Published: Wednesday, 30th April, 2008 12:00pm

Good luck Burgh boys

by Frank Cassidy

JOHNSTONE Burgh under-17s have reached their second Scottish Cup final in three years.

They take on Leith Athletic at the Excelsior Stadium, home of Airdrie United, at 1pm on Saturday May 10 after beating Yett Boys Club in the semi-final.

Having been in existence for just five years, after the seven-a-side team St Mirren Boys Club was renamed when it entered competitive football, the club achieved instant success.

The club won the Paisley and District League in their first year under the Johnstone Burgh name and went on to get three-in-a-row.

In addition, they reached the final of a tournament in Amsterdam, won the Winton Murdoch trophy , the league cup, as well as Scottish Cup finalists two years ago.

Now they have the chance in 10 days time to go one better, although manager Robert McGeoch wants to keep their match-day routine low-key.

He said: 'There will be nothing special in the way of preparations and we will treat it like a normal game but will decide after it what we are going to do.

'Leith beat Woodside Boys Club 4-0 in the semi-final and our coach and secretary, Tom McCormick, watched the match and reported that Leith are a very good team, but we are confident we can win.'

A bad start to the season means that the team fell behind in the league, while going out of the West Regional Cup, leaving the cup the only target left to aim for.

Robert said: 'A few injuries at the start of the season meant that we were losing games that we shouldn"t have and that has cost us.

'We have been playing catch-up the rest of the season and it looks as if either Gourock or Erskine will win the league while we are mid-table.

'We have put Gourock out of the both the Scottish Cup and the West Regional Cup, so going all the way and winning the Scottish is a fair compensation for our league form.

'The only worry is the fixture backlog that comes at this time of the year and has us playing three games a week, giving less time to recover from injuries.'

However, the focus remains on the big match in Airdrie on May 10 and there will be a good support from the town, including the Gazette.

Sports Editor, Frank Cassidy, will be on the spot with a match report and interviews - good luck Burgh in the Scottish Cup Final and hope it is second time lucky.

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