Tony McInally takes confidence from Junior Cup away days

Aug 29 2012 by Andrew Weston, Wishaw Press

Shotts Bon Accord

SHOTTS boss Tony McInally believes their impressive away form during last season’s memorable Junior Cup run will stand them in good stead for the trip to Edinburgh City on Saturday.

The sides could not be separated at Hannah Park last weekend in their William Hill Scottish Cup first-round clash, meaning they have to do it all over again at Meadowbank Stadium.

Despite conceding home advantage to the East of Scotland League outfit after Saturday’s 1-1 draw, McInally is confident they can secure a safe passage into round two.

“A positive to take from it was we won the Scottish Junior Cup last year without winning at Hannah Park,” he said this week. “We won every game away from home so we are used to winning away that’s for sure.

“The good thing is we are playing at Meadowbank Stadium. It’s not a tight park. It’s open and expansive, which is probably similar to our place.”

Allan Mackenzie gave Shotts a first-half lead on Saturday before City substitute Paul Devlin equalised 10 minutes from time.

McInally felt his side could have won.

He said: “I thought we were the better team by some distance and I think if we had scored a second in the middle part of the game we could have gone on to score three or four.

“With 10 minutes to go, they scored with one of their few attacks. It was a wee bit of sloppiness from us. From then on in, it was nip and tuck and they probably looked the more likely to score. They had their tails up and had committed three subs who were attack-minded. They had more attackers than defenders on the park.

“But we should have had enough about us to kill the game off.”

The winners of Saturday’s match face a trip to Montrose in round two.

Meanwhile, right-back Paul Finnigan has been made club captain.

McInally said: “Finny knows the game, is experienced and has the respect of the group. He carries himself very well.

“The coaching staff have a good relationship with Finny. He is someone we can go to and he can come to us, which is important. It’s the sensible choice.”