Bathgate frustrated with frosty reception

On the day most of the other fourth-round matches went ahead, Bathgate's Creamery Park was deemed unplayable despite the exhausting efforts of the committee to clear snow off the pitch.

It was postponed again last Saturday, this time due to the pitch being frostbound, and hopes of being third-time lucky have been cast into doubt following more wintry weather this week.

"It is becoming a wee bit frustrating, to be honest," said the former Hibs midfielder, who has done a decent job to date since taking over from Paul Jack at the East Region Super League side in the summer.

"In my opinion, the game should have been played two weeks ago. Okay, there were a couple of areas on the park that weren't 100 per cent but I was still very surprised that the game was called off.

"Our committee had worked really hard to clear snow off the pitch earlier in the week and the referee who inspected the pitch on the Saturday morning actually needed a second opinion – that's how close it was.

"The match referee was coming from Aberdeen and, if he'd arrived and the two teams were also there, I don't think there is any doubt the game would have gone ahead."

Love, who lifted the trophy two seasons ago as the Bathgate captain, added: "Last week was not in doubt due to a bad frost and now it looks as though the game could be off again this weekend unless we get a really good thaw."

When the match eventually goes ahead, a home tie against Bo'ness, the East Region Super League leaders, is the prize for the winners, but Love won't be allowing his players to start getting ahead of themselves.

"Cup runs are always a bonus and it's only natural that our committee will be licking their lips at the prospect of a Scottish Cup tie against Bo'ness due to the financial aspect, especially at a time when every Junior club is feeling the pinch due to all the recent call-offs," he said.

"However, I am determined that my players won't lose their focus. We have a difficult game against Glenrothes to try and win before we can even start thinking about Bo'ness."

Bathgate's last competitive outing was on 12 December, when, in the only game in the East Region to go ahead as the bad weather kicked in, they beat St Andrews United 3-1 away in the Fife & Lothians Cup.

Since then, they only match they've had is a friendly against Kirkintilloch Rob Roy through at Glasgow Green.

"Bathgate has been hit quite badly over the years due to frost but I don't think I've ever experienced anything like this due to the weather," said Love.

"Last year, I picked up a suspension in October and didn't play for 17 weeks due to a combination of that and games being postponed but, as a club, I can't remember us going this long without a fixture.

"We have tried to arrange friendlies at different parks over the past few weeks but the only one that was able to go ahead was a game against Kirkintilloch and that was a fitness exercise more than anything else.

"I had a game arranged against Airdrie earlier this week but, like so many others, that had to be called off due to the weather.

"It is all very frustrating for the players but I'm delighted that they have been working their socks off in training over the past few weeks.

"Apart from the first weekend, when I didn't want them to travel to the conditions being dangerous, I think we have trained every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday and they've worked hard in each session.

"Match fitness and match awareness will be the problem when we do get back playing again but I will be telling them not to allow the lay-off to be an excuse.

"I'll be saying to them that they should be going out there and working hard, just as they were doing for me earlier in the season."

One thing the enforced break has allowed the Bathgate boss to do is look at possibly adding to a squad that is small in comparison to the likes of most other Super League teams and, in particular, Bo'ness and Linlithgow.

"I'm looking at bringing a couple of players in, which would be good, while the fact we've been inactive has also allowed a couple of our injured players get a bit further down the line on the road to recovery," said Love.

"Fraser (his brother], for instance, has been able to train over the last few weeks, while Stuart Hunter should also be back in my plans as well. However, Iain Nicolson has seen a specialist."