Annan Athletic 2 Spartans 1
Berwick Rangers 1 Albion Rovers 2
Brora 0 Forfar 3
C S Strollers 2 Vale of Leithen 1
Clachnacuddin 2 Crichton 1
Cove Rangers 3 Whitehill welfare 1
Cowdenbeath 1 Elgin City 0
Dalbeattie Star 3 Selkirk 0
East Stirlingshire 2 Preston Athletic 1
Edinburgh City 2 Wick Academy 0
Forres Mechanics 1 Keith 3
Fraserburgh 1 Dumbarton 2
Inverurie Loco's 2 Banks O'Dee 0
Lochee Utd 2 Buckie Thistle 0
Montrose 2 Huntly 0
Stenhousemuir 3 Threave Rovers 0

Discuss .............

Annan Athletic 1 Spartans 1
Berwick Rangers 1 Albion Rovers 2
Brora 1 Forfar 6
C S Strollers 1 Vale of Leithen 1
Clachnacuddin 5 Crichton 0
Cove Rangers 3 Whitehill welfare 1
Cowdenbeath 4 Elgin City2
Dalbeattie Star 5 Selkirk 0
East Stirlingshire 5 Preston Athletic 1
Edinburgh City 2 Wick Academy 0
Forres Mechanics 1 Keith 3
Fraserburgh 1 Dumbarton 4
Inverurie Loco's 2 Banks O'Dee 0
Lochee Utd 2 Buckie Thistle 5
Montrose 2 Huntly 0
Stenhousemuir 3 Threave Rovers 1

Annan Athletic 0 Spartans 2
Berwick Rangers 2 Albion Rovers 0
Brora 0 Forfar 3
C S Strollers 1 Vale of Leithen 1
Clachnacuddin 1 Crichton 1
Cove Rangers 2 Whitehill welfare 2
Cowdenbeath 1 Elgin City 0
Dalbeattie Star 4 Selkirk 0
East Stirlingshire 2 Preston Athletic 0
Edinburgh City 2 Wick Academy 2
Forres Mechanics 1 Keith 2
Fraserburgh 0 Dumbarton 3
Inverurie Loco's 2 Banks O'Dee 1
Lochee Utd 0 Buckie Thistle 5
Montrose 2 Huntly 1
Stenhousemuir 5 Threave Rovers 0

I'd be lying if I said I could "predict" any of the matches between two non league teams, but from the fixtures I do fancy Spartans to beat Annan, and Huntly to get a replay from their match at Montrose.

For what it's worth. Can see a few of these being off tomorrow. When's the draw for Round 3?

Annan Athletic 1 Spartans 1
Berwick Rangers 1 Albion Rovers 1
Brora Rangers 0 Forfar Athletic 2
Civil Service Strollers 2 Vale of Leithen 1
Clachnacuddin 2 Crichton 0
Cove Rangers 1 Whitehill Welfare 1
Cowdenbeath 2 Elgin City 1
Dalbeattie Star 3 Selkirk 1
East Stirlingshire 3 Preston Athletic 1
Edinburgh City 3 Wick Academy 1
Forres Mechanics 0 Keith 3
Fraserburgh 1 Dumbarton 4
Inverurie Locos 3 Banks O Dee 1
Lochee United 1 Buckie Thistle 3
Montrose 3 Huntly 2
Stenhousemuir 4 Threave Rovers 0

Anyone managed to find any odds for these games yet?

Preston Athletic 11/2 on SKYBET to beat East Stirlingshire...........................................

http://odds.bestbetting.com/football/scotl...es/match-result

Annan Athletic 3 Spartans 5
Berwick Rangers 4 Albion Rovers 1
Brora 0 Forfar 2
C S Strollers 1 Vale of Leithen 2
Clachnacuddin 3 Crichton 1
Cove Rangers 2 Whitehill welfare 0
Cowdenbeath 3 Elgin City 0
Dalbeattie Star 4 Selkirk 0
East Stirlingshire 6 Preston Athletic 0
Edinburgh City 5 Wick Academy 0
Forres Mechanics 1 Keith 2
Fraserburgh 0 Dumbarton 3
Inverurie Loco's 4 Banks O'Dee 0
Lochee Utd 0 Buckie Thistle 2
Montrose 2 Huntly 1
Stenhousemuir 4 Threave Rovers 1

Annan Athletic 2 Spartans 2
Berwick Rangers 1 Albion Rovers 1
Brora 1 Forfar 3
C S Strollers 0 Vale of Leithen 0
Clachnacuddin 3 Crichton 1
Cove Rangers 1 Whitehill welfare 1
Cowdenbeath 3 Elgin City 0
Dalbeattie Star 2 Selkirk 0
East Stirlingshire 1 Preston Athletic 1
Edinburgh City 4 Wick Academy 0
Forres Mechanics 1 Keith 2
Fraserburgh 2 Dumbarton 4
Inverurie Loco's 5 Banks O'Dee 1
Lochee Utd 2 Buckie Thistle 1
Montrose 4 Huntly 1
Stenhousemuir 4 Threave Rovers 2

Annan have got to be favourites at Galabank...they've really strengthened their team since EoS days yet Spartans have lost three of their top class players to the SFL. Seeley, Motion and Campbell are all doing really well at their new clubs but it does leave our squad a bit threadbare. The website shows Keith McLeod back in the squad which is a massive boost and Spartans do play much better when underdogs. A great game in prospect...will City Park need to host another Scottish Cup game?

wondering if I'll be the only person through supporting Preston

Going to take in the Locos v Banks O'Dee game today. Only finished work at 12 so no time to head up to Dingwall as I'd hoped.

If the wind inland is anything like it is in Aberdeen, it'll be a hellish game of football, but I'd settle for the 6 goals Fisherman has predicted!

I'll say 2-0 Locos.

Interesting to see people predict Buckie Thistle were going to severely 'do' Lochee United. Well, 3-0 to the 'Chee and more evidence of the Highland League's overall overrated status (yeah some great sides in there too though) - that's now 3 Junior sides who have KO'd Highland teams in the past 2 seasons. Buckie are down the bottom of the HFL because they're guff.

Well done the 'Chee! I was born a mile away or so from their ground so I guess that's makes them my true local team!

9 men Buckie to be fair, and i don't hear many people rating the HL these days. It's plainly a shadow of it's former self.

Still, well done to mid-table HL Clach in despatching Southern League Champions Crichton today.

It was 1-0 before the first man walked and 3-0 by the time Martin Charlesworth got his jotters late on.

My comment was more aimed at the coverage the HFL still commands nationally.

Fair enough, I'm not really aware of the comparative coverage.

Good result for Wick. Bet it fucked a few coupons.

Edinburghs turn to do that massive journey now.

There's none! Pick up the any of the sunday / mondays down here and it's easy to get SHL results and scorers, as well as BBC Scotland having the results on Final Score and Sportscene. Sky also have the final scores I think. No other non-league in Scotland gets that kind of coverage and there's an automatic assumption that the SHL is the level immediately below the SFL. I'm not disputing that, but the EOS and Juniors are of an equally high standard. I don't think there's a league in the UK that has such a wide range of clubs as the SHL. Banks O'Dee are no great shakes in Junior football (as a whole) but saw off Fort William with ease.

You're definitely right out the EOS and Juniors being the same standard. As far as Fort William are concerned though, they have no standards - a 1 legged dog would beat them which shows the wide range your talking about. The HL is living off past glories - it probably gets the same or even more nationwide coverage now than when Caley, Thistle, Peterhead, Ross County and Elgin were still involved. I suppose it's payback for decades and decades of the HL being overlooked.

Are you agreeing or disagreeing with me there?! When I saw the Juniors I mean the West and East set-ups as the North is definitely overall inferior to the Highland League.

I knew what you meant and i was agreeing.

The Inverurie game today was a simple case of the home side knocking away their chances, while the away team squandered four or five very promising chances. Better team won, but it was a lot closer than the scoreline suggested.

5-1 is a bit flattering, but the Banks O'Dee keeper didn't help their cause by dropping a corner into his own net after barely 2 minutes

I see you possess an encyclopaedic knowledge of the Lower Divisions

I went to this game too, pretty much agree with that. Certainly thought the scoreline flattered Loco's, thats for sure.

One thing I must say, a really healthy crowd. Almost 800 there, puts a lot of SFL clubs to shame!

True but 3 junior teams have been beaten by Highland League teams in the last two seasons seasons as well. Hopefully Lochee will be the first junior team to beat an SFL side.
Hopefully non league teams in general do well.

I'd love to draw Lochee as it would attract quite a bit of publicity. I'd fancy our chances against them as well.

When is the Third Round draw?

Monday, 10.30am at Hampden.

It goes two ways I suppose, but the sides the Highlands teams have beaten have been some of the weakest in the entire competition: Culter, Banks O'Dee and Girvan. The North Juniors are very poor in the overall Junior picture, with both Banks O'Dee and Culter failing to make the Junior Cup last 16 more often than not, having both reached that stage (and gone no further) once in the past 5 seasons. Only one North Region team has made the quarter-finals in the past decade. Girvan get in as Juniors by being SFA members and are highly average in West Region terms.

So far Highland sides have only drawn a strong Junior team once (i.e. the East, West or Junior Cup winners), and it was a good win for the Juniors.

I agree that it's good to see any non-league sides do well in the cup, but from a personal bias, I'm doubly glad to see the Junior entrants do ok. I'm gutted Lok flopped big time this season, but c'est la vie.

Have to admit last season was a a great day out for our replay at 'lok, we were lucky to go through 1-0 after a replay, the set up was great, Showed that on thier day they certainly had the ability to step up a level.

As for what has been said about the HL so far in this thread, 10years ago drawing Huntly in the cup would of struck fear in to miost 3rd divsion teams and some 2nd, after seeing them yesterday (despite the wind) thought they were poor. The standard has dropped for some of the HFL teams but Cove, Loco's, Keith & Deveronvale for me would still provide a game for any of teams in the 2nd & 3rd division.

Huntly yesterday though played with the wind in the first half then decided to try and get the game called off at half time.

So your point is that Highland teams beating Girvan or the North Juniors is irrelevant but that the standard of the league is overrated because the Scottish Junior Cup winners beat a team who are fourth bottom of the Highland League.

Which non league performance would you rate as the best in the Scottish Cup last season? I would suggest it was Huntly who were mid table at the time taking Dundee to within five minutes of a Fourth Round replay.

The standard of play in the Highland league is pretty mixed but the top teams are good as is the case with the Juniors and the East of Scotland which incidentally has come on a ton in recent years. The South of Scotland league must be fairly poor though.

The league does merit national publicity not least because of the sheer area the league covers. That is not to say the other leagues dont deserve it as well.

I like the new Scottish Cup set up and would be happy for more Junior teams to get in providing they had floodlights.

I agree that Huntly's performance was the best from last year.

Lochee United didn't win the Scottish Junior Cup.

Floodlights should not be part of the criteria for the cup (and aren't). Most of the non-league entrants don't have them - those that do paid for them with SFA money not open to Junior teams. Annan only got theirs last month!

I'd love a non league team away, good day out and the chance of getting to the 4th rd.

Sorry Bathgate. Schoolboy error.

Disagree on the floodlights.

There will be a problem soon with one of the top Junior clubs. With their playing ability it is just a matter of time before the following situation occurs.

Say Pollok for example reach the fourth round. They draw away to someone. The replay is the following Saturday but is postponed by bad weather. Pollok would have the replay midweek with an afternoon kick off. (I assume they have no lights). That is why I would insist on the lights for any extra clubs if I had a say.
All the Highland League clubs and Banks o'Dee have them and almost all of them have had them since the seventies. I am not sure if the SFA dished out money then.

Hardly any non-league sides outwith the SFA's full membership have lights. That's inarguable and as I've already said, Annan have only just got theirs and they are a very well and well-financed run club.

In the past cup replays have ended up being midweek but it's far easier to keep them to saturdays.

Thats not just a problem for the junior sides though, quite a few of the East of Scotland League sides don't have them either, off the top of my head I can only think of Edinburgh City & Preston Athletic having them although Spartans new ground will also have lights.
I remember in the 80s Cowden having to play away at Gala and Civil Service Strollers in afternoon midweeks due to lack of lights and also at Spartans in the early 90s.

The SFA full members who do have lights are: all Highland League sides (part of league requirements I believe), Edinburgh City, Preston Athletic, Gala Fairydean, Threave Rovers, St Cuthbert Wanderers (+ GLasgow University too I think...)

Those that don't: Golspie, Girvan, Burntisland, Spartans (new ground does though), Dalbeattie, Whitehill, Coldstream, Edinburgh University, Selkirk, Civil Service Strollers, Vale of Leithen, Hawick (the lights they have look like training lights), Newton Stewart, Wigtown.

Additionally, Heriot Watt have them, and I think Lothian Thistle do too though it's an athletics track that is in use at night I think.

It would be incredibly unfair to foist lights upon new cup entrants when so many of the existing non-league entrants don't have them. Lights are not a requirement for the Scottish Cup and if a 4th Round tie must be played under lights then provision to move to a suitable ground could be instigated.