31 Jan 2008Brechin kicked out of cup

Brechin City have been ejected from the Scottish Cup after fielding two ineligible players in the competition.

It follows their 2-1 victory over Hamilton in the fourth round, which came after extra time in the second leg.

Brechin were found guilty of fielding two players who were not allowed to take part in the second match because they had been signed after the first.

Initially, a replay was ordered and the club was fined £10,000 after it was revealed that loan player Michael Paton was ineligible.

However, this punishment was scrapped and Brechin were kicked out of the tournament after it was discovered that Willie Dyer also should not have played.

Hamilton have now been handed a place in the fifth round where they will face Aberdeen.

"We came off the Monday result and went into training on Tuesday thinking we had no game on the Saturday," Hamilton boss Billy Reid told the BBC.

"Then we found out we were going to play Brechin on Saturday when we were out on the training pitch, and today I told the players about the new change of plan.

"Without a doubt we're ready to go to Aberdeen, even at short notice, it's been a big turnaround but we've got to look forward to it now," he added.

© Copyright