A Scottish Cup clash was delayed after supporters set off several smoke bombs before kick-off.

The referee at Forfar's match against non-league side Linlithgow Rose at Station Park in Forfar on Tuesday night was forced to delay the start of the game by five minutes.

The delay was caused by supporters using pyrotechnics in the crowd before the match. The flares and smoke bombs continued after the game got under way. However, it had to be called off when two floodlights failed.

One fan also ran onto the pitch with a flare and had to be tackled by stewards.

Linlithgow Rose released a statement after the match condemning the behaviour of some of their fans and asserting that they would be helping police with any investigation.

It came on the same day STV revealed The Scottish Professional Football League has asked for financial support from the Scottish Government for a scheme designed to tackle offensive behaviour in stadiums from next season.

Meetings have already taken place between representatives of the SPFL and the Scottish Government over a request for financial help to introduce facial recognition technology, costing up to £4m, which will be used to identify offenders.

A statement from the club said: "Tonight at Forfar a group of people purporting to be Linlithgow Rose supporters disgraced the name of our football club, our community and our town.

"These people have no place at football with Linlithgow Rose or anyone else. We apologise to our hosts at Forfar - we are aghast at what we all saw.

"The club has already started to make enquiries to identify the people involved so that we can take steps to ensure this is not repeated. If anyone has information which can help either the club or the police in investigating the disgraceful behaviour of these people, please share with us through a message on here or make contact directly with a committee member of the football club.

Whilst ultimately it is disappointing that the game could not go ahead this evening, such technical issues can happen to any football club at any time.

"We are determined there will be no repeat of the scenes tonight and will be working closely with the authorities ahead of the re-scheduled fixture.

"Club officials are fully aware that our true supporters - who came in their hundreds - have been absolutely embarrassed by what they saw at Forfar tonight.

"We are a community club first and foremost, we are rooted in the town of Linlithgow and we will always try to represent the town to the very best of our ability. Tonight some among our townsfolk let us all down very badly and we will do everything possible to ensure this doesn't happen again. As outlined above, if you can help us in any way please get in touch."