ONE of the most important factors in Hurlford United’s turnaround in fortunes – well they were relegation candidates until a few weeks ago – has undoubtedly been the re-emergence of Ross Robertson as a potent striking force.

He served up a man-of-the-match performance in the semi-final against Wishaw whose defenders struggled to deal with his aerial prowess and physicality and it’s only those centre-backs that have gone toe-to-toe with the big fellow who can really put their finger on the threat he poses.

So step forward former Talbot stopper Mark Campbell who supporters will recall was captain and the beating heart of their defence in the 2015 Cup Final victory over Musselburgh Athletic.

Talbot’s route to that particular Final included a truly unforgettable 5-2 two-legged semi-final defeat of Hurlford which was also the last occasion when the Ayrshire rivals clubs met in the Scottish Cup.

Sparky, whose chequered playing career saw him turn out with Stranraer, Ayr United, Falkirk, St Johnstone, Raith Rovers and Queen of the South before his reinstatement to Junior level has vivid recollections of those clashes and his personal duel with the burly Robertson.

He said: “I watched Hurlford get the better of Wishaw and their retaining a solid core of players from their 2015 team means they are every bit as big and physical nowadays as they were back then.

“And their main threat still comes from Robertson who is not shy when it comes to putting himself about and he invariably gets on the end of crosses either to have a go at goal himself or to cause mayhem and allow the likes of Mark Roberts or Stewart Kean to get on the second ball.

“I was up for the battle and won more than my fair share of headers which led to him peeling off to play on our full backs Willie Lyle or Gordon Pope and I was forced to go everywhere with him to nullify his threat."

Competitive and powerful centre-halfs of Sparky’s ilk are few and far between nowadays and Auchinleck boss Tommy Sloan will almost certainly go for a pairing of Neil McPherson and Ross Harvey (if fit) with Craig McCracken on the bench as back up.

So how will they fare against Robertson’s considerable presence?

Sparky said: "Neil has come in from Darvel and made the centre-half position his own even though Ross is probably more aggressive in terms of attacking the ball.

“They will find big Ross a handful in a physical sense but hopefully they will not be under the cosh and can squeeze further up the pitch and into areas where his ability to win head flicks will not be a danger.

“Tucker knows the Junior game inside out and I fancy he will be looking to take the game to Hurlford and force them onto the back foot at every opportunity through the pace of Jamie Glasgow, and the Wilson brothers Stevie and Graham.

“Doing that will deny the big lad Robertson any decent service from the wide areas and will prevent him causing problems and that could be the key to another Cup win for Talbot.

"People have been saying they are going through a transition period ever since I played yet every season Tucker gets them to win the big games and into the running for the big prizes and you have to hand it to him for doing it yet again.”