By Chris MacMillan
January 10 2005

Is it just fans who believe that there is some sort of special day to be had during the third round of the Tennents Scottish Cup?

Rushing back from a match to the nearest house or pub is a regular occurrence before the draw is held for the third round of the F.A cup, I can only remember experience it in Scotland but I would imagine English Football fans would be the same especially for fans of the lower league teams.

The draw brought out only a few matches that fans north of the border would consider to be total mismatches. Arbroath vs. Aberdeen and Dundee United vs. Gretna are the two that spring to mind. As expected most of the teams you would have thought would continue in the competition have, yet I still have one gripe.

When you watch football, which matches appeal to you? For me the choices today were another Old Firm match or to tune in to BBC and watch a great competition between Yeading and Newcastle United. I choose the latter and probably would every single time. Either of the two Scottish matches mentioned above, Arbroath vs. Aberdeen or Dundee United vs. Gretna would have held my attention longer than any match between the Old Firm. Is it just me?

I know Setanta as much as Sky, STV or even BBC will show matches that they think will bring viewers to their televisions but am I the only person that thinks they made a boring choice that showed no imagination?