Lothian Thistle tee up a tie with Lochee United in Scottish Cup

Lothian Thistle boss Ryan Harding set his sights on Lochee United after the Saughton-based club thrashed Wigtown and Bladnoch 5-0 to make it through to the Scottish Cup second preliminary round.
Sean Wringe, left, struck a double inside 15 minutes for Lothian ThistleSean Wringe, left, struck a double inside 15 minutes for Lothian Thistle
Sean Wringe, left, struck a double inside 15 minutes for Lothian Thistle

Hutchie will travel to the Dundee Junior outfit in the next round after they comfortably disposed of South of Scotland League club Wigtown at Broxburn Athletic’s Albyn Park - the tie switched to ensure the match got underway after Saughton Enclosure was ruled unplayable last weekend.

Harding, who replaced Raymond Carr at the helm at the end of last season, was pleased with how easily they saw off their visitors considering several first-team players were absent, he said: “Cup football, at the end of the day it is all about getting through to the next round. The game was done at half-time and in the second half you could quite clearly see the tempo dropped.

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“This week we had 16 at training but only about nine took part. It was a really young squad, we had four boys from the 20s come in and two started [Aaron Bathgate and Darren Ormiston], and both of them did brilliant. Young Louis Signorini came on with 40 minutes to play and young Fletcher [Hendry] who has stepped up from the 20s last year, he is only 16.

“The next round will be a step up from Saturday’s match, Lochee are a right good Junior team. They’ve got a few ex pros, they’ve got a good set up and with home advantage they will fancy their chances.”

Lothian were rampant in the opening 45 minutes as they racked up a 4-0 lead at the break. Striker Sean Wringe struck a double inside 15 minutes, his first goal finding the top corner from the edge of the box before he knocked in at the back post from captain Connor McGregor’s corner-kick.

Right-back Dylan Moore made it three inside half an hour with an exquisite finish high into the roof of the net, before Alexander Cunningham completed the first-half scoring, showing composure to send Wigtown’s goalkeeper Arron Patterson the wrong way when one-on-one. Hendry added a fifth late in the second half when he side footed Cunningham’s cutback into the back of the net.

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Lothian are unbeaten so far, as Harding continued: “That’s us played four competitive games, the first two games we drew away from home then we beat St Andrews at home. We are undefeated in four and that’s two wins back to back with two clean sheets, so it’s just basically building on that and getting a bit of momentum.

“I have knocked back things in the past because I didn’t think it was the right fit. This came along and I just think with the way they’ve been, it’s a successful team and they’ve done well. Last year, you ask any of them, they will be disappointed where they finished but it’s a good chance for them this year to kick on and do something. It will take time, I think we were left with five or six lads from last season so it is pretty much a whole new squad. It’s not only a whole new squad, it’s a new philosophy with the things we are trying to do. We are looking to bring in a couple more, I have said that to the lads, I think we are still one or two away but at the moment I am happy.”

Lothian Thistle: Livie, Moore, Bathgate, Hendry, Crawford, McGregor, Ormiston, Smith (Signorini), Wringe (McLure), Cunningham, Docherty

Wigtown and Bladnoch: Patterson, Cluckie, Hall, Richardson, Rennie (Holmes),Hamlin, Dargie, McColm, McClorey, Miller, McCulloch