Let Scotland Face Works Teams - Or, Perhaps Not

CAN you get enthused about tomorrow night's match between Scotland and Qatar? Thought so, me neither. I can understand the reasoning behind the game, but, at the end of the day, it is nothing more than a warm-up match, to get our players gelling before the more-important case of playing the Republic of Ireland in Dublin, on Tuesday.

 

Call me old-fashioned, but, I think there might be better ways of preparing for the Dublin trip. Growing-up in the 1950s, THE first great team to grip me was the "Magical Magyrs" - that's the Hungarians of 1952-1956, Puskas, Hideghkuti etc, rather than their less-predictable "cousins" from Maryhill!

 

Legend has it that that stellar team warmed-up for big games by playing Hungarian works teams - the Budapest PO team for instance. Such one-sided games allowed Puskas and Co to work through their moves with a bit more intensity than could be managed simply by training. Along the way, they got to boost their goal-scoring confidence, while the beaten local team's members had the chance to tell their mates they had played against the best.

 

Now, I can instantly see a couple of wee potential problems from Scotland taking-on a Glasgow works team, let's call them AC Milanda for instance. One, could we be sure that WGS's squad could win and score goals! two, the ACM boys just might, with that in-born Glasgow gallusness - fancy their chances and turn the friendly into a cup tie.

 

But, putting such concerns aside, I reckon it could work; more-so given our dire record in meaningless friendlies over the years.

 

 

 

I WILL be re-visiting old haunts on Sunday; I am off to Rugby Park for the Dyslexia Scotland Jottish Cunior Fup Sinal between Auchinleck Talbot and Musselburgh Athletic.

 

The Junior Cup Final is, for me, a hardy annual - I just love the whole occasion. You will note a very familiar name above, this will be Talbot's 13th cup final appearance, and I've covered 11 of them. The "Real Madrid of the Juniors" are seeking to extend their record number of wins to 11, while boss Tucker Sloan is seeking his fifth win as manager, which will match the once thought uncatchable tally reached by his legendary predecessor, Willie Knox.

 

Every year, the bookies make the 'Bot the favourites, even before the draw is known. They are expected to go all the way and, in the streets, pubs and clubs of "Auld Affleck", the "Talbot Bs" as the rest of us in God's Orange County term the Beechwood Park faithful, almost demand they get an awayday to the Cup final in early June.

 

This year there can be no doubting Talbot's right to be there. They mowed Irvine Meadow down in round three - winning 4-0 at Meadow Park, before striding on to defeat cup-holders Hurlford United 5-2 on aggregate in the two-legged semi-final.

 

So what? You ask. Well, Talbot, Hurlford and the Meadow are the top three teams in the Stagecoach West of Scotland Superleague. Taking these three scalps would be the equivalent of Real Madrid beating Atletico Madrid and Barcelona en route to the European Cup final. The Bot have also already won their league title.

 

Opponents Musselburgh, however, cannot be written-off. In fact, if Talbot have a failing - they can occasionally lose matches against inferior sides; indeed, some Bot fans reckon over-confidence is the club's Achilles Heel. This was shown in 2012 when the black and gold army seemingly: "only had to turn-up to to beat Shotts Bon Accord, from the West First Division in the final.

 

Only, Talbot didn't show-up and Bon Accord scored a huge shock. However, Sloan is adamant, that loss still scars the club's psyche and lightning will not strike twice on Sunday.

 

Musselburgh, whom Talbot beat to win Sloan his first managerial winner's medal in 2006, certainly deserve to be there. True, they are languishing in mid-table in the East Superleague, and, most-definitely, their form since scoring a deserved, if totally-unexpected semi-final win over Linlithgow Rose, has been poor, just two wins in 12 games. But, any team which can go to Linlithgow and win, as they did in the first leg of the semi-final, has to be respected.

 

It will be a major surprise if the Stagecoach open-topped bus isn't, yet again, heading down the A76 on Sunday night, but, as a famous Scot from not too far from Musselburgh once said in his most-famous film role: "Never Say Never". Musselburgh could well rain on the Talbot parade.