It’s cup action once again this weekend for The Buffs as they make another journey to the east coast this weekend as they travel to the village of Sauchie to face Sauchie Juniors FC in the 3d round of the South Challenge Cup.
Sauchie Juniors FC were founded in 1960 after beginning life as Sauchie Juveniles. The club have experienced many a cup success over the years including last season’s East of Scotland League Cup which they won after beating Haddington Athletic 3-2 after extra time in the final of the competition. This weekend’s tie will take place at home of “The Reds”, Beechwood Park. Beechwood Park was opened in 2004 and holds approximately 5000 people with a seated stand that seats around 200 and also, a covered standing area. Scotland international and former Liverpool FC defender Alan Hansen was born in Sauchie and also began his career at The Reds before going onto play over 400 times for Liverpool and 26 times for the national side including appearances at the 1982 World Cup.
Sauchie currently play in the EOSFL Premier Division, a tier above The Buffs and have begun this season very well, sitting 5 points off the top of the table with 18 points from their opening 10 games. Sauchie have won 5 of their opening 10 league matches with 3 draws and 2 losses so far this season, however they only boast 1 win from their past 5 matches. Last week Sauchie lead Tynecastle 0-3 on the 60-minute mark before a half hour collapse which seen Tynecastle come back to level the game 3-3 in the 85th minute. Number 9 Ross Kavanagh has started the season well for the hosts scoring 8 goals so far this season and will be hoping he can provide the difference to ensure there is no cup upset from The Buffs this weekend. The sides last faced in 2020 when The Buffs travelled to Sauchie in a cup tie which opened the season. The Buffs were knocked out 2-1 on the day with no supporters being able to attend the match due to the pandemic, Buffs’ goalscorer on the day was Carlo Monti. The Buffs will be looking to get back to winning ways after a 0-0 draw against Renfrew a fortnight ago. The Buffs and Sauchie would’ve met in the semi final of this competition 2 seasons ago but both sides were knocked out in the quarter finals to Gartcairn and Drumchapel retrospectively.
Could this be the season The Buffs finally make it past the quarter final stage of the South Region Challenge cup after falling at the stage in both previous instalments of the competition? Maybe, but before getting to that stage Kevin Kelly will need to guide his men through a very challenging tie, likely as the underdogs, as The Buffs travel east in an attempt to right some wrongs after the previous 2 journeys across the country ended in defeat for The Buffs.
