Gala Fairydean Rovers notch up double first by seeing off Tranent to make it to league cup final

Not only will that be the Borderers’ first league cup final ever but last Wednesday’s 2-1 semi-final win was the first time they’ve beaten the East Lothian outfit at the tenth time of asking.

Ethan Dougal scored twice for manager Martin Scott’s hosts at their Netherdale Stadium home ground, on 42 minutes and 64, sandwiching a Nick Aitchison equaliser on 47, to keep their cup run going.

Their progress to this term’s final against Cumbernauld Colts at Newtown Park in Bo’ness, near Falkirk, on Sunday, March 22, began with a 2-1 first-round home knockout of Gretna 2008 at the end of January, with Che Reilly and Danny Galbraith netting for Rovers and Sean McKenzie getting one back for their visitors from Dumfries and Galloway, and continued with wins against two top-five teams.

Hosting table-toppers Bonnyrigg Rose Athletic in February’s quarter-finals, Rovers came out on top by 2-0, their first win against the Midlothian side since 2022, thanks to goals from Lewis Hall and Reilly, to set up this week’s semi-final hosting Tranent.

That knockout of manager Robbie Horn’s visitors ended a six-match losing streak against the Belters going back to 2023, concluding with a 3-1 defeat at Netherdale in September, and a nine-game winless run dating back to 2018, their previous best result against them having been a goalless draw away in 2022.

Cumbernauld booked their place in the final with a 4-1 knockout of Linlithgow Rose at home at Broadwood Stadium on Tuesday last week.

Sunday’s final, kicking off at 3pm, will be the two teams’ third meeting of this season and the second in the space of just over a week, following 3-2 league defeats in North Lanarkshire in October and in Saturday gone’s reverse fixture in Galashiels.

It will also be Rovers’ third cup final in three years, the prior two both having been played in Midlothian.

The first was a 3-1 East of Scotland Qualifying Cup loss to Linlithgow at Penicuik in 2022 and the second was a 4-3 East of Scotland Cup penalty shootout victory against the same opponents at Rosewell in 2023 after ending open play tied at 2-2.

The former was Rovers’ first final since the creation of their current incarnation by merging Gala Fairydean and Gala Rovers in 2013 and the latter was the first trophy win for them in any form since Fairydean claimed the qualifying cup in 1995 and their amateur opposite numbers racked up a Beveridge Cup and Dudley Cup double in 2013.

Fairydean’s scorers at the weekend past visiting goalkeeper Harry Broun were Jamie McMurdo from the penalty spot on 34 minutes and Clark Bexfield on 65, with Carrick McEvoy netting the other way on seven, Thomas Horn on 85 and Danny Hatfield on 93.

That was the Borderers’ 17th defeat of the season, offset by ten wins and two draws, and it leaves them 12th in the Scottish Lowland Football League, on 32 points from 29 fixtures, ahead of a trip to third-placed Tranent next Wednesday, with kick-off at 7.45pm.