The Scottish Cup has been a happy hunting ground for Formartine United’s Garry Wood but he would love to add to his achievements by helping his side deliver a major shock at North Lodge Park tomorrow.
The striker helped Ross County reach the final of the competition in a memorable run to Hampden in 2010.
The 33-year-old has set his sights on more Scottish Cup glory by firing Highland League side Formartine United to success against Motherwell tomorrow.
He said: “The run to the final with Ross County was amazing.
“I managed to finish top scorer in the competition that season ahead of Celtic’s Robbie Keane, which was not too bad.
“I also scored my first senior hat-trick against Stirling Albion in that run.
“To experience beating Celtic in the semi-finals was a great feeling.
“We lost the final against Dundee United but to play in front of a full crowd at Hampden is a memory I can always look back on.
“I would love to add a win against Motherwell to those Scottish Cup memories.
“We have had a really good record in the Scottish Cup against SPFL sides during my time at Formartine.
“We have beaten the likes of Clyde, Forfar and Annan twice.
“We seem to manage to get the better of League One and League Two teams.
“It is a step up to take on Premiership opposition but we will go into it confident that if we stick to our game plan and they have an off day we might have chance.”
The Pitmedden side earned their place in the third round thanks to a penalty shootout victory against Annan Athletic.
They are one of three Highland League teams left in the competition with Brora Rangers hosting Stranraer and Fraserburgh welcoming Montrose.
Wood said: “It is good for the Highland League to have three teams still in the Scottish Cup at this stage.
“We’ve got a great tie against a Premiership side and a chance to test ourselves against Motherwell.
“I felt we deserved to get through against Annan Athletic. There wasn’t much in the game but I thought we were the dominant side.
“To go 120 minutes against a team in the league above us after having played only one friendly against Huntly shows a lot about our character.
“They were probably classed as favourites so it was a great result.
“It is a lottery when it goes to penalties but we were delighted to get through.
“Motherwell have had a bit of an up and down season but they seem to have picked up a bit under their new manager Graeme Alexander.
“Brora’s result against Hearts probably hasn’t helped us.
“They may have been planning to rest a few players but they probably won’t do that now.
“We know to expect a tough game but our plan will be to keep it as tight as we can and hope that one or two chances fall our way.”
HIGHLIGHTS | Formartine United 1-1 Annan Athletic@FormartineUtd win 3-1 on penalties#ScottishCup pic.twitter.com/q15iRyZid1
— Scottish Cup (@ScottishCup) March 24, 2021
Following the decision to end the 2020-21 Highland League season earlier this week, Wood knows Saturday will be the final game of the season for Formartine.
He added: “The motivation when we played Annan was to keep our season going.
“We didn’t want to train for three weeks and what feels like our seventh pre-season of the year just for one game.
“We were delighted to get through and it would be great to win again but we know how tough it is going to be.
“It has been a tough time and we haven’t had much football this year.
“I’m out of contract in the summer and I haven’t really been able to show what I’m about but I will just have to wait and see what happens.”