Muirkirk have been kicked out of the South Challenge Cup after fielding an ineligible player during Saturday's first-round win.
The Burnside Park men had progressed to the second round of the competition following a 2-1 victory over Kello Rovers.
However, Dillan Duddy – who scored the winner and had set up 'Kirk's first goal – was subject to a one-match ban.
The forward had been sent-off for Carluke Rovers in their 6-1 defeat to Cambuslang Rangers in the first round of last season's competition.
A meeting of the cup committee assessed the incident with the end result being Muirkirk's disqualification and Kello subsequently advancing to face Royal Albert in round two.
In a statement issued after proceedings, Muirkirk held their hands up and admitted they had made a mistake.
The club said: "Due to an administrative oversight, we unfortunately fielded a player on Saturday who was under suspension from the South Region Challenge Cup after being sent-off in the competition last year at his previous club.
"We were made aware of this at around 8pm on Saturday evening and immediately alerted the Scottish Football Association of our error and called Kello Rovers FC, to firstly apologise for the error, and assure them that we would assist any SFA disciplinary panel in any way we could.
"This evening, the SRCC competition committee met to discuss the case and, with our agreement, have deemed the club to have breached rules 9.1 & 9.3. As a result, we have been disqualified from the competition and Kello Rovers will progress to round two to face Royal Albert.
"Again, we wish to reiterate our apologies to everyone concerned and wish Kello Rovers good luck moving forward in the competition."
Kello praised Muirkirk for their gracious handling of the affair in their response last night.
The Nithside Park outfit stated: "We understand mistakes happen and would like to thank Muirkirk for their honesty and wish them all the best for the season ahead."
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