Scottish Cup: Can Dunbar United claim another league scalp?

Dean Whitson scored the only goal of the game from the penalty spot against East Fife at New Countess Park in the second round (Photo: Kenny Mackay)

They have already written a new chapter in the club’s history by reaching the third round of the Scottish Cup for the first time. Beating East Fife at New Countess Park in the last round brought fans of the Seasiders to tears – now boss Kevin Haynes hopes they can kill off the Wasps to keep the fire burning on their cup dreams.

“The last round against East Fife it was a historical day as we achieved something that no one else had ever done at the club,” said Haynes.

“It was a special day which I will remember, particularly for the club and what it meant to people. There was an older fan, Tommy Foggo, who has followed Dunbar for 60 years or so, and he had tears running down his cheeks at full-time because he had witnessed something that is quite historical.

“Tomorrow, I feel the reward is beneficial for the players because they are 90 minutes away from potentially playing against a Scottish Premiership team.

“When you grow up as a kid, you want to play at a Ibrox or Parkhead, or Easter Road or Tynecastle, whatever your team might be. We realistically have the chance of doing that now.

“These are all experiences that the guys should – if they were to win – relish or have it for the rest of their lives.”

With Dunbar’s South Challenge Cup tie against Cumbernauld Colts postponed last week, former Berwick Rangers striker Haynes seized the opportunity to watch Alloa in the flesh as they went down 3-0 to Edinburgh City at Meadowbank.

Haynes is adamant Alloa are the favourites, but he insists all the pressure is on the visitors, and reckons they will be feeling apprehensive ahead of tomorrow’s trip to East Lothian.

“I am confident enough in my players, we know how we want to play,” continued Haynes. “Alloa are probably a better side on paper, well they should be, but it’s a free hit for us. There is no pressure on us, the pressure is on Alloa and particularly on Alloa’s new manager [Andy Graham].

“He’s come into the job, he’s had one game which they were beaten in the league by Edinburgh City, so the last place I imagine he would like to go as a new manager is a potential banana skin away to a non-league side who have already defeated a league side. He will know that we have that in our capabilities.

“I’ve played in games when I was a heavy favourite playing for a league side against a non-league side, and I’ve been on the other end. When you are the bigger team there is probably a little apprehension or maybe a wee bit nerves thinking ‘what if we were to get beat’/

“With our game being postponed last week, I managed to get along to Meadowbank. That was the biggest benefit of the game being postponed. Would I rather our players played? Probably, but a week’s rest isn’t going to do us any harm. We’ve trained really well this week, and we don’t look like we have lost any sharpness or any momentum in our training sessions, our intensity has been really high.”