Camelon aim to go toe to toe with Highland League Heavyweights Brora Rangers in Boxing Day slugfest

The Mariners will enter the game at Carmuirs Park as underdogs against the Highland League champions but, with all the expectation on the visitors, they know they have something of a free hit at what could turn out to be be a famous afternoon in the club’s history.

They’ve already seen off one Highland League side to reach this stage as they beat Deveronvale 4-1 away from home earlier this month in the second preliminary round, and club secretary Tony Smith says everyone was buzzing to have made it into the first round, an ambition they have had since first being granted a Scottish Football Association licence.

He said: “Nobody expected us to go there and win apart from ourselves.

“Reaching the first round was an objective we set four years ago, and when we said that, people laughed at us

“They thought we were crazy to think that Camelon Juniors could play in the first round of the Scottish Cup, but on Saturday we had the last laugh.”

It was also an emotional afternoon for everyone involved as the players dedicated their cup win to terminally-ill kitman and super-fan Cameron Shanks.

Now, with the historic cup clash approaching, Smith says Brora hold no fear for them and that it would be a dream come true to have their name in the hat for the second round.

"It will be a very tough game, but it's a winnable tie,” he said.

"Teams don't like coming to Camelon, and I'm sure we'll have a Boxing Day welcome for them.

"We'll be underdogs for sure. Brora are a good team, but make no mistake, so are we, and we're looking at the game and thinking we have nothing to lose and everything to gain.

"Nobody outside our dressing room expects us to win. We can go into the game with no pressure or expectation and see where it takes us.”

The occasion will be somewhat bittersweet, however, with fans still unable to attend, with Smith saying they would have expected a capacity crowd at Carmuirs Park in normal circumstances.

“It’s a shame as we'd have expected a crowd of over 1,000 on Boxing Day,” he said.

"We have an older element to our fanbase who might not see a game like this again so it’s immensely disappointing.

"It might be one of our biggest games ever but you just have to take it on the chin. There's still a global pandemic.”

Fortunately, though, the SFA have been granting clubs special dispensation to broadcast their Scottish Cup matches live, something Camelon did for their match at Deveronvale in the previous round. Supporters will be able to witness the Camelon’s historic day via a pay-per-view stream through the club’s website for just £5.