Camelon Juniors boss Tam Scobbie says there is still so much to play for this season after his side’s history-making Scottish Cup run finally came to an end last Saturday.

The Mariners, who had reached the fourth round for the first time, lost 3-1 at home to SPFL League Two side Elgin City. Jordan Kirkpatrick levelled things up for the home side after Kane Hester’s opener, but the Highlanders grabbed a couple of goals after the break and deserved to go through.

Speaking after the defeat, former Falkirk full-back Scobbie admitted that it felt like an opportunity missed.

He told the Falkirk Herald: “There was mixed emotions in the changing room after the game. What we have managed to do is a huge achievement. I’m so proud of that. I was frustrated because the truth is that on the day we had a great chance to go through but we didn’t show the best version of ourselves.

Camelon Juniors' next target is achieving promotion to the new Lowland League East set-up (Photo: Michael Gillen)

placeholder image — Camelon Juniors' next target is achieving promotion to the new Lowland League East set-up (Photo: Michael Gillen)

"We lacked belief out on the pitch, especially in the second half. We didn’t really take the game to Elgin. They punished us, as you’d expect a higher-level team to do, when we made mistakes.”

However, with promotion to the new Scottish Lowland Football League East on the cards, Scobbie says there is still history to be made this season. The Mariners sit fifth in the East of Scotland Premier Division with four games in hand on the teams above them.

They sit on 36 points from 15 matches and have only lost three times. Leaders Hill of Beath Hawthorn are 12 points in front, with second-placed Musselburgh Athletic nine points ahead of the Camelon.

And at the moment, it looks likely that the top two in the East of Scotland set-up will earn promotion to the new-look fifth tier. Camelon already have their Scottish FA entry-level license and are gearing up for a grandstand finish to the league campaign.

Manager Tam Scobbie says Camelon Juniors can make even more history this season by reaching the fifth tier

“I think it's going to go right down to the wire,” Scobbie said. “We’ve got a tough game coming up this weekend away to Haddington. We have games in hand but I would rather have points on the board. We want to take this club forward and progress. We’ve did that in the Scottish Cup and now we need to go on and show that in the league. Everyone here is ambitious. The full focus is now on trying to get promotion this year to the Lowland League.”