PORT Glasgow renew acquaintances with Ballingry Rovers tomorrow, as the Fife side come to Parklea for a second round tie in the Scottish Junior Cup.

Having never met previously, the teams played each other only a few months ago in a pre-season friendly, with the Rovers emerging 2-0 winners after a closely contested match.

With their home stadium in the village of Glencraig, just north of Cowdenbeath, the Fife outfit are managed by ex-pro Willie Garner, inset.

Garner signed for Aberdeen from Campsie Black Watch in 1975, and was part of the team which won the Scottish League Cup in 1976.

He left Aberdeen in 1981 to join Celtic, where he only played two first team games. Garner then joined Alloa Athletic in 1982 as player/manager, before returning to Aberdeen in 1984 to become assistant manager to Alex Ferguson.

His Rovers side currently compete in the highest level of the East Region, the Superleague.

In the 16-side division, they presently lie in 12th spot, with 10 points from nine games.

This week they have made two new signings — Aron Lynas on loan from Cowdenbeath, and striker Damon Gray.

So an interesting tie awaits fans tomorrow, with Port boss Craig Brown, main picture, anticipating an entertaining match.

He said: “Obviously I know a bit about Ballingry from the game in the summer. They are a very strong, physical side, who are well organised, so it’s a tough draw for us.

“But we have been on good form since the start of the season, and are looking forward to the game.” It’s a blow to the Port, however, that Ross Kearns looks certain to miss the game through injury. The midfielder had to come off at half-time in last week’s West of Scotland Cup match at Irvine Meadow, and his knee injury has seen him unable to train this week.

Kearn Docherty faces a race against time to be fit, with an ankle knock ruling him out of Wednesday night’s training session.

And a calf injury means recent signing Mark Bowie is rated no better than 50/50 to make Saturday’s match.

It all means a possible chance for a few of the players who haven’t featured much recently, but gaffer Brown insists he will be keeping the experiments to a minimum.

He added: “Although winning promotion is our priority, the Scottish Cup is the biggest competition in Junior football, and a good cup run can give you a lot of momentum. So I will be fielding as strong a team as possible tomorrow.” Kick-off at Parklea is at the slightly later time of 2.30pm.

Tomorrow’s match is being sponsored by Danny Gault and Pat McIlvogue.

Port Glasgow Juniors are sponsored by Regents Vehicle Sales, Greenock, and MAC HSL Ltd.