Gavin's Elgin City to face Aberdeen in Scottish Cup

Athlone native Dylan Gavin has a big game coming up this weekend as his Elgin City side face Aberdeen in the Scottish Cup. The fourth round clash takes place at Borough Briggs on Saturday, kick-off 3pm.

With Elgin City currently playing in Scottish League Two (the fourth tier of Scottish football), taking on one of the leading Premiership sides will be a major challenge but one the underdogs are likely to relish.

Gavin scored one of the goals in Elgin's 3-2 victory over Kelty Hearts in the third round of the Scottish Cup.

Dylan grabbed a hat-trick in last month's 4-2 win over Clyde with a performance that saw him unsurprisingly chosen as man of the match. He also scored in the 2-0 victory over Peterhead towards the end of December.

Aberdeen currently lie fourth in the Scottish Premiership, but they are 25 points behind runaway leaders Celtic. The Dons have not been in good form recently and have lost their last four league games.

Gavin began his football career as a youngster with St Francis in Athlone and the former Marist College student later joined Athlone Town. Having had a spell with Charlton Athletic among other clubs before returning to Athlone, he signed for Elgin City on a two-year deal in June of last year.

Elgin City are third in Scottish League Two at present, six points behind leaders East Fife and four behind Peterhead, with Elgin having a game in hand on both those teams. Elgin's home ground, Borough Briggs, is the most northerly football league stadium in Britain.

Another Athlone link to the Scottish Cup fourth round is Antony Sherlock being first team coach with Fraserburgh, who take on Glasgow Rangers next Sunday (see feature article in this week's Westmeath Independent).