ALL roads led to Beechwood Park on Saturday as Auchinleck Talbot hosted Hearts in the fourth round of the Scottish Cup, writes Colin Falconer.

From first light in the town on Saturday morning the sense of anticipation was everywhere – for while Beechwood has hosted plenty of big games down the years, not least the Scottish Cup triumphs over Ayr in 2019 and Hamilton Accies in November, the visit of the Tynecastle side took the excitement level up several more notches.

Before kick-off, one Talbot supporter told the Chronicle: “It’s a very special game and it’s not every day you get to play a team like Hearts at your home ground in the Scottish Cup. To eliminate them after Hamilton would be really special.”

With smoke bombs going off in the street and the fans mixing well together there was a sense of optimism in the air that Talbot could pull of the impossible and complete a giantkilling far bigger than any of those pulled off by the men in black and gold in the past.

Reflecting on the team’s two Scottish Cup trips to Tynecastle in recent years, Stephen, a Talbot fan who travelled from Glasgow for the game, said: “The last time we played them in 2019 it wasn’t close, but we have taken them close in the past at Tynecastle so hopefully we can do the same today.”

Sadly the pre-match optimism wasn’t matched by the reality: after a first 10 minutes in which Talbot threatened to put Hearts’ backs against the wall, that all changed when Andy Halliday headed the visitors in front after 14 minutes.

And Robbie Neilson’s men soon began to turn the screw, reaching half-time two goals to the good and securing a fifth round place, and a home tie against Livingston, with a convincing 5-0 win.

Despite the gulf in standard between the Premiership and the West of Scotland Football League, though, Talbot’s supporters kept up their vocal backing for their team right up to the final minute.

Manager Tommy Sloan told the Chronicle after the game that while he was obviously disappointed in the result, he was more more disappointed that the Talbot supporters didn’t have anything to celebrate during the game.

He said: “That’s three times we have played Hearts now and not managed to score a goal against them, so it is disappointing that we didn’t give the home fans something to celebrate today.”

With the Scottish Cup now out of the picture Auchinleck can now focus on the league and the Scottish Junior Cup which Sloan says, “they know that they’re capable of winning”.

Their journey on the road to Hampden now at an end, Talbot return to the bread-and-butter of West of Scotland Football League action this Saturday, January 29, with a trip to Bellsdale Park to face Beith (KO 1.30pm) – but while the team’s Scottish Cup adventure may be over for another season, the memories of a special day at Beechwood Park will live on in supporters’ minds for a while yet.

(Photos by Charlie Gilmour)