Sneaking in almost unnoticed, while the whole of Scotland was in mourning over Lee McCulloch's decision to retire from international football, the draw for the first round of the Scottish Cup was made yesterday. Pick of the ties was probably Pollok v Spartans two of the Junior/Senior non-league teams who would have been hoping to make decent progress.

The full draw:

Rothes v Buckie Thistle
Golspie Sutherland v Threave Rovers
Banks O Dee v Fort William
Lochee United v Bathgate Thistle
Selkirk v Coldstream
St Cuthbert Wanderers v Wick Academy
Fraserburgh v Hawick Royal Albert
Newton Stewart v Brora Rangers
Huntly v Girvan
Pollok v Spartans
Edinburgh City v Nairn County
Inverurie Loco Works v Deveronvale
Dalbeattie Star v Lossiemouth
Edinburgh University v Civil Service Strollers
Preston Athletic v Gala Fairydean
Wigtown & Bladnoch v Forres Mechanics
Clachnacuddin v Burntisland Shipyard
Glasgow University v Vale of Leithen

Let's see if Fort William are as appalling away from the Highland League as they are in it...

look at all those funny names.

That Pollok Spartans will be a cracker

Civil Service Strollers is one of the great club names of all time.

A guiding light for workshy bureaucrats everywhere.

They should have fan clubs in every Italian city.

You can imagine the sigh of relief in the Glasgow University Sports Union at not being drawn away to Burntisland Shipyard.

Hey Burntisland ain't so bad. Nice swimming pool....um....very shallow beach......dog shit strewn football pitch i'd bet. It could be worse.

Selkirk v Coldstream

That sounds more like the kind of rugby match you used to have to listen to a five-minute Bill McLaren report about on Scottish Grandstand before you got to find out what the lower-division football results were.

It should be noted that the football teams have survived both the Shipyard and the Locomotive Works by several decades.

Any complaints about Gretna playing in the English leagues for years should surely be counterbalanced by finding out that a team from Preston plays in the Scottish Cup.

Rogin you joker

my bruv is off to Inver Loco works game, as there is a wee boy playing for Dev who may be a future star.

Easily spotted, he will be the one who isnt covered in mud and bruises within 4 seconds. (Do they still have a policy of saying 'Dont kick him, he might be good' in that ilk?)

The Scottish Cup will start tomorrow and then the draw for the next round will take place at Lochee United's ground after their game with Bathgate Thistle. The teams that will be in the draw for the next round are:

The 18 First Round winners
The top 2 in the Highland League: Cove Rangers & Keith
Winner of the East of Scotland League: Whitehill Welfare
Winner of the South of Scotland League: Crichton FC
10 clubs in the Scottish Football League Division 3:

Annan Athletic, Albion Rovers, Berwick Rangers; Cowdenbeath; Dumbarton,
East Stirlingshire, Elgin City, Forfar Athletic, Montrose, Stenhousemuir


Time to show off my lack of knowledge of the game outside of the SFL by trying to predict the outcome of the first round games.

Rothes v Buckie Thistle
Golspie Sutherland v Threave Rovers
Banks O Dee v Fort William
Lochee United v Bathgate Thistle
Selkirk v Coldstream
St Cuthbert Wanderers v Wick Academy
Fraserburgh v Hawick Royal Albert
Newton Stewart v Brora Rangers
Huntly v Girvan
Pollok v Spartans
Edinburgh City v Nairn County
Inverurie Loco Works v Deveronvale
Dalbeattie Star v Lossiemouth
Edinburgh University v Civil Service Strollers
Preston Athletic v Gala Fairydean
Wigtown & Bladnoch v Forres Mechanics
Clachnacuddin v Burntisland Shipyard
Glasgow University v Vale of Leithen

Rules for predicting this sort of thing:

1. Back East of Scotland teams over South of Scotland ones.

2. Back Heelan' League teams over EoS or SoS ones.

3. Back the Juniors against everyone else.

4. Back Pollok against anyone up to and including mid-table 1st division sides.

I'm planning to go to the Pollok game tomorrow. I take it will be able to pay at the gate or is it such a massive occasion that I will have to queue overnight ?

DON'T UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES EAT A SAUSAGE ROLL AT POLLOK!!!!!!

Saturday's Scottish Cup results:

Banks O'Dee 10-0 Fort William
Clachnacuddin 4-0 Burntisland Shipyard
Dalbeattie Star 5-1 Lossiemouth
Edinburgh City 2-0 Nairn County
Edinburgh Univ 1-2 Civil Service Strollers
Fraserburgh 6-3 Hawick Royal Albert
Glasgow Univ 1-0 Vale Of Leithen
Golspie Sutherland 0-3 Threave Rovers
Huntly 1-0 Girvan
Inverurie Locos 5-2 Deveronvale
Lochee Utd 3 - 1 Bathgate
Newton Stewart 1-1 Brora
Pollok 1-1 Spartans
Preston Ath 3-1 Gala Fairydean
Rothes 1-3 Buckie Thistle
Selkirk 1-1 Coldstream
St Cuthbert Wndrs 0-3 Wick Academy
Wigtown & Bladnoch 2-2 Forres Mechanics

Oh well, I called 9 of them the right way around which isn't too bad. And it's nice to see that Fort William are as good as ever.

Now then, the draw for the 2nd round:

Clachnacuddin v Crichton FC
Edinburgh City v Wick Academy
Cove Rangers v Whitehill Welfare
Dalbeattie Star v Selkirk or Coldstream
Montrose v Huntly
East Stirlingshire v Preston Athletic
Fraserburgh v Dumbarton
Berwick Rangers v Albion Rovers
Civil Service Strollers v Vale Of Leithen
Inverurie Locos v Banks O'Dee
Stenhousemuir v Threave
Annan Athletic v Pollok or Spartans
Newton Stewart or Brora Rangers v Forfar Athletic
Lochee United v Buckie Thistle
Cowdenbeath v Elgin City
Wigtown & Bladnoch or Forres Mechanics v Keith

Annan v Pollock or Spartans is probably the pick of those games. It should be particularly interesting if Spartans get through as they will feel that they've got a point to prove after failing to win election to the SFL.