Heriot-Watt boss Banji hopes Leith can do them a favour

Heriot-Watt University manager Banji Koya says he and his squad will have to become Leith Athletic fans for just one day as they bid to reach the knock-out stages of the Qualifying League Cup.

Rothesay Brandane AFC took on Eaglesham on Saturday, August 27, in their first fixture of the new season.

The students are currently sitting third in Group B – a position that would see them progress to the next phase. However, fourth-placed Tweedmouth Rangers, who Watt were beaten by 2-1 on Saturday, still have one game to spare against Leith who themselves have already secured their qualification to the next round.

The permutations of the group will see Watt qualify alongside Capital rivals Leith and Tynecastle should Derek Riddel’s men take maximum points from their clash with the Borders side. A new date for the tie 
is still to be arranged following last month’s postponement.

“Leith need to do us a favour and go and beat Tweedmouth. We’re hoping they do but it’s out of our control now, which is a shame,” Koya said.

“We can’t control what Leith do now, we’ve won two and lost two so we’ll just need to see but that’s football. We’ll be getting the black and white scarves out that’s for sure!

“We played very well against Tweedmouth on Saturday, dominated the game but just didn’t take our chances. I wasn’t disappointed because it’s still a young team we’ve got and they’re still learning.

“We’ve got Tweedmouth again this weekend in the Alex Jack Cup so it’s about rectifying those fine margins. If we can minimise some of 
the mistakes we made then I can see us getting a result this time. We were excellent down there so we don’t need to make much in the way of changes.”

Elsewhere in Group B, Leith edged out Stirling University 3-2 at Meadowbank 3G with John Ferguson, Scott Wilson and Chris Beaton all on target for the league champions.

Meanwhile in Group A, Lothian Thistle Hutchison Vale’s 6-1 victory over Coldstream puts them through as group winners having won all five of their fixtures.

The woes continued for bottom-of-the-table Ormiston, however, as they lost their fourth consecutive match with a 2-1 defeat at home to Eyemouth United.