Irvine Meadow out to douse Red Lichties

Nov 27 2009 by John Woods, Irvine Herald

IRVINE Meadow make history on Saturday when they take on Arbroath in the third round of the ACTIVE NATION Scottish Cup – with a potential prize of £100,000 awaiting the winner.

Whoever wins on Saturday is guaranteed an automatic £16,000 for reaching the fourth round.

But, more importantly, that’s where the big guns come and Sky – who always place great store in the romance of the cup – would snap up the tie for live television which would mean a bumper pay-out of more than £80,000 for each of the two sides.

A match-up between Meadow and either of the Old Firm sides would have the TV bosses drooling at the mouth, but basically a clash with any Premier League club – and in particular Kilmarnock – would also have huge box office appeal.

But while Meadow manager Chris Strain realises just how important the windfall would be for the cash-strapped club, it’s the glory of winning he’s after on Saturday.

“It’s the first time Irvine Meadow have ever played a competitive match against a Senior side so that’s history in itself,” he said.

“But no Junior club has ever beaten Senior opposition in this competition and we’d just love to write ourselves into the record books on that score as well.”

Strain was delighted at the from his side showed in Saturday’s 4-1 win at Petershill.

“That’s the best we’ve ever played up there and hopefully we can carry that form into Saturdays game,” he added.

“They got a penalty to bring it back to 2-1 but we got our third straight away and that knocked the heart out of them.”

Strain has had the Red Lichties watched and reckons that, given the right breaks, this is a tie Meadow can win.

“They’re a big, strong, physical team so we’ll have to be extra careful at set pieces.

“Their front two are also very pacy but I’ve been told they’re a bit pedestrian at the back so that’s something we’ll be working on.”

The Meadow manager is keeping a wary eye on the weather and, above all, hopes the expected gale-force winds don’t materialise.

“We want this to be a game of football not a lottery,” he said.

“It’s a big day for the club and the town and we want to show everyone just what Irvine Meadow we can do and give them a day they’ll remember for the rest of their lives.”