Bring on the Old Firm! Auchinleck Talbot heroes are aiming high after historic triumph against Ayr United in the Scottish Cup

  • Craig McCracken scored a late goal when the Ayrshire club won the Junior Cup
  • The law student pounced with just 12 minutes to go to sink Ian McCall's side
  • The Bot are in the hat for the fifth-round draw for the first time in their history

Auchinleck Talbot cup hero Craig McCracken savoured his once-in-a-lifetime goal against Championship promotion hunters Ayr United on Saturday and roared: Bring on the Old Firm!

The 22-year-old law student, who scored a late winner when the Ayrshire club won the Scottish Junior Cup in the summer, pounced with just 12 minutes remaining to sink Ian McCall's side and put The Bot in the hat for the fifth-round draw for the first time in their history.

And McCracken admits he would love to see Rangers or Celtic pulled out of the hat along with them on Sunday.

Craig McCracken scored a late winner when the Ayrshire club won the Scottish Junior Cup

Craig McCracken scored a late winner when the Ayrshire club won the Scottish Junior Cup

'You take it as it comes, but, obviously, it would be brilliant for the club to get one of the two bigger teams,' said McCracken. 'Rangers or Celtic away would be different class and a great experience for the boys.


'We are in the next round and that is the most important thing.

'The fans love being in this cup and testing themselves and you want to play against the best players you can.

'This club is so big in this area and you can't really describe how this feels.' Goalkeeper Andy Leishman also wants a glamour clash with Rangers or Celtic.

'Definitely, 100 per cent,' said Leishman. 'You would rather go out to the Old Firm than a smaller club and it would be a massive payday for the club as well.' Jubilant Talbot manager Tommy Sloan detailed the grand gamble he took in masterminding the biggest result in the Junior club's 109-year history.

Sloan used a 4-2-3-1 formation for the first time in a bid to contain Championship outfit Ayr and stay in the tie, and only switched to 4-4-2 late on in time for central defender McCracken secure a remarkable win.

Tommy Sloan used a 4-2-3-1 formation for the first time to try and contain Ayr United

Tommy Sloan used a 4-2-3-1 formation for the first time to try and contain Ayr United

'It was fantastic, a great performance actually,' said Sloan, who has been at the helm at the Ayrshire outfit for over 15 years. 'We changed it a wee bit because we were playing a better side and we didn't really want to go toe-to-toe with Ayr for 90 minutes.

'The plan was to hopefully stay in the game and bring a few subs on at the end. It had a good effect.

'We finished quite fresh but Ayr looked a wee bit ragged at the end when they were trying to push on.

'We have never played that formation before, so they take a lot of credit for that.

'It is the biggest win of my time. Ayr have gone to Tannadice and won 5-0 the other week and we're beating them down here. We are delighted. I thought we had the best chances.

'It is great for our profile. We have always been there or thereabouts in big Junior competitions but this is something else.

'We love being involved in this cup and I can't wait for the draw now.' Sloan (right) wants a tie his team can compete in and refuses to join so many of his players in keeping his fingers crossed for the Old Firm.

Auchinleck Talbot are in the hat for the fifth-round draw for the first time in their history

Auchinleck Talbot are in the hat for the fifth-round draw for the first time in their history

'I want somebody we can match and try to get a result against,' he said. 'I am not into the Old Firm and all that. That's not for me. It's only the committee that want that.

'We've done Junior football proud. I had a lot of well wishers from other clubs before the match today and that was great. All our main rivals.' Ayr manager Ian McCall felt his side had been denied a spot-kick for a handball in the 13th minute, but made no excuses on the lowest afternoon of his time in the game.

'It's the worst result of my career, but I don't want to take away from Auchinleck,' he said. 'They deserved to win, and good luck to them in the next round.

'The game panned out the way they wanted it to pan out. We had two or three good chances, but didn't score.

'I don't want to say about the penalty, but you will all see it on the telly. It is a pretty clear penalty.

'All that takes away from Auchinleck and I don't want to do that. I want to wish them all the best in the next round and good luck to them.

'It is nothing to do with Lawrence Shankland not being fit. We were good enough to win the game.

'Our players have had constant praise for 18 months, as I have as well. But we are going to have to take the stick that comes our way because it is a bad result for our club.'