QUEEN of the South welcomed the Homecoming Scottish Cup to Dumfries yesterday, having come so close to winning the famous trophy at Hampden last May.
First Division Queens caused a major shock when they dumped Aberdeen out in the semi-finals at the national stadium, winning an enthralling tie 4-3. Their fairytale ended in the final, although they put up a brave fight before succumbing to winners R
angers 3-2.
That earned them a spot in the Uefa Cup, and although their stay in Europe was brief, the cup run of 2007-8 will forever stay in the club's folklore.
Queens launch their Scottish Cup campaign with a difficult trip to Falkirk on Saturday, but already manager Gordon Chisholm is relishing the opportunity to try and create another upset, despite the obvious hurdle of facing a tie away from home against SPL opponents.
"It's never easy when you draw a Premier League side away from home as they are always going to be the favourites. I would have been much happier had the tie been at Palmerston," admitted Chisholm.
"We played them up there in early season in the Co-operative Insurance Cup and lost 2-1, but, to this day, I'm adamant their second-half winner was offside – in fact that was proved by television footage, but it was too late by then.
"However, we have a score to settle, so we'll go up there and give it our best shot.
"We tasted cup glory last season when we reached the final. We all enjoyed it and we all want more. We'll be going all out to get a result."
Chisholm has lined up a closed-doors friendly match at St Mirren's new stadium in Greenhill Road for today and is hopeful the game beats the freezing weather conditions as he intends to give a couple of trialists a run-out.
Queens chairman David Rae, whose lucky yellow-and-black jacket was one of the enduring memories of last season's Scottish Cup competition, was able to get his hands on the trophy yesterday, and intends to don the famous garment again on Saturday.
"I was once offered two-grand for it, but it's not for sale," he said. "I wore it all the way through last season's cup campaign, from Peterhead to Hampden – it's not for sale!"
Meanwhile, Falkirk have confirmed the departure of goalkeeper Scott Flinders to Crystal Palace, after his loan deal expired. Falkirk managing director George Craig said: "Scott has returned to Crystal Palace and we are in discussions about whether we can bring in another (goalkeeper]."
The full article contains 443 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
