A win against Ayr United FC tomorrow afternoon would cap what could arguably be described as Brechin City’s greatest ever season.
The Glebe Park club already have their first Scottish Cup quarter-final to look back on, as well as a decent run in the Co-operative Insurance Cup. Now they are 90 minutes away from securing promotion to the first division.
Their play-off final with Ayr is poised at 1-1 after the first leg at Somerset Park on Wednesday, and manager Jim Weir yesterday issued a rallying call to the club’s supporters to help his players secure the victory needed to take them up.
In the wake of the midweek draw, United boss Brian Reid claimed his club’s fans will outnumber the Angus following by three or four to one and turn the match into a second home match.
Weir pointed out, though, “I’m sure the people of Brechin will turn out in good numbers and get right behind the team. They know that their players will give everything for the cause. I’ll be telling the lads that this can be their day if they believe in it.
“We made history in the Scottish Cup and now we could get first division football for the club in my first season here. This could be a very special season.”
He added, “If you had offered me the chance of going into our last home game of the season knowing that a win would take us up I would definitely have taken that before a ball was kicked. That’s the position we’re in and there couldn’t be a greater incentive.
“Ayr caused us a lot of problems in the first match and there’s no doubt they’re a good side. But this will be a totally different game and we’re hoping to make home advantage count.”
That promotion is still a realistic proposition is testament to his team’s never-say-die spirit, according to Weir.
It was far from a vintage performance from them in Ayrshire, and if truth be told it was only because of the heroics of keeper Craig Nelson that they weren’t beaten and beaten well.
Weir admitted, “I was delighted with the 1-1 scoreline. There’s no doubt that the tie could have been beyond us. We didn’t play well and made individual mistakes.
“But I’m not going to be too hard on them because they showed great character and determination to dig in and come up with an equaliser. It’s not the first time in the play-offs either. We were 2-0 down at half-time and under real pressure against Cowdenbeath in the semi-finals.
“I can’t praise them highly enough for how they dug in and they’ve made sure that promotion is still achievable.”
The willingness to go above and beyond has been exemplified by centre-back Gerry McLauchlan, who has soldiered through the play-offs nursing an injury.
Weir said, “He’s been carrying it for a while now and he was determined to play again on Wednesday night. Hopefully a few days’ rest will mean he’s able to go for one more game on Sunday.”
The same goes for Roy McBain, who was ruled out less than two hours before the first leg by illness.
Ayr will be without defender Dean Keenan, while Martyn Campbell heads a list of players who picked up knocks in the first leg.
“We deserved more from the first leg but we let Brechin off the hook so we have to go up there and win,” said boss Reid. “We will be backed by a huge following and hopefully it will be like two years ago at Airdrie when we drew our home game and then won 1-0.
“If we play as well as we did on Wednesday and take our chances then we will do OK. I am sure their keeper Craig Nelson cannot play as well as he did and, if he does, I will be tempted to take him off the pitch myself to allow us to score.”