The team standing between Brechin City and their first Scottish Cup quarter-final appearance is now Buckie Thistle after East Stirlingshire were thrown out of the competition.
The third division side had fielded an ineligible player in last midweek’s 1-0 win over the Highlanders and were shown no lenience by the SFA’s emergency committee.
Falkirk goalkeeper Michael Andrews was between the posts, but the paperwork extending his initial three-month loan period at Shire until the end of the season, which was signed in December, was never received at Hampden.
As a result, he was not registered and Buckie will now host Brechin in the fifth round a week on Saturday at their Victoria Park ground.
Glebe Park boss Jim Weir and his assistant Kevin McGowne watched the match and have had to dig out notes on Buckie that had been cast aside.
Weir explained, “I took notes on East Stirling and Kevin took them on Buckie. We didn’t think we’d need his but we do now.
“To be honest we would probably have preferred East Stirling, purely because we know more about their ground and players. They’ll be gutted, but the rules are there for a reason.
“We’ll prepare for Buckie in just the same way and we’ve still got the same chance to get to the quarters.”
An SFA spokesperson said, “Following a breach of Cup Competition rule 39.1b, East Stirlingshire have been expelled from the Scottish Cup competition.
“The club were found to have fielded an ineligible player, Michael Andrews, in the above match. The club will also lose any fourth round sponsorship monies owed.
“All misconduct decisions from the original match stand. Buckie Thistle now advance to round five.”
Buckie boss Gregg Carrol said, “We had adopted a wait-and-see policy ever since this came to light. There has been an error on the part of East Stirling and I have sympathy for them.
“This is a huge game for us and it is good that it is a home game as we have not had one of them in the cup so far. I am hoping that we can do ourselves and the club proud.”