Good runs in the Scottish Junior Cup have been commonplace for Musselburgh Athletic in the 21st century and, after a second-round victory at Blackburn United a few weeks ago, the third-round draw presented them with what appeared a very winnable tie at home to Perthshire outfit Luncarty.

Not so long ago the name Luncarty was synonymous with regular thumpings and the conceding of great quantities of goals, but over the past two or three years the situation there has changed to the extent they’ve featured in the North Division’s promotion race – nonetheless, Musselburgh were firm favourites.

Olive Bank boss Stevie McLeish named the same starting XI that lined-up for the hard-fought 3-2 win at Armadale seven days earlier – his side were seeking their fifth straight win, and a sixth successive home win. Luncarty made two changes to the team that had beaten Blairgowrie, with recent recruit Brian Carrigan, once a £250,000 Stockport County signing, one of the men missing.

It was virtually all Musselburgh from the outset – while the hosts kept the Luncarty defence busy throughout, there were 21 minutes on the clock before any action of note around Ally Adams’ goal.

The inevitable Burgh breakthrough followed on 25 minutes, Jordyn Sheerin crossing from the left for Steven Thomson to finish from 10 yards out. To their credit, the visitors defended resolutely but their cup dream suffered a further blow a minute before the interval when Thomson added his and Musselburgh’s second, lobbing the ball towards the top right corner from the edge of the 18-yard box after skipper Jackie Myles teed him up. There looked no chance of an upset now, as long as Burgh maintained their focus.

Luncarty upped their game to a fair degree after the restart and made things difficult for their hosts, and their best chance came on the hour when home keeper Adams was called upon to prevent Finlay from scoring, bringing off a good save.

With 73 minutes gone, Burgh were awarded a contentious penalty, the referee judging that Sheerin had been fouled in the box, though Luncarty strongly disagreed, opining that the big striker had fallen over the ball. Sheerin paid no heed and took the penalty himself, making it 3-0.

Four minutes later, Luncarty thought they’d scored when an Adams’ clearance hit a defender on the back and the ball in their eyes looked to have crossed the line before it was cleared – the referee, though, didn’t agree. The visitors hadn’t disgraced themselves at all, but they conceded a fourth goal with five minutes left – Burgh sub Euan Ralton’s header came back off the post and, after a goalmouth scramble, the ball fell for Brian Martin, who found the net from close range to mark his 50th game for the club with a goal.

Burgh look to maintain their current fine form when they entertain Fauldhouse United at Olive Bank on Saturday. Fauldhouse have come up to the top tier from the South Division through successive promotions and haven’t found things easy but will nevertheless provide tough opposition.

With Linlithgow Rose occupied with a cup replay, a home win would have seen Burgh hit third place in the table, but the news that Ballingry Rovers have folded, and that their results will be expunged, changes the situation slightly.