Fans assist Penicuik clear-up for Clyde cup tie

Penicuik Athletic are sure Tuesday's Scottish Cup tie with Clyde will go ahead as the community rallies to clear storm debris from the pitch at Montgomery Park.Club president Andy Penman said around 30 volunteers have offered to begin the clear up on Monday evening.The game had been scheduled for Friday in front of the BBC cameras but was called off due to a waterlogged surface. Then came the high winds of Storm Boelo."The ground on one side is surrounded by fairly old trees and there is a substantial amount of debris strewn across about 50% of the pitch," Penman explained."We've had branches coming down and actually going into the surface vertically."Underneath it all, the pitch is in fine condition. The rain that was lying on Friday has disappeared very quickly."Penicuik sit ninth in the East of Scotland Football League Premier Division, while Clyde are level on points with League Two leaders Stranraer.However, the hosts can take inspiration from a 3-0 win over Stenhousemuir at the same stage of the competition in 2019.They beat Kilwinning Rangers in the first round and East Kilbride, fourth in League One, await the winners of this game."This is our cup final," said Penman, with a capacity 1300 tickets sold for the 19:45 GMT kick-off."We've been up and down in the league, probably distracted the by the cup run. Now the players are just looking forward to the challenge."