There will be another pitch inspection tomorrow at 9.30am at Keirs Park, Hill of Beath but Hawthorn's secretary Mark Stevens holds out little hope that we will see a match there. Recent better weather has failed to remove a 20ft band of ice and frost along one side of the pitch as the sun isn't getting to do its job, shut off as it is from the pitch by the enclosure. The forecast for tonight is more frost and freezing temperatures.

The winners of the Emirates Scottish Junior Cup fifth-round tie between Hill of Beath Hawthorn and Shotts Bon Accord will play Clydebank away in the quarter-final.

The match at Hill of Beath has fallen victim to the weather - the pitch is frozen and even though it's sunny at the moment, it has been decided there is little chance of the ground thawing out before kick off.

The temperature was lower than had been forecast in Fife last night and it's expected to be even colder tonight. As for tomorrow, they don't think it will rise above 2 degrees in the Cowdenbeath area and that might not be enough to guarantee us a game.

Shotts Bon Accord had entered the Scottish Junior Cup 17 times before they drew their first Fifers: Tulliallan Thistle in the fourth round in 1968. Shotts won a close tie 2-1 and in the same year it was Glenrothes in the quarter-final who prevailed 2-1 after a replay.

In 1972 it was Newburgh in the third round. After two draws, this also finished 2-1 to the Fifers in the third match at Sauchie (which is a lot more Fife than it is Lanarkshire). The following season Dunfermline Jubilee went down 2-0 in the same round and in 1975 Shotts won their second-round against Kirkcaldy YM, 2-1 also after a replay.

In 1979 Shotts were put out in the third round by Halbeath by 1-0 after a replay and six seasons later Shotts beat Leven 5-0 after another replay and then it was St Andrews who were beaten 3-1 after yet another replay in 1987.

Tulliallan were the last Fife team to lose to the Bon Accord in the Scottish Cup when they lost 6-2 in the second round in 1992. Since then it has been Hill of Beath who have held the upper hand with two wins, 2-1 at their place in the fifth round in 1995 and in 2002 it was an easy 2-0 at Hannah Park.

Shotts against Fife on 11 occasions with six wins for the Bon Accord and five for the men from the Kingdom. If Wm Hills are correct, it will be all square come Saturday evening but with the majority of these ties going to a replay would you bet against the same happening at Keirs Park first?

Shotts have reached the fifth round of the SJC on 11 occasions previously and subsequently moved on through to the next round five times. So, a win against Hill of Beath Hawthorn would even things up nicely but, given the fact that Shotts are 7-1 underdogs at one bookies, the chances are evidently not great.

The first time the Bon Accord made this stage they went all the way and won the competition in 1958 with Aberdeen Sunnybank being seen off 2-0. We had to wait another 10 years before we got there again and this time Kilbirnie Ladeside were beaten 3-0.

The next year Shotts lost out for the first time when they went down to Darvel. In the Eighties Lanark United and Bon'ess United were seen off in 1985 and 1989 before Arthurlie (1993) and Hill of Beath (two years later) put the Bon Accord's gas at a peep.

Carnoustie Panmure were the opponents in 2000 and 2001 and Shotts won the first and lost the second, while the most recent match at this stage, the 1-0 defeat at the hands of  Bathgate Thistle (2008), was overshadowed by the leg break suffered by the unfortunate Kevin Brown.

As part of the preparation for the forthcoming Umbro Quadrangular Tournament, Keith Burgess has named the undernoted pool of players for an initial training session at Hannah Park Shotts on Sunday 21 February. Thereafter, a friendly has been arranged with Stenhousemuir at Ochilview on Tuesday 2 March 2010 - 7.15pm kick off.

Pool of Players
I. Ross (Lochee United)
J.C.Hutchison (Camelon)
K.Ross (Beith)
M.Robertson (Bonnyrigg)
R.Duffin (Boness)
T.Courts (Kelty)
G.Collins(Auchinleck)
D.Fleming(Boness)
J.Ward (Linlithgow)
C.Pettigrew(Auchinleck)
M.Crilly (Irvine Meadow)
B.Slaven (Auchinleck)
A.Nelson ( Musselburgh)
G.Anderson (Kirk Rob Roy)
B.McKeown ( Beith)
G.McLaren (Bathgate)
D.McGeown (Pollok)
C.Cargill (Lochee Utd)
J.Lister ( Bathgate)
R.Barr ( Irvine Meadow)
B.Dingwall (Pollok)
B.McGinty ( Irvine Meadow)
C.Strickland(Whitburn)
T. Coyne (Linlithgow)

Shortly before the end of yesterday's match against Lesmahagow with score nearer to 4-0 than 3-1, the discussion turned to goalkeepers and clean sheets. Comparisons are odious, it is alwayd said, but someone wondered how Craig Brown's record fares against that of his predecessor Alan Smith.

In Alan's only season between the sticks for Shotts, he kept the slate clean on seven occasions in matches against Forth, Annbank. Ashfield, Girvan, Clydebank, Kinnoull and Kilbirnie. That's seven out of 39 matches.

Euan Gray was actually in goal for this season's first clean sheet against Wishaw but since then Craig has managed to keep out Maryhill, Petershill, Blantyre, Stoneywood, St Anthony's in the Emirates and Dunipace. If he had stayed on his line in the 88th minute instead of coming for a ball he was never going to get, his record would be seven out of 19, significantly better than Alan's but then again last season's keeper was up against a better quality of opposition on the whole, wouldn't you agree?

GAME ON! Confirmed by Ian Duncan, Dunipace secretary at 9.15am.

The Dunipace secretary Ian Duncan thinks there is every chance tomorrow's match will now go ahead. The snow on the pitch has completely thawed out and, unless there is a severe frost tonight (definitely not forecast), we should be watching a game tomorrow, hopefully, fingers crossed.

It's raining fairly heavily in my part of Falkirk right now so I hope that doesn't become a problem in itself.

It will be Dunipace's first home match since 3 October and yesterday's Falkirk Herald reckons that is 19 weeks ago. I think it's 'only' 18 but it's a fair stretch of not much coming in through the turnstiles all the same.