Preston Lodge eye big crowd for Jed cup tie

Preston Lodge officials are hoping that a big crowd will be the reward for the decision to play the rescheduled BT Cup second round tie against Jed-forest at Pennypit tonight (kick off 7.45pm).

The hosts will go into the match against the in-form Borderers with hopes of translating their own good league performances to the knockout competition and causing an upset. The winners of tonight’s encounter will be at home to Heriot’s in the next round.

The tie takes the place of the Jardine Cup encounter between PL and Musselburgh which had been set for tonight.

However, ‘Burgh will not be idle this weekend as they travel to face Selkirk in the cup tomorrow. The match against the side which has already been relegated from the BT Premiership, kicks off at 1pm. The Stoneyhill men will be looking to secure a trip to face GHK in round three.

Elsewhere, Edinburgh Accies welcome Stirling County for a tie kicking off at 12.30pm. 
Despite posting wins against tomorrow’s opponents at home and away last season, Accies suffered relegation from the Premiership. The Raeburn Place men are now out of the running for a return to the top flight, but have the lure of a home tie against Ayr in the next round if they can record a win.

Of the three rescheduled cup matches taking place, only the clash between RHC Cougars and Dumfries Saints at Barnton features two sides from the same division. Cougars will line up for the tie, kicking off at 1.30pm, looking to avenge an 18-12 defeat away to Dumfries when the teams met on league duty earlier in the campaign, with the reward for the victors a visit to Aberdeenshire or Cartha Queen’s Park.

Meanwhile, Currie will be hoping it is third time lucky when they travel to meet Melrose in their twice postponed BT Premiership fixture (kick off 12 noon). The winners of this encounter will move into second place in the table and edge closer to securing a home fixture in the play-offs.

Currie coach Ben Cairns is without his Scotland Under 20 contingent, but has Richard Snedden and Cammy Gray available to offset those absences, while Thomas Gordon returns from injury.

“Both teams are obviously desperate to get back into league action hence the willingness to re-arrange for Saturday”, said Cairns.