game at Davie Park. Definite non starter is Gary Sweeney who has been ruled out with a knee injury that could keep him on the sidelines for a spell.

Andre Tang is unavailable and there are doubts about Ross Gunnion who has been suffering from a bout of tonsillitis.

Scone Thistle and Luncarty are engaged in the central league. Thistle have the league leader’s Rosyth as their guests at the RDM ground while Luncarty are away to Newburgh.

Scone Thistle have one thing in common and that is they each have a player missing from their squads for this game due to suspension.

They are Scones Callum McKinlay and Ross Morrison for the Fifers.

The teams are chasing the points from this game for different reasons.

Thistle want them to help lift them into the top half of the table eventually and Rosyth need them to keep ahead of their main challengers St Andrews in the championship race.

Scone Thistle will choose from a squad of 17 if the game gets the go ahead after a pitch inspection tomorrow morning.

Luncarty manager Barry Malcolm is desperately keen to see his team break their league duck and he feels that they have a very good chance of doing so in their game against Newburgh at East Shore Park.

Ewan Murray returns to the squad but Fraser Simpson is unavailable.

There are two ex Newburgh players in the Bleachers squad, Dougie Jay and Kyle Warner, who will be quite happy to see their former club finish the day pointless.

Barrie Malcolm intends to hold a training session at Auchterarder if their game is called off tomorrow.

Juniors Fixtures

TOMORROW’S fixtures: City Link Scottish Junior Cup third round – Jeanfield Swifts v Dyce; Coupar Angus v St Anthony’s.

Kick off’s – 1.45pm.

Premier League – Blairgowrie v Kinnoull.

Central League – Scone Thistle v Rosyth; Newburgh v Luncarty.

Redwood Leisure Cup preliminary round – Downfield v Bankfoot Athletic.

Kick off’s – 1.30pm.