Spartans head coach James Craigen was delighted to get the first victory of his tenure as the League Two side edged past Lochee United 2-1 in the Scottish Cup second round.

The 35-year-old took up the reins earlier this month and a first-half brace from striker Marc McNulty, one from the penalty spot, earned the Englishman his first win of his short spell at the helm.

The Lowland League East outfit were no pushovers, however, and Craigen was relieved to hear the full-time whistle at Thomson Park.

"I'm delighted to get the win and into the hat for the next round," Craigen said afterwards. “Delighted we won the game as it was a really tough fixture, with the conditions howling wind and rain. Lochee are also a good team and they made things difficult for ourselves. We told the players beforehand it was going to be a battle out there and we had to stand up to that first and foremost and then show a bit of quality.

"We started brightly, got the first goal, and played some nice attacking football. The question I had to the players at half-time was can we be a bit better off the ball? No matter what the conditions are like, coming away to a lower league opponent in the cup, a team who are on a good run of form, was always going to be difficult.

"Two really good goals and he (McNulty) was probably really unlucky not to get a third with the chance in the second half so I know he'll be disappointed not to get his hat-trick. But I'm delighted Marc got on the scoresheet because he has that quality that we all know."

Elsewhere, Edinburgh City also progressed to the third round after a comprehensive 4-1 win over League Two rivals Kelty Hearts.

There were four different goalscorers for the Citizens with Tommy North, Innes Lawson, Murray Aiken, and Keir Foster all on target at Meadowbank.

Manger Michael McIndoe said: "It was an excellent performance. We were slick again, I think the rain probably really helped us, but there were some brilliant combinations. We were deservedly 2-0 up at half-time. Trying to problem solve against us is really difficult. If you're a midfielder playing against us, you are getting pulled all over the place, so well done to my guys because first half they were absolutely excellent.

"We changed it second half a little bit, but I think that was important. We were a bit more counter-attacking, had five or six breakaways and score another two goals. I'm happy scoring four but disappointed conceding the goal. I think they only had one shot on target. But the team is starting to gel nicely, but more importantly the work off the ball was fantastic. It's important now we keep going and keep pushing.

"When we're playing at home like that, I think we are unstoppable. We had four different goalscorers. It doesn't matter if it's league or cup, we expect to win."

Meanwhile, Lowland League East leaders Tranent exited the competition after a 2-1 defeat to league Clydebank.

The hosts found themselves two up at Holm Park before Euan Greig reduced the deficit for Robbie Horn's men with little more than 20 minutes remaining. However, the East Lothian side were unable to find an equaliser.

"They were probably more in the ascendency in the first half with a couple of opportunities with us playing into the wind," Horn said. "So I thought we'd seen it through and we'd have the chance to pen them in in the second half. But then probably one of the most bizarre things I've ever seen happened with us coming out after half-time and having to play against the wind again in the second half! It was mental. The direction completely changed.

"We created opportunities in the second half, went through on the goalkeeper and we maybe should do a wee bit better. But I thought the players, to a man, were different class. There were a lot of questions asked after last week about character and resilience, but I thought we showed that in abundance. They were really tough conditions with playing into the wind the whole game.

"We just couldn't get enough pressure on towards the end of the game with us being stuck down towards our own corner rather putting pressure on them defensively.

"We're really disappointed to be out of the cup but Clydebank are a really good side. We're back to league business this weekend and that's the standard, the character and resilience we need to be showing week in, week out."