Hearts stunned in Scottish Cup by Highland minnows

(Reuters) - Hearts suffered a shock Scottish Cup second round exit at the hands of Highland League side Brora on Tuesday.

The runaway Championship (second tier) leaders reached the final for the past two seasons but were bundled out 2-1 by a side whose league has been shut down since January because of COVID-19 restrictions.

Jordan MacRae gave Brora the lead and though Christophe Berra levelled it up late on, the hosts booked their place in the next round thanks to Martin MacLean's winner.

Brora will face League 2 side Stranraer in the third round.

"In a normal season, this would be an astronomical result, but you throw in the circumstances that surrounded this game," Brora manager Steven Mackay told BBC Scotland.

"We haven't played a game since the first week in January, we've had five training sessions and one friendly and that's it. We had no right whatsoever to win this game. I'm just so privileged to be manager of such an incredible team."

(Reporting by Martyn Herman; Editing by Toby Davis)