Banana Skin Dodged

At the fourth time of asking, the Scottish Cup 3rd Round tie against Tranent FC eventually got underway some eight miles further down the A1 at the neutral venue of Millfield Park, Haddington. Constant monsoon conditions over the last fortnight saw this tie postponed three times due to a waterlogged pitch. However, Millfield Park, less than ten miles away, has been deemed fit for purpose and the game kicked off eleven days late under the floodlights in Haddington in front of what was left of an original sell out crowd from 29th November.

Former Hibs player Danny Handling was on the bench for Tranent with Cammy McKinley and Harry Girdwood spearheading the Belters attack. Scott Kellacher was taking no chances and had a strong bench to back up a solid starting XI as he looked to avoid the banana skin. Chanka Zimba and Liam Sole were up front. Returning from injury, Billy Mckay and Ross Millen were on the bench with Alfie Bavidge and Luis Longstaff.

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At last, the long awaited kick-off got underway and Liam Sole was first to fire a warning shot across the boughs as he fired wide in the third minute after cutting in from the right. The first action for either keeper saw Kelby Mason save from Calum MacLeod a couple of minutes later before Sole was denied by the keeper. Paul Allan was next to have a go after quarter of an hour from a free kick with Mason dealing well with the efforts so far, tipping this one round the post. From the resultant corner, Danny Devine went close to opening the scoring. An early change for Tranent with Euan Greig replacing Robbie McIntyre through injury. A minute later Mitchell Robertson opened the scoring after Adam MacKinnon's initial effort was saved and Robertson was on hand to fire into the net. Tranent responded with a hat-trick of corners and Ben Miller fired wide. Inverness never heeded that warning and in the 25th minute Sam Jones levelled the tie ramming the ball into the net from two yards at the second attempt. Work to do here, banana skin back on! MacLeod shot over after half an hour but ten minutes before the break, Chanka Zimba shot low into the net to restore the visitors lead after great work by MacLeod in winning the ball and pushing forward before feeding the big striker to shoot home. Robertson shot over as the interval approached. Tranent were far from out of this one and Jones shot wide as half time arrived.

HALF TIME: 1-2

No changes at the break and it was an untidy start to the second half as sleeves were rolled up and tackles were abundant. Jones had an effort blocked as the Belters looked to level the tie and at the other end Zimba and MacKinnon also saw their efforts blocked. Luis Longstaff replaced the injured David Wotherspoon on the hour. Jones missed the target again, but the chances were still coming for Tranent as well as a wee penalty shout for hand ball. The persistent Jones let fly again as did Sole just before being replaced by Alfie Bavidge. Alonge also entered the fray as we struggled to put this game to bed. A triple substitution by Tranent brought Handling, Watson and McGarry into the tie. Big save by the keeper into the last ten to keep Tranent within touching distance off a Longstaff shot plus the follow up. Always edgy when there's just a goal in it, but after four minutes of time added on it's Inverness who will play Spartans in the next round, despite another late penalty shout.

Credit to Tranent who were up for the battle and made it difficult for the Caley Jags all night. They can be well pleased with their nights work.

FULL TIME: 1-2

More match reaction to follow>>>

Mantis on CTO: We were absolutely woeful second half and Tranent never tired. They pretty well dominated the whole half. They were screaming for a penalty right at the end when Munro seemingly battered their player, but we were down the other end. It’s a win though.

The only thing that got battered was our Supporters Bus 🚍🥺

Date:  10/12/2025  Venue: Millfield Park, Haddington Attendance: 1007 Referee: Colin Steven
 
Tranent FC: 1

• Manager: Robbie Horn

• Lineup:  Mason; Young, Grigor, Bauld, Brett, Miller (Watson 73), Jones (Aitchison 89), Doan,

• McIntyre (Greig 16), McKinley (Handling 73), Girdwood (McGarry 73)

• Subs (not used):  Hayward; , Mullen, Gordon,

• Scorers: Jones (25)

• Booked: none

• Sent Off: none

Inverness CT: 2

• Manager: Scott Kellacher

• Lineup: Munro; MacLeod, Devine, Savage, Robertson,  Sole (Bavidge 70), Allan, Chalmers,

• MacKinnon (Alonge 70), Wotherspoon (Longstaff (59), Zimba

• Subs (not used): Ross; Millen, Macintyre, S Thompson, Kerr, B Mckay

• Scorers: Robertson (17), Zimba (35)

• Booked: Allan (72)

• Sent Off: none