ON THE ROAD finds Darvel seeking stability ... two years after that glorious night when they chased a dream by beating the Dons
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Darvel 2 Johnstone Burgh 3. It is merely 23 months since Darvel beat Aberdeen in the Scottish Cup, yet the trail for the club since has had its trials. John Gall, a major backer and purveyor of the Killie pie, has stepped away from the club, though his celebrated meat and pastry products form a constant gift to club coffers through his continuing generosity.
![[Darvel fans enjoy Saturday's fifth-round clash with Johnstone Burgh in the Junior Cup]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/12/15/23/93177329-0-image-a-2_1734304275213.jpg)
In budget terms, though, the years of plenty are history in this patch of Ayrshire. Darvel sit bottom of the West of Scotland Premier League, albeit with games in hand over every other side in the division. To illustrate the changing fates of football, the Ayrshire team face a battle to stay in the top division of the sixth tier in Scottish football, while Aberdeen players who were defeated on that famous January night in 2023 went on to win man of the match in a Champions League tie (Liam Scales for Celtic) and another progressed to La Liga for more than £6million (Bojan Miovski to Girona).
![[Supporters Caroline McIntyre and Derek Steven got engaged two weeks ago at the club]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/12/15/23/93177305-0-image-a-3_1734304489177.jpg)
The fates of football are intriguing to chart, if impossible to predict. There are somecertainties, however. Resilience at clubs is found in the work of volunteer fans. The Darvel story resounds with this humble trait amid the glitter of astonishing pieces of silverware that sit on the bar in a hospitality suite.
![[Darvel and Johnstone Burgh in action in the fifth-round cup clash]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/12/15/23/93177363-0-image-a-4_1734304672505.jpg)
Darvel may have finished last season with the news of a massive benefactor stepping away, but they also picked up the Scottish Junior Cup and the West of Scotland Cup. Both sit in front of the massed crowd of pint swillers and pie munchers as the club prepares to meet Johnstone Burgh in the fifth round of the Scottish Junior Cup.
![[Fans shout encouragement as the teams go head-to-head in the Junior Cup]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/12/15/23/93177325-0-image-a-5_1734304714771.jpg)
