Cumbernauld target triumph over Tranent in Scottish Cup

Despite recent defeats George Shaw believes his Cumbernauld side are heading in the right direction

On paper the sides look to be relativelty evenly matched with Cumbernauld currently eight in the Western Super League First Dvision and Tranent sitting 10th in the equivalent East Region competition.

The postponement of Cumbernauld’s game at Shotts last weekend proved something of a blessing in disguise for boss George Shaw as it allowed him to go on a spying mission to watch Tranent in action.

And with a number of fancied sides already out of the competition, and other potential contenders going head to head in Saturday’s third round, Cumbernauld know that victory over Tranent and a favourable draw could open up the opportunity of a lengthy run in the junior game’s showpiece competition.

However Shaw isn’t getting carried away with that prospect and is simply concentrating on the task in hand against Tranent.

He said: “It was good to be able to go through and watch them on Saturday. They lost 1-0 to Armadale but could have won the game if they’d taken their chances.

“But I saw what I wanted to see and hopefully if we can get the ball down and play the way we can we’ll get the result we want.

“They’re maybe not the greatest football side but they work hard and we’ll have to make sure our attitude is right. If it’s not we won’t go through, it’s as simple as that.

“It’s the Scottish Cup, it means a lot to the players and a cup run brings revenue to the club.”

Shaw says he is reasonably pleased with the way things have been going since he took over from John Queen as manager earlier in the season.

An early unbeaten league run under his command has been brought to a halt by defeats in the last two games, but having drafted in a number of new players to the squad the former Partick Thistle, St Mirren and Dundee player feels progress is being made.

He said: “I’m pleased with the way things are going. Obviously the last couple of games we’ve lost 3-0 and that looks like a bit of a doing but I think anyone who was at either of the games will know they weren’t like that.

“It’s all about getting the consistency. We’ve brought in quite a few new players and it takes time for them to gel with the players who were already here but we’re getting there.”