Longworth helps Queen’s through to Motherwell tie

Nov 30 2011 by Paul Thomson, East Kilbride News

SCHOOL teacher Jamie Longworth helped Queen’s Park pass their Scottish Cup test – and now he has a bus load of his pupils eager to see his next examination.

The Calderwood striker’s side beat Elgin 3-1 in their Scottish Cup third round replay on Saturday to set up a huge clash with Motherwell in the next round.

And the PE teacher admits he has been hounded by his students at Strathaven Academy both for tickets and to encourage the school to run a bus to the match at Fir Park on January 8.

Jamie revealed: “This will, without doubt, be the biggest game of my career and everyone I know is excited about it.

“Some of the boys in my S1 class have asked if the school can organise a bus for the game, but we’ll need to see about that.

“A lot of my pupils are Motherwell fans so I’ve been taking a bit of stick from some of them, saying we haven’t got a chance.

“I have been pestered about tickets since I came into school on Monday morning, but all my family and some of my mates are desperate for tickets as well so I’ve got my work cut out.

“To have come from the juniors at Kilbirnie and now there’s a chance I can play Motherwell at Fir Park is unbelievable.

“The incentive was always there on Saturday because we knew before the game who we would play if we got past Elgin.

“But we didn’t let that affect us and the boys put in a good performance to get the win.”

However, despite the banter with his pupils, Longworth is hopeful his side can cause a big upset.

He added: “We go into the game as huge underdogs and no-one is expecting us to do anything, so we can play without fear.

“Motherwell have had a great season so far and the pressure will be on them in front of their home fans, so we believe we can get a result.

“You can always dream in the Scottish Cup and it would be a dream come true if we got through.”