Cup Final Build-Up: Boss Gunning For Cup Final Glory
This Sunday Les Fridge leads out his side in a North of Scotland Cup final for the third time in four seasons at the helm in Part Three of Nairn County's Grand Slam September. It is a remarkable record for the man in the Station Park hot seat with the club having not made a final appearance for over 20 years prior to his first cup final in 2005.
The build up to the big day gets underway right here at Nairn County FC Online as we count down to one of the most important games the club has featured in over recent years. We start today with an
Fridge's record in previous finals reads won one, lost one with the success coming against Forres Mechanics in 2005 before losing out to a strong Ross County side in the 2006 final, which was controversially switched to a Sunday to accommodate the Dingwall outfit. The fallout from that occasion has led to a change in the scheduling of the final date, with both a Saturday AND a Sunday set aside when the fixtures are released at the start of the season to give more leeway to accommodate the full time sides. As it happens, County's opponents this year are another league club as SPL side Inverness CT stand in the way of Nairn getting their hands on the silverware again.
The final has again been scheduled for the Sunday which could give the full time club the upper hand at Grant Street Park as their first team will not have a seperate game on the same day.
"It will be a hard game and we will be playing against a full time side whether it's an under-19 side, an under-21 side or otherwise, it will be a full time side. They will have boys there who are involved in the first team and who train as much as twice every day. It will be a very difficult game and a very difficult test but like I say, it's nice just to be involved in these sorts of occasions."
Speaking about what it means to reach another cup final, Fridge said: "It's brilliant. I think we've been in something like six semi finals since I came here and now three finals. It's brilliant for us because it is difficult to get up there in the league as such with the strength of the Aberdeenshire teams. I have always said that we want to be the top team in the north and to work our way towards getting in among the pack which is still what we are looking to do.
"But finals are great days out for everyone. It's great for the club and it's great for the players because they don't come along a lot in a player's career. The fact that this is our third one in four years is brilliant.
"It's also brilliant for the supporters because it will be a great day out and hopefully we can win the trophy. That would be nice."
The County faithful turned up in huge numbers and gave their team a loud vocal backing at the 2005 final and did so again in 2006 despite the game taking place on a Sunday. They are again expected to be there in their hundreds and maybe even thousands this Sunday and could prove crucial in being the team's 12th man. And Fridge had this message for the fans: "We will give it our all and I don't think there's any doubt about that. I hope they turn out in numbers, I hope they have a great day and most of all, I hope we can pick up the trophy at the end of it for them."
We couldn't let the boss go without asking him the most important question of all - are we going to win it? He answered: "Ask me at about 9 o'clock on Sunday night!"