Tranent relish Stirling Albion challenge in Scottish Cup third round draw
The Foresters Park side swept aside Lowland League opponents Broomhill on Saturday in Alloa, winning 2-0 thanks to a goal in either half from left-back Rutherford and midfielder Ben Miller to ensure their place in Sunday’s cup draw.
With Championship clubs in the hat, ambitious Tranent will see a trip to Forthbank as a winnable tie against a club they hope to be competing against on a regular basis in a few years time.
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Hide Ad“They are doing well in the league, they are sitting second in League Two, so it will be a free hit for us,” said Rutherford. “We will go there and enjoy the occasion without any pressure on us to win, we can just go there and enjoy it, see what happens and we can only try our best. All the pressure will be on them.
“Home or away it’s good to be involved in these kind of games, it doesn’t really matter where they are.
“It’s an ambitious club Tranent, so hopefully it’s a wee look into the future, hopefully that’s where we end up at some point. That’s the aim for the club, to try and get to that level.”
Rutherford struck the opener after 17 minutes following a training ground corner-kick move which was the work of coach Craig Sives. The move didn’t entirely go to plan with Matthew Knox’s flag kick played to Euan Greig who scuffed his shot, but it landed kindly for Rutherford to fire in.
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Hide AdSubstitute midfielder Miller secured the win when he won stole possession midway inside the home half and ran on through one-on-one with Broomhill goalkeeper Jamie Smith, before finishing coolly to spark wild scenes in front of an impressive travelling support.
Rutherford added: “We deserved the win, the game should have probably been over by half-time. They came into it in the first 15 minutes of the second half and we had to ride the storm a bit, they had a couple of chances, but we managed to see it out and get the second goal at the right time to kill the game.
“The fans were brilliant. It’s a good club, everyone backs you and tries to help the club in the best way, it’s a real community club. You are well looked after at Tranent so it’s good to give something back as players, it was good to celebrate with all the fans at the end.”
Elsewhere, Dunbar United and Lothian Thistle Hutchison Vale fought out a 1-1 draw with Errol Douglas netting a late equaliser to take their second round tie to a replay at Ainslie Park this Saturday after Jamie Devlin had netted against his former club from the penalty spot. A home tie against Edinburgh City is the reward for the victors. Preston Athletic’s Scottish Cup chapter is over for another year as they lost 2-0 at home to Auchinleck Talbot after playing over 60 minutes with ten men.
