Falkirk Juniors visited Olive Bank for the first time in their short history on Saturday, bookmakers’ long odds suggesting they had little chance of reaching the second round of the East of Scotland Cup.

The cup tie, however, was of almost secondary importance to Musselburgh fans who on arrival at the ground learnt that manager Davie McGlynn would not be in charge for the match, with rumours linking him with the vacant Bonnyrigg Rose job plentiful, while an alternative suggestion was that he’d be taking up a role working with Hearts youth.

Goalkeeping coach Walter Martyniuk and kitman Allan Todd took charge of the team in McGlynn’s absence.

Falkirk arrived in East Lothian having won only one of their five opening South Division fixtures and consequently they were very much rank outsiders.

Unsurprisingly, Burgh dominated from the start, their players displaying a professional approach in spite of the day’s unexpected developments, and they went ahead in the 11th minute when midfielder Michael Hunter claimed his first goal of the season, in only his second outing after a four-game ban. A lovely through ball from Jordyn Sheerin found Hunter in space before he rounded Falkirk keeper McGlynn and slid the ball into the empty net.

The visitors weren’t ready to capitulate at this early stage, and were unfortunate to see shots from McAteer and Tinning go narrowly past the post as they pursued a quick equaliser. Their prospects looked grim, however, when Burgh went 2-0 up only 19 minutes in, Kevin McDonald finding the bottom corner with a shot from 20 yards which gave the visiting keeper no chance.

Musselburgh relaxed after their second goal and played typically composed football which saw them dominate, and they could well have had their third goal long before it did materialise after 33 minutes, top scorer Sheerin beating the keeper after turning his marker.

Sheerin could have had a second shortly afterwards but his free-kick from twenty five yards hit the post.

A fourth home goal came three minutes before the break, Jed Davie at left-back teeing up Lewis Turner, who headed in with his back to goal.

It looked simply a question of how many goals Burgh would score now, but Falkirk began the second half determined not to find themselves on the end of an embarrassing scoreline and they had one or two chances to find the net, though they couldn’t capitalise.

With half an hour remaining, however, it was the hosts who scored again to make it 5-0, Steven Thomson scoring with a terrific effort from a very challenging angle, and Sheerin then had a chance for Burgh’s sixth but was denied by McGlynn’s save.

The tie very much in the bag, Musselburgh were content to let the clock tick down without exerting themselves too much, and Falkirk grabbed a consolation goal as the 90-minute mark neared, a shot from Kerr just outside the box beating Ally Adams.

There was still time, though, for Thomson to score his second goal and make the final score 6-1 in Musselburgh’s favour.

It remains to be seen, of course, how things will develop in terms of Davie McGlynn’s future or who will replace him in the Olive Bank hot seat if his departure is confirmed in the coming days, but the focus for the players is tomorrow’s Superleague fixture at home to Broxburn Athletic.

The West Lothian outfit sit just two points behind Burgh, and contests between the pair are generally close – there seems little reason to expect anything different this time around.