Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Dale Gillespie says Brora Rangers will quickly put Scottish Cup exit behind them as promotion play-offs loom

Dale Gillespie
Dale Gillespie

Brora Rangers midfielder Dale Gillespie says the Cattachs will not dwell on their Scottish Cup exit as they push for an even greater prize through the pyramid play-offs.

Steven Mackay’s men were eliminated from the competition after going down 3-1 to Stranraer after extra-time on Saturday.

It brings their memorable cup run to an end, having defeated last year’s finalists Hearts in the previous round.

With Brora having last week been declared Highland League champions after only three games, the Scottish FA have confirmed they will face Lowland League winners Kelty Hearts in an attempt to win promotion.

Steven Mackay’s men were denied the chance to contest the pyramid play-offs last season.

The two sides will face each other in a two-legged tie on Saturday, April 24 and Saturday, May 1, with the winners hoping to face the bottom League Two club for a place in the SPFL.

Having been denied the chance of promotion last season, Gillespie says his side can look forward to their long-awaited opportunity.

Gillespie said: “We just got told about the play-offs at the end of the week, so that’s a massive thing for us.

“They are probably bigger games than this one (the Scottish Cup defeat) was to be honest.

“This game especially was a bonus – especially after the Hearts game. We never expected to be playing on Saturday.

“We should have done better than we did, but the Kelty games are the ultimate goal.

“We have got to prepare properly and look forward to the two games against Kelty.

“I think we have earned the right. Obviously some people are not happy about the league being called after three games, I can understand that.

“If you look over the last two seasons, when you spread it out it is the same result – us and Kelty have been top of our leagues.

“I don’t think anyone can complain too much.”

Brora’s Scottish Cup ties against Hearts and Stranraer are the only competitive matches the Sutherland outfit have played since January 11, however, Gillespie is confident his side will be ready to face their Fife opponents.

The 31-year-old added: “It definitely helps playing these games, but days like Saturday prove we have still got a bit to go.

“We have got a bit of experience as well as the younger boys, but I think the older boys should maybe have helped the younger boys more.

“We have got a lot to learn for the Kelty games.

“We have just had our Covid testing done, so we will be able to train this week – probably Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday as normal.

“It will take a couple of days to recover, especially for myself and a couple of the other boys. It took a lot out of us, but we will be ready in three weeks time.”

Brora led for much of the tie against the Blues following Gillespie’s first-half penalty, however, James Hilton’s goal straight from a corner forced the game into extra-time just two minutes from the end.

Gillespie rued the late setback, but remained upbeat after the match, with the former Caley Thistle midfielder adding: “It was a tale of two halves with the wind. In the first half we were probably the better team, but we then clung on a bit until the end and they scored direct from the corner kick.

“We didn’t play well in the second half, and it was the same in extra-time. I can’t complain to be honest.

“In the 90 minutes we were OK, but as we went into extra-time tiredness definitely became a factor.

“That would be the case at any time in the season though, so I’ve got no complaints about the result.

“The timing of the goal is never good, but we didn’t react very well to it, and they scored early in extra-time. We kind of shot ourselves in the foot.

“We will never forget the Hearts game. For the likes of myself who are getting on in their career, the likelihood is we might not get another chance to play a team like that.”