Hurlford’s keenly-anticipated Scottish Cup semi-final tie with Pollok WILL go ahead at Blair Park tomorrow afternoon.

But only after an SJFA delegation led by Secretary Tom Johnston and the match referee decided the pitch was playable during an inspection yesterday.

The match was postponed last weekend after the playing surface was damaged by a tractor – and days of heavy rain left the pitch in a bad way.

But Hurlford gaffer Darren Henderson is delighted that days of hard work have paid off, and that Ford supporters will be able to watch their team in action at their own ground.

And he reckons his players owe another ‘team’ special praise for the backbreaking lengths they’ve gone to just to get the game on.

He explained: “First and foremost,I’m delighted that the park is good to go. You always want to be at home, especially as we have a good record at Blair Park this season.

“It was a worrying time though because the SJFA were down at the park yesterday morning and put it through a rigorous inspection.”

The positive news makes up for the disappointment felt at Hurlford last weekend after the initial staging of the tie was postponed because of the damage to the park.

The club were forced to order 100 square metres of new material for the pitch from England, and it was relaid on Wednesday – and that’s where Henderson was quick to lavish praise on one of the club’s main sponsors.

He said: “Johnny Hamilton of Hamilton Tarmac has been unbelievable. He did a power of work on the ground with a group of his men on Wednesday. They worked from 7am till 10pm just to get the job done.

“Tom Johnston and the match referee then visited Blair Park to inspect the playing surface and make sure it had been relaid properly. I was delighted when they gave it the thumbs-up.

“Mind you, I think the SJFA had come down a bit hard on us, because normally you are allowed three postponements before the tie is taken out of your hands.

"But we were only given one, and the only reason we were given that was on the provision that we had a Plan B in place.

“That plan was to play the tie at Arthurlie’s Dunterlie Park if our pitch had been deemed unplayable, so the game would definitely have gone ahead.

“To be fair to the SJFA, they did give us a decent-sized radius to find an alternative venue, as they just wanted the game on.

“People might ask why we would have gone to Barrhead to play the tie, given we’re from the Kilmarnock area, but the pitch dimensions at Dunterlie are very similar in size to those at Blair Park – and we also have a good record at Arthurlie’s ground.

“But there is now no need to implement Plan B, and we’re delighted about that.”

With Henderson spending a fair bit of time ensuring the pitch would be given the green light, does he feel that has compromised his team preparations for the big game?

“No, not at all,” he insisted. “I have been worried about the pitch, but I don’t think it has affected our preparations in the slightest.

“Our pitch at Hurlford is historically not the best, and we’ve gone a few weeks without a game before, so in a way the players are used to that.

“We have been training as normal – even last Saturday – and apart from a couple of long-term injuries, we are good to go.

“Both ourselves and Pollok are desperate to play the tie, and both teams go into the match in decent form. To be honest, it has all the makings of a cracking cup tie – and I hope it turns out that way.

“We have played Pollok twice this season and have won one and drawn the other, but I don’t think that will have much bearing on tomorrow’s match. The two games have been very tight. We scored late on at home to snatch the win, and went to Newlandsfield about six or seven weeks ago and it finished 1-1, but to be fair to Pollok they deserved at least a draw that day. We were quite fortunate.

“I think it’s too tight to call. There are similarities to the tie against Irvine Meadow two years ago, which went right to the wire, and it wouldn’t surprise me if it happened again.

“Pollok have some real quality in their side that we will need to pay close attention to. They have done ever so well in the league this season – their manager Tony McInally has done a fantastic job.

“We played them at Blair Park in the quarter-finals of the Scottish Cup last season and managed to win 2-1, but the scoreline kind of flattered us a wee bit again.”

Henderson insisted he will never tire of success in the national competition – after failing to achieve anything notable in the cups during a lengthy senior career.

He said: “I played for a long time in the lower leagues and didn’t win very much. In fact, it’s debatable whether or not I ever got past the fourth round, so it was fantastic to win the Scottish with Hurlford a couple of years ago.

“In fact, this is the third year in a row we’ve reached the semi-finals, and that’s all credit to the players. It’s a fantastic achievement.

“Earlier in this season’s competition we were 3-0 down at home to Dalkeith with 28 minutes to go. I thought it was all over but somehow we found a way back and won 5-3, so there is no lack of spirit in that dressing room.

“We beat Auchinleck Talbot in the quarters and haven’t lost a cup game all season, which is amazing – but that’s a record I want to see continue.”