How do you top the best result in your club’s history just 12 months later?
It’s a question for Jeanfield Swifts and their young manager, Robbie Holden.
A year on from knocking League Two side Elgin City out of the Scottish Cup by six unanswered goals, he and they are back at the second round stage with another SPFL fourth tier opponent, Edinburgh City, standing in their way.
And the answer to that question is – by doing it without any of the players who scored the historic half-dozen.
In Jeanfield’s case, appearances might be slightly deceptive as far as the scale of the task at the Riverside on Saturday afternoon is concerned.
Although Holden’s side are second top of the East of Scotland Premier Division, without losing a game in the league all season, they’ve got significant selection obstacles to overcome.
And the 2024 Edinburgh City are better than the 2023 Elgin City.
“Dayle Robertson scored two that day against Elgin,” said Holden. “He moved on to Brechin in the summer, where he’s doing really well.
“Chris McLeish also got a couple. He stopped playing at the end of last season and jacked football in altogether.
“And the other scorer was Chris Scott. Kiffy has been out since November with injury and he called it a day the other week as well. He’d tried to come back a couple of times and it didn’t work.
“Jordan Northcott (a former St Johnstone winger) left a couple of weeks ago – he’s gone to live in Dubai. He’d been flying and was a big part of our good start to the season.
“He told me on the Saturday. I said: ‘When are you going?’ And he said: ‘Friday!’
“It’s been a big change in personnel and I thought we were managing it pretty well.
“But our wingers were important – Jordan on one side and Doddsy (Chris Dodds) has been reborn a bit on the other. He’s injured and probably won’t make Saturday.
“Kieran Sweeney, our centre-half, is out. He’s broken his foot. Jamie Reid went over his ankle on Tuesday night in training so he’s a doubt. It’s not looking good for him.”
Strong opponents
Holden believes a win on Saturday would blow the Elgin result out of the water, in light of the circumstances.
“I think so,” he said.
“We obviously had a remarkable scoreline against Elgin – it was an incredible day.
“Elgin were struggling in League Two and by all accounts Edinburgh City are a very good side in that division and probably merit being higher up the table.
“It’s going to be a big challenge. We’ll need a lot of things to go our way.
“Everybody’s excited to be on another cup run and have a League Two side coming to Perth again.
“There’s a lot to be optimistic about.
“I still believe that even with a makeshift team on Saturday, if we’re at our very best we’ve got a chance. But we will need to be at our very best.
“There’s the prospect of matching last season’s achievement and potentially going one further. We lost in the third round to Clyde and getting to the fourth round is the big goal for everybody but we’re definitely not thinking that far ahead.
“I’m still dreaming about how big a day it would be if we could draw St Johnstone! At the moment, it is just a dream.”
Help from McDiarmid?
What might be more realistic is their Perth neighbours helping them out with a loan or two to bolster the North Muirton promotion push.
“We will definitely need to bring in extra players if we’re going to get over the line this year,” said Holden.
“There’s a big period coming up.
“Hill of Beath, leaders Musselburgh Athletic and Dunbar are all on the horizon.
“We’ll need to strengthen, no doubt about it.
“Jeanfield’s name has become more fashionable than it was before.
“And, looking back to when I was at Luncarty, we can point to the work we did with (goalkeeper) Craig Hepburn. He’s kicked on with St Johnstone.
“You hope that teams see that you’re doing a good job with their players and trust you with their promising ones.
“It’s a challenging one with Saints and some of their better young players are going down to the likes of Berwick at the moment.
“I’d love to get more boys in from St Johnstone. They’re talking to us.
“Berwick is down in the Borders but we’re on their doorstep.
“Historically, Berwick have a bigger name but I’d like to think we’re at least as competitive as them and maybe even a bit stronger.
“Maybe we still have to overcome perceptions – Berwick, Brechin and Cowdenbeath are names from the past who have a reputation.
“But if you look at our performances over the last year, players will get a good level of football with us.
“I’m sure Saints fans would enjoy watching young players develop here. There’s a connection between people who support both clubs.”
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