Cup glory beckons for minnows

The Scottish Cup is officially ranked by parliament as one of the 'crown jewels' of British sport and this afternoon the quarter-final stage of the competition reflects rather more intrigue than usual. The absence of Celtic and Rangers has greatly cheered neutrals and the later stages of the cup has an unaccustomed lustre.

There will be full houses at Tynecastle, where Heart of Midlothian entertain Partick Thistle, and at Raydale Park, where Gretna, will test their ambitious credentials against the team at the top of the First Division, St Mirren, and if the Borders team prevail they will become the first Second Division club to reach the semi-finals since Forfar Athletic in 1982.

Only three of the eight survivors are Scottish Premier League teams, and one of them must fall by the wayside after Falkirk and Hibernian settle their tie.

Hamilton Academical, meanwhile, are in the quarter-finals for the first time in almost 40 years and will attempt to extend their tenure at home to Dundee. The Accies have a slight edge over their First Division rivals - four points separate them in mid-table, and this match could go to a replay.

With a 12.15 start at Tynecastle because of the Calcutta Cup between Scotland and England at neighbouring Murrayfield, Hearts or Partick Thistle could be in the last four before the other quarter-finalists have got under way.

Hearts, favourites to win the trophy, not only have home advantage but are also two leagues ahead of their Second Division opponents. Nevertheless, the Jags posted a warning by taking another SPL side, Inverness Caledonian Thistle, to a replay and then a successful penalty decider in the previous round. The absence of the injured Michel Pospisil should not trouble Hearts unduly - after an influx of January signings - especially since Paul Hartley returns to midfield after suspension. Thistle will be without Scott McCulloch because of a knee ligament strain, as they attempt to avenge last season's third-round defeat by today's opponents.

Gretna have two players cup-tied - Allan Jenkins and Martin Canning - but their manager, Rowan Alexander, is confident that they have the resources to outgun St Mirren, who will not have Kirk Broadfoot back in midfield, still out injured.

Hibs may not be unduly worried if they cannot do better than a draw against Falkirk, especially since they must do without the cup-tied Paul Dalglish, as well as casualties such as Guillaume Beuzelin and Scott Brown. The Bairns have two midfield players, Jack Ross and Tiago Rodrigues, back after knocks and, according to Falkirk manager John Hughes, his players are in good shape.

The Hamilton v Dundee fixture is the least alluring as it must cope with a rash of casualties. Accies have Marvyn Wilson, Derek Fleming, Graeme Jones, Brian Carrigan and Paul McMullin out, but Dundee are minus Kelvin Jack, Steven Robb and the cup-tied Gordon Marshall.

Nevertheless, a semi-final place beckons and, with the Old Firm dismissed, all eight contenders will nourish a plausible dream to contest the final itself at Hampden in two months' time.

Taken from telegraph.co.uk