Published: Monday, 9th February, 2009 2:30pm

Up for the cup

by Forfar So Good

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While the Homecoming Scottish Cup fifth round tie against Rangers is a huge game for everybody at Forfar it is probably safe to say there are not a lot of people looking on who believe we can win.

However, there is no point in walking out onto the pitch unless you believe within yourself that you do have a chance.

We can"t even rely on the old adage that the pitch might prove a leveller as our groundsman, Martin Gray, keeps it in far too good a shape week in and week out.

Although never in the highest echelons of Scottish football I have been lucky enough to have played in a few big games in their own right.

Two of the most important came in my first season with Brechin City when we made it to the Challenge Cup final to face Queen of the South and were also challenging for promotion from Division 2 at the same time.

We lost 2-0 to Queens on one of the coldest days I can remember with Broadwood doing one of its usual impressions of an excellent wind tunnel.

We didn"t play well at all and lost deservedly, banishing all memories of the game to the recess of my mind.

The memory that sticks out most is me chasing a long ball played over the top of their defence early in the game to find myself in a 50-50 with Andy Goram steaming, well jogging, out of the Queens goal.

The ball reached the edge of the box just before me and Goram clasped it to his chest right on the 18 yard line but my forward momentum propelled me forward.

I"ll give him a wee nudge, I thought, just to let him know I"m here.

I can"t remember hitting something so solid in all my life. He never moved an inch and I literally bounced off him, up into the air and away up towards the other end of the park again.

That pretty much summed up my impact on the whole game. It was just a crushing disappointment all round and the after party was as flat an event as I can remember.

Luckily later on in the season we made up for it in style.

We travelled to Hamilton needing a draw to secure second spot and promotion to the 1st Division while Airdrie had to win at Stranraer.

Finding ourselves 2-0 down with thirty minutes to go was not in the game plan but a Kevin Fotheringham goal gave us hope and we pressed for the equalizer.

It duly came deep into injury time when Chris Templeman delicately chested the ball past their keeper to spark wild celebrations.

Perhaps because that season seemed to hinge completely on one game it sticks in the memory more than our Division 2 title winning campaign two years later.

There was no one decisive victory that claimed the championship just a series of performances that meant we deserved our title.

Again that season produced a cracking cup tie for us when we were drawn away to Tony Mowbray"s Hibs, who were flying at the time with Riordan, O" Connor, Brown, Thomson and co all on top form.

We duly lost 4-0 but it was a great experience in front of a full house at Easter Road.

Playing for Partick in derbies against Clyde and Airdrie and in a top of the table clash with St Johnstone, as well as a play-off final for East Fife, were all big games but perhaps the Rangers game will eventually be deemed the biggest yet.