Spartans progressed to the 3rd round of the Active Nation Scottish Cup today with a 4-1 victory over Fraserburgh at Bellslea Park. Spartans goals came from man of the match Donal Henretty (2), Main (o.g.)and Alex King.

The draw for the 3rd round takes place on Wednesday.

A great fight back at Rosewell today saw Spartans keep the pressure on a Dalbeattie side who could only manage a draw at home to Lothian.

Spartans started brightly but lost a goal against the run of play in the 24th minute.  Dan fouled Gormely in our right back area and Ellis put a great free kick into the far post area where Johnston out jumped Donal to score. That sparked Spartans into some prolong pressure and the equaliser came in the 30th minute when Struan powered home a header from Nicky’s right wing cross. Whitehill were reeling and 6 minutes later another run and cross from the right (this time from Omar) was knocked onto the back post by Donal but Gavin reacted quickest to score with the rebound.

Gav - keeps banging in the goals

Whitehill pushed for the equaliser in the second half which left space for us to exploit down both flanks. Because we didn’t turn any of our many opportunities into goals it was a nervous last 15 minutes. That was until the 87th minute when Omar challenged the keeper for yet another right wing cross and the ball broke to David who scored from 6 yards.

An excellent result and an excellent performance.

There are still 9 league games to go so talk of winning the league are far too premature. Let’s just concentrate on Vale in the Cup next week and the league will take care of itself. Team: Flockhart, Archibald, Gerrard, Fowlie, Hoskins, Kader, Malin, Manson, Henretty (Etale 65), Preston (Devlin 70), Walker Subs not used: Smart, Opilka, Hair

Co-manager Mike Lawson is already loking forward to this Sunday’s SFA Regional Cup Final at Meadowbank. 

“Everyone involved with Spartans is looking forward to our “big” cup day on Sunday at Meadowbank.

We are well aware the University side we line up against will have a different look and more importantly a different outlook from that we faced a couple of Saturdays ago.

When two teams meet twice in a short space of time the second result can be influenced by the mental attitude of both sets of players to the first game.

Our players will hear the “Celtic and St Mirren” parable a few times in the run up to the final.  We are also well aware that the last time the two teams met in a cup final the attending students came out on top.

I watched a resilient performance from an under strength University side against Edinburgh City on Wednesday and I’m sure the 4-1 score line to the students surprised a few. City are a good side and the Uni had to defend stoutly before picking the Meadowbank side off on the break.Another lesson for our players.

As for the availability, David Etale played in an Army side which went down 2-1 to the Navy at Fratton Park on Thursday and has another game before heading back to Edinburgh, unfortunately ruling him out of Sunday’s game. Dean Hoskins and Struan Preston are both doubtful and another first team player hopes to recover from a knock taken on Tuesday against the Seconds. We hope all three will be there and available at kick off time.

Whatever the outcome of the final, we know the game will be played in the right spirit between two kindred clubs.”

The game kicks off at 2pm.

Will Mike be celebrating on Sunday?

Spartans defeated Elgin City in tonight’s rearranged Scottish Cup third round match. Spartans went 1-0 behind in the 5th min from the penalty spot, however goals from Omar Kader and Gavin Malin gave the visitors a 2-1 lead. Elgin were reduced to 10 men in injury time as the game finished 2-1.

The match was replayed due to Elgin fielding an ineligible player. Despite the fact Spartans also played long serving Dean Hoskins as a sub when he hadn’t fully resigned all the correct paperwork, the SFA decided the game would still go ahead.

The victory means Spartans will travel to Airdrie United on January 10th.

Full Match Report – The Scotsman
Full Match Report – Daily Record

Spartans won a hard fought match against Lothian Thistle in the quarter finals of the SFA South Regional Cup. It was a match dominated by the referee rather than either side with 3 red cards, several yellows and even more unusual decisions.

Spartans started with the 3-5-2 formation they played against Coldstream last week. Henretty, Manson and Kader all returned to the starting line up. New signing Sam Woods started on the bench but wasn’t to feature in the game.

Spartans took the lead in the 23rd minute. A good pass from Danny O’Donnell set up Kader who crossed to the back post. Donal Henretty headed back towards goal where Robbie Manson rose above the Lothian defence to head home the opener and his first ever goal for Spartans.
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