2003 Scottish Challenge Cup final

Football match
2003 Scottish Challenge Cup final
Event2003–04 Scottish Challenge Cup
Inverness
Caledonian Thistle
Airdrie
United
2 0
Date26 October 2003
VenueMcDiarmid Park, Perth
RefereeWillie Young
Attendance5,428
2002
2004

The 2003 Scottish Challenge Cup final was played on 26 October 2003, at McDiarmid Park in Perth and was the 13th staging of the final in the history of the tournament. It was played between Inverness Caledonian Thistle of the First Division and Airdrie United of the Second Division. Inverness Caledonian Thistle emerged winners after defeating Airdrie United 2–0 to win the competition for the first time.

Route to the final

Inverness Caledonian Thistle

Round Opposition Score
First round Gretna (a) 5–0
Second round Peterhead (a) 2–1
Quarter-final Ross County (h) 1–0
Semi-final Raith Rovers (a) 4–0

The first round draw saw Inverness Caledonian Thistle travel to Raydale Park to face Gretna with Caley Thistle emerging 5–0 victors.[1] The second round was another away game with Peterhead providing the opposition, Inverness won 2–1 to progress to the quarter-finals.[2] A home game at the Caledonian Stadium against rivals Ross County was the reward for reaching the quarter-finals, with the home side edging out the opposition to win 1–0.[3] The semi-final draw paired the club with Raith Rovers away from home at Stark's Park. Inverness Caledonian Thistle triumphed to win 4–0[4] and book a place in the Scottish Challenge Cup final for the second time after losing the 1999 final to Alloa Athletic.

Airdrie United

Round Opposition Score
First round Montrose (h) 2–0
Second round Greenock Morton (a) 2–1
Quarter-final Forfar Athletic (a) 2–0
Semi-final Brechin City (a) 2–1 (a.e.t.)

Airdrie United were drawn against Montrose at home in the first round and produced a 2–0 victory over the club.[1] The second round saw United drawn against Greenock Morton away from home at Cappielow and produced 2–1 win to progress to the quarter-finals.[2] Another away game awaited Airdrie United in the quarter-finals as they were drawn against Forfar Athletic which saw the club produce a 2–0 win and a second clean sheet of the tournament to progress to the semi-finals.[3] The opposition provided was Brechin City at Glebe Park, again away from home with Airdrie United emerging 2–1 winners after extra time.[4] Airdrie United reached the Scottish Challenge Cup final for the first time in the club's history.

Pre-match

Analysis

Inverness Caledonian Thistle scored a total of twelve goals in the rounds preceding the final whilst conceding only one goal in the process. Compared with Airdrie United who scored eight goals in total and conceded two, although only managing two clean sheets compared to Inverness Caledonian Thistle's three. Both teams played three games away from their respective homes of Caledonian Stadium and New Broomfield, whilst only playing one home game each. Inverness Caledonian Thistle reached the Scottish Challenge Cup final for the second time in its history after losing on penalties in the 1999 final to Alloa Athletic after a 4–4 draw after extra time, whereas it was Airdrie United's first time in the final under their new identity.

Match details

Inverness Caledonian Thistle2 – 0Airdrie United
Bingham 79'
Hislop 89'
Report
Attendance: 5,428
Referee: Willie Young
INVERNESS CALEDONIAN THISTLE:
GK 1 Scotland Mark Brown
DF 2 Scotland Ross Tokely
DF 3 Scotland Stuart Golabek
DF 4 Scotland Bobby Mann (c)
DF 5 Scotland Stuart McCaffrey
MF 6 Scotland Russell Duncan
MF 7 Scotland Barry Wilson
MF 8 Scotland Richie Hart downward-facing red arrow 86'
FW 9 Scotland Paul Ritchie downward-facing red arrow 58'
MF 10 Scotland Roy McBain
FW 11 Scotland David Bingham downward-facing red arrow 90'
Substitutes:
DF 12 Scotland Grant Munro
MF 14 Scotland Darran Thomson upward-facing green arrow 90'
FW 15 Scotland Steven Hislop upward-facing green arrow 58'
FW 16 Scotland Liam Keogh upward-facing green arrow 86'
GK 17 Scotland Michael Fraser
Manager:
Scotland John Robertson
AIRDRIE UNITED:
GK 1 Scotland Mark McGeown
DF 2 Scotland Stephen Docherty (c) downward-facing red arrow 64'
DF 3 Scotland Sandy Stewart
DF 4 Scotland Scott Wilson downward-facing red arrow 73'
DF 5 Scotland Allan McManus
MF 6 Scotland Willie Wilson
FW 7 France Jerome Vareille downward-facing red arrow 83'
MF 8 Scotland Marvyn Wilson
FW 9 Scotland Mark Roberts
MF 10 Scotland David Dunn
MF 11 Scotland Alan Gow
Substitutes:
FW 12 Scotland Paul Ronald upward-facing green arrow 73'
DF 14 Benin Felicien Singbo upward-facing green arrow 64'
MF 15 Scotland Stephen McKeown upward-facing green arrow 83'
FW 16 Scotland Martin Glancy
GK 17 Scotland Lee Hollis
Manager:
Scotland Sandy Stewart

MATCH RULES

  • 90 minutes
  • 30 minutes of extra time if necessary
  • Penalty shootout if scores still level
  • Five named substitutes
  • Maximum of 3 substitutions

References

  1. ^ a b Scottish League Challenge Cup round 1 Results - 2003/04 Archived 26 October 2012 at the Wayback Machine, ESPN Soccernet. Retrieved 2011-06-12.
  2. ^ a b Scottish League Challenge Cup round 2 Results - 2003/04 Archived 26 October 2012 at the Wayback Machine, ESPN Soccernet. Retrieved 2011-06-12.
  3. ^ a b Scottish League Challenge Cup round 3 Results - 2003/04, ESPN Soccernet. Retrieved 2011-06-12.
  4. ^ a b Scottish League Challenge Cup Semi-finals Results - 2003/04, ESPN Soccernet. Retrieved 2011-06-12.
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