It’s Scottish Cup duty for the second match in a row for The Buffs as they make the long journey north to the Capital of the Highlands, where they face Inverness Clachnacuddin FC in Round 1 of the Scottish Gas Men’s Scottish Cup. It’s the third Round 1 appearance out of 4 attempts for The Buffs, who have never been knocked out in this stage of the competition before.
Founded fourteen years prior to The Buffs, in 1885, ’The Lilywhites’ have played their home football at Grant Street Park since 1886. The ground has large parts of undercover standing and seated sections with a capacity of approximately 3000, including a seated capacity of around 150.
Clachnacuddin are one of the most successful clubs the Highlands have to offer. With eighteen Highland Football League titles to their name, the club are as successful as any in the division, with only the now defunct Caledonian FC able to equal the title count. Most of The Lilywhites’ league wins came pre-war, with the club struggling in the post-war era to maintain the success they celebrated so often in their early days. The club have only won two HFL Championships since 1949, with their most recent league trophy coming over twenty years ago in the 2003/04 season. After lingering in the bottom half of the division for the best part of two decades, and just the three top-four finishes in forty years, things have been looking up in the past 18 months for Clachnacuddin, who managed a 6th place finish last campaign, and have continued that form, so far, into this season.
The Lilywhites sit in 5th place in the division after amassing 25 points from their opening 12 league matches. Tomorrow’s hosts have the best defensive record in the division this campaign, conceding just 6 goals so far. The club are currently riding an 11-game unbeaten run with only one defeat so far this season, coming when they faced Nairn County back on August 2nd. It was a 7-0 victory for Clachnacuddin last time out as they dismantled bottom of the league, Rothes, scoring six second-half goals to seal a comfortable win, with James Anderson grabbing a hat-trick in the process. The centre-forward is the club’s top scorer this season, netting ten goals in twelve league games, backed up by winger Troy Cooper, who has 9 league goals already.
Clachnacuddin have made it past round 1 of the Scottish Cup in both of the last two years, with home wins coming against Inverurie Locos and Nairn County in their previous attempts in this round. The Lilywhites have never faced The Buffs in their history, however did face Hurlford in the Scottish Cup back in 2014, where they were defeated 1-7, a scoreline we shouldn’t expect to see today. The club do have a few injury worries heading into the tie with forwards such as Greg Morrison and Andy Macrae expected to miss the match, as reported by ‘The Press and Journal’.
It’s expected to be a very tough task for Kevin Kelly’s side, who head north to a venue which hasn’t seen a Clachnacuddin defeat in a competitive match since the 22nd of March. The Buffs should go into the tie full of confidence after back-to-back cup victories in recent weeks.
