Shane Sutherland savoured being Brora Rangers’ Scottish Cup hero in just his third appearance after more than two years out injured.
The experienced attacker came off the bench and scored a stoppage time winner as the Cattachs defeated Cumnock 2-1 at Dudgeon Park in the first round.
Sutherland suffered an anterior cruciate ligament injury playing for Inverness Caledonian Thistle against Arbroath in May 2022.
A year later the 33-year-old was released by the Caley Jags while still trying to recover and following an operation paid for by him and his family the ex-Elgin City and Peterhead player joined Brora this summer.
Sutherland making his mark
He made his first appearance on September 18 against Wick Academy and scored last weekend in defeat to Deveronvale, before netting against Cumnock.
Sutherland said: “Personally scoring last week against Deveronvale meant a lot, but we lost the game.
“To come on and make an impact and score the winner on this occasion was great.
“It was 28 months since I’d played football until I came on against Wick.
“I did my ACL playing for Inverness, got my operation and things were OK but then I broke down twice doing the rehab.
“Then I got released by Caley Thistle, I don’t hold grudges, but it was difficult getting released when I was still doing rehab.
“But I got my head down and did as much as I could myself without working with a physio every day like at a full-time club.
“I’m very thankful to Steven Mackay and Brora for taking a risk on me because nobody knew how I would react to training and games.
“At some points during the last two years I wasn’t sure if I’d make it back so I’m delighted to have done it.
“Mentally it was hard, but my son Lewis is seven and football daft and he wants to see me play.
“I was committed to trying to come back. Even after getting released I wasn’t going to walk away from football.
“I needed another operation so I went to London and paid for an operation with the help of my family and thankfully it worked.”
Match action
In a cagey first period Brora had the best chance when, following a rapid counter-attack, George Robesten’s cross from the left fell for Tony Dingwall, but he was thwarted by a good block from goalkeeper Blair Currie.
Early in the second period Allan Mackenzie and Cameron Chalmers failed to hit the target from good positions for the visitors from Ayrshire.
After an hour Brora broke the deadlock. Sutherland, who had barely been on the pitch two minutes, was taken out inside the box by Darren Brownlie after playing a pass to Dingwall.
Although the eyes of many people watching – including irate Cumnock boss Stephen Swift, who was sent off – were drawn to the ball and the subsequent tackle on Dingwall referee Keiran Traynor awarded the penalty for the challenge on Sutherland.
Jordan MacRae then found the bottom right corner from the spot.
Cumnock rallied and Cattachs goalkeeper Cammy Mackay made a tremendous stop at point-blank range to deny Dylan Dykes.
Then in the 78th minute Brownlie’s header from a Luke Watt corner came off the underside of the crossbar with visiting claims that the ball had crossed the line falling on deaf ears.
On 84 minutes the West of Scotland Premier Division side did equalise when Joseph McKee curled a fine 20-yard free-kick into the left corner.
However, Brora finished strongly and in the first minute of stoppage time Tom Kelly crossed from the right and Sutherland’s excellent looping header found the top left corner.
Manager’s verdict
Brora manager Steven Mackay said: “I’m glad to get through. It was a pretty even game, we knew it would be a tough game and we lost our way a little bit.
“We allowed them back into the game and it was a great free-kick. At that point they were in the ascendancy, but after that I thought we had our best spell in the game.
“I’m delighted for Shane because it’s been a long journey for him, you could see by his celebrations how much it meant to him.
“It was a nice moment for him and for us to get us through to the next round when in my view we probably didn’t do enough to win the game.
“Cup football is never straightforward, there are moments in games where you need a bit of luck and we got our fair share.”
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