Glenafton youth squad practise setting up for a free kick. Source.
Auchinleck Talbot meet Glenafton Athletic in the final of the Scottish Junior Cup.
We've encountered Auchinleck Talbot many times before. They often appear in the Scottish Cup by virtue of having won the SJFA West of Scotland Super League Premier Division, or the Scottish Junior Cup, or both. The Bot have won the Junior Cup eleven times, three of them in this decade. No other club has won that cup more than five times.
Glenafton Athletic have won the Junior Cup once before, in 1993.
Auchinleck and New Cumnock are nine miles apart in rural East Ayrshire, with Cumnock in between. New Cumnock was a coalmining town and home to the Glenafton Sanatorium, meaning they were able to cause black lung and cure it too.
[Auchinleck 1 - 2 Glenafton.]
Is the SJFA West Region stronger than the South of Scotland League?
1) How many rounds of the Scottish Cup have their clubs played this decade?
West Region:
15 Auchinleck Talbot
11 Girvan
8 Beith Juniors
5 Irvine Meadow
4 Hurlford United
1 Shotts Bon Accord
44 total
South of Scotland League:
12 St Cuthbert Wanderers
10 Wigtown & Bladnoch
8 Newton Stewart
4 Threave Rovers
1 Edusport Academy
38 total
Conclusion: SJFA West is stronger.
SWFL Division 2 West: FC Kilmarnock 23s [0 - 1] Morton
Morton have signed striker Bob McHugh, formerly of Motherwell, QoS, Airdrieonians and Falkirk.
Ross Forbes and Thomas O'Ware have been named to the Championship Team of the Year. The Scotsman has ranked Forbes 50th on its Top 50 SPFL Players list.
Morton's opponents in the League Cup group stage will be Motherwell, Berwick, Queen's Park and Edinburgh City.
Switzerland. Yesterday, it was Winterthur 3 - 1 Chiasso. The 2016-17 Swiss Challenge League schedule is now over. Zurich finish first and are promoted back to the Super League where they belong. Vaduz (of Leichtenstein) drop to the Challenge League. Wil finish last in the Challenge League but are saved from relegation by Le Mont who take voluntary relegation for financial reasons. Rapperswil-Jona are promoted to the Challenge League. Winterthur wind up in sixth place.
UEFA Champions League Final:
Juventus 1 - 4 Real Madrid
Canadian Championship, semi-finals, second leg:
Montreal Impact 4 - 2 Vancouver Whitecaps
Toronto FC 4 - 0 Ottawa Fury
It's Montreal and Toronto in the final.
AFC Champions League Round of 16, second leg:
Kawasaki Frontale 4 - 0 Muangthong United
Kawasaki advance to the quarter-finals.
Kashima Antlers 2 - 1 Guangzhou Evergrande
Guangzhou advance via the away goal rule.
Urawa Red Diamonds 3 - 0 Jeju United
Urawa advance.
Kashima Antlers in the AFC Champions League:
2015 GS
2011 R16 lost to FC Seoul
2010 R16 lost to Pohang Steelers
2009 R16 lost to FC Seoul
2008 QF lost to Adelaide United
2002-03 GS
2001-02 GS
1999-00 GS
1997-98 GS
JFL:
Sony Sendai [0 - 0] ReinMeer Aomori
Vanraure Hachinohe [1 - 1] Verspah Oita
The 70th Aomori Prefecture High School General Physical Education Football Competition is going on as we speak. Why is this interesting? Because Aomori Yamada are the reigning high school champions of Japan. The final is tomorrow. Bracket. [Yamada win the final 6 - 0.]
Saarland. SV Elversberg played in a promotion playoff this week in a bid to become the only club from Saarland in the German 3. Liga.
May 28th SpVgg Unterhaching 3 - 0 SV Elversberg
May 31st SV Elversberg 2 - 2 SpVgg Unterhaching
No promotion for Elversberg.
How do the promotion playoffs to 3. Liga work? There are five regional leagues in tier IV. Each league champion qualifies, plus the runner-up from the Regionalliga Südwest. These six teams pair off into three playoffs, and the three playoff winners are promoted. Meanwhile the three bottom teams from 3. Liga are relegated. Each team relegated from 3. Liga goes to the geographically appropriate Regionalliga, which can expand or contract to accommodate these comings and goings.
Ireland. Our guys UCD enter the weekend in second place in Division One (i.e., the second tier). Only the top team will get promoted this year, as the league is redistributing the clubs from divisions of 12 and 8, to 10 and 10.
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