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Scottish Junior Cup Third Round Saturday 5th January 1985 Blackburn United 2 Ritchie 11mins, Temperley 16mins Yoker Athletic 1 Scott (pen) 47mins

On a cold January afternoon we faced Glasgow side Yoker Athletic, who were amongst the favourites to win the trophy itself that year, for a place in the fourth round. The playing surface had been badly affected by the fierce winter but was heavily sanded and forked in time to pass a 9am pitch inspection, to the surprise of many. Yoker had taken a quick grip on the proceedings straight from the kick-off and had an abundance of early possesion but it was United who were by far the more dangerous side and, lead by Seafield lad Begbie Ritchie, continually harassed a vulnerable looking Athletic defence. This paid off as early as the eleventh minute when Rab Krendler won the ball in the air and knocked it down for RITCHIE to score from ten yards with a thundering overhead kick. Some five minutes later, after a free-kick was awarded around twenty yards out for a foul on Ritchie, Hugh TEMPERLEY cracked a vicious drive into the corner of the net to Blackburn two up. Early in the second period the men from Glasgow pulled a goal back as Blackburn full-back Keith Shanks slid into a tackle just inside the box and inadvertently handled the ball. The referee immediately pointed to the spot and SCOTT stepped up to slot the kick past the diving Paul Kerr. This sparked off a sustained period of Yoker pressure and 'keeper Kerr pulled off a series of wonderful saves to deny the Glasgow team an equalising strike. As the seconds ticked by, Athletic's attempts to take the tie to a replay became more and more desperate and Blackburn deservedly held out for a memorable win. Afterwards, then local councillor David Stenhouse confessed that he had earlier placed a couple of quid on Yoker, who went on to finish second top in the chase for the Central League championship, to win at the local bookmakers but that he was none the less delighted that he wouldn't be collecting!