Last month Ruari Paton helped fire East Kilbride into the third round of the Scottish Cup. And on the eve of their tie away to Formartine United, the striker has his sights set on taking Kilby deep into the competition.
Paton opened the scoring as EK defeated Gretna 3-1 in the previous round and on Saturday he was a thorn in the Anvils’ side again, grabbing the breakthrough goal in Saturday’s 2-0 league win at K-Park.
That’s now 12 goals in all competitions for the Irish striker, but with the Lowland League title all but gone – EK are 16 points off the summit – the Scottish Cup is the only thing keep their season alive.
And 19-year-old Paton is desperate for his side to turn what has been a nightmare season so far into one that will live long in the memory.
East Kilbride have gone as far as the last 16 in the country’s flagship competition, famously facing Celtic at the Excelsior Stadium in Airdrie back in 2016.
“This game can be big not just for the team, but for the town,” Paton stressed.
“We can put East Kilbride on the map again if we can get through. If you get into the fourth round, maybe the fifth or sixth round, that would be huge for everyone.
“At this stage you either want to get through to face a big boy like a Celtic or Rangers for an experience point of view, or you want a team you feel you’ve got a really good chance against, so you can get into the next round.
“I’m more ambitious. Against a Celtic or Rangers, there’s obviously a big gulf in skill, but I want to see how far we can get in the Scottish Cup.
“There’s been crazier things in football than a team like East Kilbride getting to the fifth or sixth round, so I want to see us go as far as we can.
“It’s been playing on everyone’s mind. The last couple of weeks have been building towards this and we know it’s a chance to turn our poor start around and make the season into something great.”
If EK are to get a step closer to repeating that success of 2016, they must negotiate their way past a Formartine United side who have taken care of Lowland League opposition already this season.
United beat Gala Fairydean Rovers in a replay to progress to this tie and Kilby travel to Aberdeenshire with caretaker boss Jim Paterson at the helm, following Stuart Malcolm’s surprise move to League One Forfar Athletic earlier this month.
The managerial upheaval doesn’t appear to have affected EK, who have enjoyed back-to-back wins under the interim boss.
And Paton reckons Paterson has made an instant impact.
He said: “Jimmy’s great. Our confidence took a hit because we had some shock defeats and we wondered if it was going to be like that all season.
“But we’ve turned a corner mentally and that says a lot about us. It shows everyone has bought into Jimmy.
“He’s definitely made a difference and I 100 per cent back him. The way we are playing now, we are pressing people, moving it quicker and we look a lot better as a team.
“I’m playing wider now, I’m taking a risk at staying up.
“We are counting on our defence to get the ball back and, when we do, we are going at teams and not holding back.
“I just want us to improve and I think we are getting better.”
