Underdogs Shotts out to deny Auchinleck a tenth Junior Cup Published on Saturday 26 May 2012 00:36 THE Emirates Scottish Junior Cup final takes centre stage in Livingston tomorrow, and it almost goes without saying that Auchinleck Talbot are involved. The cup holders are seeking an unprecedented tenth victory in the competition and this year's sacrificial victims are another exotically-named village team: Shotts Bon Accord. On paper, the "Bot are a shoo-in. They have won their past 15 Scottish Cup ties and have not lost in the competition, since 10 February, 2010 - when they were beaten 1-0 by Clydebank. They will finish third in the SJFA's West of Scotland Superleague Premier Division, while Shotts, who have been playing up to four games per week for the last month in an effort to catch up on a backlog of games, will have to win almost every one of their seven remaining league games in the First Division if they are to join Sunday's opponents in that league next season. Tommy Sloan, seeking a fourth win as Talbot manager, having previously triumphed in 2006, 2009 and last season, is in no mood to take success for granted. Ever since the two finalists won penalty shoot-outs at the end of two-legged semi-finals, Sloan and his spies have been watching Shotts, who put together a nine-game unbeaten run before losing to East Kilbride on Monday night. "They have good wide players and I expect them to play five men in midfield and hope to hit us on the break," said Sloan. Nobody here is under-estimating how hard it will be to beat them. Talbot earned huge credit for the fright they gave eventual winners Hearts at Tynecastle in the fourth round of the senior Scottish Cup this season - entry to the William Hill-sponsored "big" Scottish Cup being one reward for success in the Emirates-backed one. And competing on an SPL club's home turf is an experience Sloan and his men are keen to enjoy again next season. "Rubbing shoulders with the senior clubs is a bonus, but, even if that wasn't there, Scottish Cup success is the big goal in the juniors, it is always our main target," he said. Losing to Clydebank in 2010 hurt, that's not an experience I want to repeat this weekend. If the Junior Cup final is old hat to Talbot, it's almost a new experience to Shotts, who have only been here once before, in 1958, when they won the trophy at the expense of near-neighbours Pumpherston. The following year the club signed arguably their best-known former player, John "Yogi" Hughes - the original big, bustling Celtic centre forward or winger, but the years between 1958 and 2012 have been roller-coaster ones for the men whose Hannah Park ground boasts the largest playing surface in Scotland. Indeed, for much of the time, the Shotts and Dykehead Caledonia pipe band has been the big team in Shotts. In the Nineties, Frank McGarvey ran down his playing career with Shotts, and they were later banned for a season after the SJFA uncovered financial irregularities. But, that's behind them now and manager Tony McInally and his squad have produced a consistent season in spite of a hectic recent schedule. The Shotts website's report on Monday night's loss to East Kilbride was headed "Running on empty," but McInally is certain the five-day break has left his men ready for the fray. Talbot have scored 27 goals in their seven Scottish Cup ties this season, Shotts 18 goals in the eight games it has taken them to reach the final. There may not be many on Sunday, but it is unlikely to be the Talbot cake-walk some are forecasting; the expectation of a Talbot win backed by a head-to-head statistic which shows the clubs have only ever met 11 times, with Talbot winning eight games to two, and one draw.