TWO Junior superpowers, Auchinleck Talbot and Pollok, have been drawn together in a mouth-watering Scottish Junior Cup fifth-round tie.

A quirk of coincidence sees the long-standing rivals locking horns in a tasty Super Premier Division clash at Newlandsfield tomorrow, however it is the 11-time Cup-winning Ayrshiremen who will crucially enjoy home advantage two weeks later on Saturday 17 February (kick-off 2pm).

The tie of the round was one of only three clear-cut encounters to emerge from yesterday afternoon’s draw on The Peter and Roughie Show, with Irvine Meadow welcoming Lochee United to Meadow Park and Rob Roy hosting the visit of Linlithgow Rose in the others.

The Kirkintilloch outfit’s conquerors at the quarter-final stage last season, Bonnyrigg Rose, landed a potential cracker of their own against Beith, but only if the 2015/16 trophy winners firstly get the better of fourth-round opponents Jeanfield Swifts tomorrow, while Kilbirnie Ladeside have the incentive of yet another home draw (their fourth on the spin) against Rutherglen Glencairn or Bo’ness United if Budgie McGhie’s men can prevail in their twice-postponed fourth-round meeting with Forfar West End.

But it’s doubtful if any of the other eight pairings can come close to grabbing the attention more than the Beechwood Park showdown of Talbot v Pollok even though the Ayrshire club’s gaffer Tommy Sloan was keen to play down talk of the Cup clash last night.

Tucker admitted: "It’s a humdinger of a Cup game for both sets of supporters and I’m just pleased that ours was the first name out of the hat to allow us home advantage.

“Both clubs boast great Cup traditions and it’s a pity that we have to face each other at this stage but the draw is what the draw is and we have to prepare accordingly.

“But right now I’ll be urging my players to put all thoughts of the Cup game on the back burner because there is a lot of football to be played before the teams are due to meet.”

Lok boss Tony McInally’s response to the Cup draw was to acknowledge his side had landed it tough.

He admitted: “If you’d offered me the choice of teams left in the competition beforehand I certainly wouldn’t have picked Talbot as one of our fancied opponents but then I’m pretty sure Tucker is not doing cartwheels at the prospect either.

“Having one of us knocked out will please the other teams in the competition but that’s just what happens in Cup football and we need to get on with it.”

An intriguing battle of wills between former team-mates is promised by Rob Roy being pitted against East Region big guns Linlithgow Rose, whose team manager Mark Bradley once shared a Prestonfield dressing room with Rabs boss Stewart Maxwell.

Maxi insisted: “A lot of talk will centre on Talbot v Pollok but what should not be overlooked is the fact that the draw is littered with tight contests and what I can say for definite is that another three of the so-called big-hitters will not be making it through to the quarter finals.

“Either Bonnyrigg or Beith are going to take a tumble while the same applies to Kilbirnie or Bo’ness United and indeed to our game against Linlithgow, so you can see this has all the makings of a pivotal Cup round.

“Rob Roy always seem to get tough draws so I wasn’t surprised that we came out with Linlithgow, whose form has improved greatly since Braddo moved there from Kilbirnie during the summer.

“My former assistant Paul Ronald is the Rose No 2 and no doubt Ronaldo will be hoping to use his knowledge of our players to good effect, however we may just have a few surprises to spring on him when the time comes.”

The full draw is Bonnyrigg Rose v Jeanfield Swifts/Beith , Auchinleck Talbot v Pollok, Sauchie Juniors v Hurlford Utd/Haddington Athletic, Rob Roy v Linlithgow Rose, Kilbirnie Ladeside/Forfar West End v Rutherglen Glencairn/Bo’ness Utd, Irvine Meadow v Lochee Utd, Yoker Athletic v Wishaw/Forth Wanderers .

On a sadder note comes word of the sudden death yesterday morning of the highly regarded and popular Petershill physiotherapist Terry Waters who moved to the Springburn club in 2010 as part of Willie Patterson’s backroom team having previously served under the team boss at Rutherglen Glencairn.

Peasy assistant manager Paul Kelly said: “Everyone connected with the club is stunned at the news not least because the previous night Terry had been his usual self, laughing and joking with players on his treatment table, and looking forward to Saturday’s game against Shettleston.”