East of Scotland: Ground-sharers clash on Groundhop Weekend

Raymond Carr’s Thistle were due to play Vale of Leithen in the semi-finals of the Football Nation Qualifying Cup on Wednesday night but Saughton was again declared unplayable. Both Lothian and Tynie, who ground-share, have games on hand on the teams above them and will be keen for this one to get the go-ahead. The match kicks off at 7.45pm as start times are staggered across the weekend in a bid to boost attendances.

Meanwhile, Paul Riley and Jack Lynch take their Preston Athletic squad over the Forth to play Burntisland Shipyard (11.00am). With this season’s title now a two-horse race between Lothian and Kelty Hearts, the best the Panners can hope for is a third-place finish.

Elsewhere, Heriot-Watt University and Leith Athletic go head-to-head at Oriam (5.00pm). The students have been idle for the past three weeks and will be ready to kick on as they bid to secure a place in the league’s top four. Leith succumbed to their third defeat of the season as they were beaten by reigning champions Lothian 3-1 last weekend.

However, joint-manager  Steve Chalmers was encouraged by his side’s application and will fancy his players to get back on track at Riccarton.