Tomorrow marks the first leg in the marathon SPFL Pyramid Playoffs as our very own East Kilbride FC welcome Brora Rangers of the Highland League to K Park.
Of course, those of you who frequent these pages will have heard us banging on about the silky skills and goalscoring prowess of Michael Kennedy’s Kilby all season long, so instead of a boring ol’ preview, we thought we’d do something a little different.
We’ve enlisted everyone’s favourite Lowland League pundit, Chris Pow of the Official Catchup podcast, to bring you a scouting report on EK’s playoff opponents Brora Rangers…
by Chris Pow
Brora Rangers, as the name suggests, hail from the village of Brora, Sutherland. Nicknamed The Cattachs, the club was founded in 1879, and play their home games at Dudgeon Park.
The Highland League side won their first ever domestic treble this season under manager Steven Mackay, winning the Highland League, Highland League Cup, and the North of Scotland Cup.
Brora Rangers are a strong side for the level, with a formidable front four, who are interchangeable, when it comes to positions. Scoring 117 goals in the Highland League this season emphasises the threat they could pose to any team. Shane Sutherland and Tony Dingwall have an effective partnership upfront and Max Ewan and Connor Bunce have excellent technique, and are good dribblers of the ball.
Brora Rangers, similar to East Kilbride, aim to keep possession, and like to work the ball into the box, when on the attack, with a lot of their opportunities coming from the central areas of the pitch. Brora will press the opposition to claim possession back and create chances in the final third by closing down defenders, and sometimes the opposition goalkeeper, something which Kilby will need to be wary of, given their own style of play.
The game will be an interesting tactical battle between two top sides. Both are somewhat similar in approaches, so it’s difficult to predict the outcome. We could see a very close encounter, with both teams cancelling each other out, or an absolute shootout, considering the goal scoring prowess of the respective forward lines.
