Celtic tie ‘miss’ still haunts Broxburn boss as he hopes Stranraer clash paves way for second chance
Following a wild conclusion to their matchup with Buckie Thistle last season, Stevie Pittman was denied a chance at the hopes.
After “missing out” on a lucrative matchup with the Hoops the previous season, Broxburn manager Stevie Pittman acknowledges that he’s hoping to defeat Stranraer and play Celtic in the next round of the Scottish Cup.
The Brox suffered a heartbreaking defeat to Buckie Thistle in the third round of the previous season.
After Buckie equalised at the end of normal time, Pittman’s team scored in the final minute of extra time to take a 2-1 lead.
Their opponents, however, responded right away in the closing seconds of extra time to force penalties and win the shootout.
Then, in the fourth round, Buckie secured a glamorous trip to Celtic Park, and Pittman is still upset about it.
So he hopes luck will be on their side against the Blues in a third round tie on Saturday, so they can be in with a chance of facing the bhoys in green and white in round four.
Pittman said: “This could completely change your season. You never know what can happen if you get through. We missed out on Celtic last season by seconds. We would’ve been at Parkhead if we’d gotten through.
“Buckie scored in the 98th minute to take it to extra-time and then they scored in the 123rd minute to take it to penalties – and then we missed our last penalty.
“You couldn’t write a script like that. There couldn’t have been a worse way ever to lose a game – I’ve never had a feeling like it in my life.
“We even knew then what would happen, that they’d draw Celtic. Sure enough they did and they made about £300,000 or whatever from it.
“So the boys know what’s at stake. You could get Celtic or Rangers and that’s what everyone is looking for.
“Stranraer will be thinking the same. For us to come away with anything, we’ll need to perform to the best of our ability.
“It will be a tough day but I believe the boys can do it on their day. You need a wee bit of luck as well.
“We will have our work cut out, away from home and travelling down that day. It will be a tough ask.”
Broxburn warmed-up for the game with a 1-0 defeat to Hearts B in the Lowland League last Friday night.
But Pittman hailed the second half display and believes if they can reproduce that for the whole game at Stranraer, they’ll give themselves a shot at an upset.
He added:”We lost a poor goal on Friday but there was a handball in the build-up.
“We probably played our best game of the year in the second half. We were outstanding and had the opportunity to score five or six goals, but we were unable to do so. I thought we were really good.
“We were excellent and could have scored five or six goals but it just didn’t happen for us. I thought we were really good. I obviously wasn’t happy with the result but I was really happy with the second half performance.
“Sometimes that happens in games. Errol Douglas had a few chances and he usually finishes them for us, but it was one of those days where you get a couple cleared off the line and their goalkeeper makes some great saves.
Read more news on https://sportupdates.co.uk/
Leave a Reply