Penicuik Athletic are confident their Scottish Cup encounter against Clyde will proceed on Tuesday evening as supporters and volunteers rally to prepare Montgomery Park following Storm Boelo. The fixture was initially scheduled for Friday but suffered a postponement because of a waterlogged pitch. Ahead of the rescheduled 19:45 GMT kick-off in front of the BBC cameras, approximately 30 volunteers offered to assemble on Monday evening to clear fallen storm debris from the surface.
High winds caused significant issues for the ground, though club president Andy Penman confirmed the turf itself is playable beneath the mess. Penman detailed that one side of the venue is lined by fairly old trees, which left debris scattered over roughly 50% of the playing surface, including branches that penetrated vertically into the ground. Despite the visual damage, Penman explained that the rain from Friday cleared quickly and the underlying pitch remains in fine condition.
Penicuik enter the match sitting ninth in the East of Scotland Football League Premier Division, while visitors Clyde sit level on points with Stranraer at the summit of League Two. The home side already advanced through the first round by defeating Kilwinning Rangers, and they can draw further belief from a memorable 3-0 victory against Stenhousemuir at this exact stage of the competition in 2019.
With a sold-out capacity crowd of 1,300 spectators expected, Penman labelled the fixture as the club's cup final, admitting the squad may have experienced inconsistent league results due to the distraction of their cup journey. The winners of Tuesday's tie will advance to face East Kilbride, who currently sit fourth in League One, with live television coverage available via the BBC Sport website and BBC iPlayer.