East Lothian sides ready to begin Scottish Cup adventure

Dunbar United, Haddington Athletic, Musselburgh Athletic and Preston Athletic will fly the flag for the county in the Scottish Cup, ahead of Tranent joining the victorious East of Scotland Football League (EoSFL) sides in the next round.

Dunbar United travel to Kilmarnock to face Bonnyton Thistle, while Musselburgh Athletic face a shorter trip to Penicuik Athletic.

Elsewhere in the second preliminary round, Haddington Athletic and Preston Athletic both have West of Scotland Football League (WoSFL) opposition, with former Junior heavyweights Auchinleck Talbot and Irvine Meadow visiting the county.

Dunbar enjoyed a memorable run in Scotland’s top cup competition last term, knocking out Vale of Leithen, Edinburgh University and League Two’s East Fife before taking the lead against League One Alloa Athletic en route to eventual defeat.

Dunbar United (black and white) picked up their first three points of the season with victory over Penicuik Athletic ahead of a trip to Bonnyton Thistle (Image: Garry Menzies)

Kevin Haynes and his side will head west on Saturday to take on Bonnyton Thistle, who sit 13th in the WoSFL Second Division.

The Seasiders' manager felt that the excitement remained from last season’s cup adventure.

He said: “It is probably different from your regular cup competitions.

“There is a larger scale of opposition that you could potentially draw.

“Obviously, there is no glass ceiling in terms of the level of teams.

“You could play the very best in the country and it is very unique and brings that buzz about it.

“The players want to do it again. They have come out and said they thoroughly enjoyed the cup run last year.

“Playing against senior teams, getting to test yourself against league sides – they want to do that again.”

Musselburgh Athletic (blue) make the short trip to Penicuik Athletic (Image: Newsquest)

Musselburgh also enjoyed a cup run to remember last season.

Olivebank welcomed television cameras as Liam Burns’ side took League Two's Clyde to extra time before ultimately going down 3-2.

The manager said: “It just shows what a big competition the Scottish Cup is.

“It was like a cup final leading up to the Clyde game.

“It had a really good feeling about it and just shows people that clubs at our level take it very, very seriously and want to go as far as they can.”

Saturday brings a trip to Montgomery Park for Burgh for the third time in five years in the competition.

Their opposition come into the tie without a manager after Lewis Coult's unexpected departure following Saturday’s 2-1 defeat at Dunbar.

Burns said: “It was surprising.

“I only know Lewis through being up against him and we played them twice last season when he was in charge.

“It was definitely surprising and they have had a good start to the season.”

Haddington Athletic welcome Auchinleck Talbot to Millfield (Image: Newsquest)

Meanwhile, Haddington will be hoping that home advantage proves decisive when they welcome 14-time Scottish Junior Cup winners Auchinleck.

Manager Scott Bonar said: “We have not had an easy draw yet – Darvel, Deveronvale, Formartine United, Brechin City [in previous years] – all quite difficult ties.

“Even St Andrews last year, they were flying.

“It is a game you want to test yourselves in.

“We have had a right difficult start to the season and played four of last season’s top five.

“We’ve had Linlithgow Rose in a cup, Auchinleck Talbot now and we play Dunbar too.

“That is why you put the hard work in – to play these games.

“The team will definitely come out of it for the better.

“They have been raising their standard every week.”

Preston Athletic (red) have home advantage against Irvine Meadow (Image: David Wardle)

Elsewhere, Preston come into the cup tie against Irvine Meadow without co-managers Paul Currie and John Daly, who departed the club following a 5-0 home defeat to Arniston Rangers.

First-team coaches Ruairidh Fleming and Reece Cochrane will be assisted by club captain Craig Innes and goalkeeping coach Craig Pennycuick in preparing for the game.

Fleming told Courier Sport: “We want to get as much of a reaction and be positive.

“We know we can get a result, although the season has not started well, we are confident with the squad we have got.

“We are really, really positive and the opportunity for myself and Reece to manage in the Scottish Cup is a great opportunity.

“We will remain focused with our feet on the ground and get the work done this week.”

Irvine Meadow sit third-bottom of the WoSFL First Division following relegation from the Premier Division last season, and come into the cup contest with one win from their six league encounters.

Fleming, who has been heavily involved in the club’s under-20s, said: “We are fully aware of what the opposition is like.

“I’m 100 per cent confident we have got a squad good enough to compete with really any of the ties we could have pulled in this round.

“Reece and Craig will be the exact same.”