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Forget The Romance Of The Cup

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Hibs take on Bonnyrigg in the Scottish Cup this weekend. A David & Goliath tie but there’s never anything good that comes from these ties for the bigger side.

Scottish Cup fourth round weekend is nearly upon us and when Hibs face Bonnyrigg this weekend it’ll be a match where many in Scotland will be hoping for the biggest upset in recent history when the non league giantkillers take on the current holders of the trophy.

Ultimately Hibs have absolutely nothing to gain other than progression to the next round whilst East Superleague outfit Rose will gain all the plaudits regardless of result.

A 10-0 victory for Neil Lennon and his side will be seen as a simple straightforward victory over the plucky junior team whereas a 2 or 3 nil win will be seen as a virtual win for the Midlothian team.

Managed by a former Hearts youngster, Robbie Horn, Bonnyrigg have had a terrific run in the tournament thus far and eliminated Hibs Championship rivals Dumbarton in the Third round and sold out a 4000+ allocation for the Hibees game in a 24 hour period.

These are the type of matches which churn out the old cliches regarding the romance of the cup, David v Goliath etc but in truth, if your team is involved as the favourite, you just want the match out the way with as little fuss as possible.

As a further side story the match takes place at Tynecastle, home to bitterest of city enemies Hearts and there would be no greater tale of cup giant killing than for a non league side to knock out last season’s victors at the place where their own triumph was defined last season when Hibs forced a 2-2 draw after appearing dead and buried at 2-0 down with ten minutes to play.

Definitely a match which will catch the attention of those who love the small v big club aspect but despite the game being well discussed in media circles it failed to catch the eye of broadcasters who decided against showing the match live and chose instead to feature either half of the old firm plus Hearts trip to Kirkcaldy to face Raith Rovers.

One wonders if Sky or the BBC would opt to neglect a chance to show say Stourbridge v Tottenham if such a draw was made south of the border and shows the scant disregard which these channels show for Scottish football.

Had BT Sports, the only pay per view channel which brings something to the Scottish game, had the rights for the national cup competition then there’s no doubt the nostalgic nature of this game would have seen it broadcast live- here’s hoping at the next round of TV discussions both Sky and the BBC lose all rights to show any domestic football in Scotland but given the incompetents in charge of the SPFL, it’s probably too great a wish to ask for.



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