2003 Scottish Challenge Cup Final

2003 Scottish Challenge Cup Final
Event Scottish Challenge Cup 2003–04
Date 26 October 2003
Venue McDiarmid Park, Perth
Referee Willie Young
Attendance 5,428

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

26 October 2003
15:00
Inverness Caledonian Thistle 2 – 0 Airdrie United
Bingham  79'
Hislop  89' 		Report
McDiarmid Park, Perth
Attendance: 5,428
Referee: Willie Young
INVERNESS CALEDONIAN THISTLE:
GK 1Scotland Mark Brown
DF 2 Scotland Ross Tokely
DF 3 Scotland Stuart Golabek
DF 4Scotland Bobby Mann (c)
DF 5Scotland Stuart McCaffrey
MF 6 Scotland Russell Duncan
MF 7 Scotland Barry Wilson
MF 8Scotland Richie Hart  86'
FW 9 Scotland Paul Ritchie  58'
MF 10Scotland Roy McBain
FW 11 Scotland David Bingham  90'
Substitutes:
DF 12Scotland Grant Munro
MF 14 Scotland Darran Thomson  90'
FW 15Scotland Steven Hislop  58'
FW 16Scotland Liam Keogh  86'
GK 17 Scotland Michael Fraser
Manager:
Scotland John Robertson
AIRDRIE UNITED:
GK 1Scotland Mark McGeown
DF 2 Scotland Stephen Docherty (c)  64'
DF 3Scotland Sandy Stewart
DF 4 Scotland Scott Wilson  73'
DF 5 Scotland Allan McManus
MF 6 Scotland Willie Wilson
FW 7 France Jerome Vareille  83'
MF 8Scotland Marvyn Wilson
FW 9Scotland Mark Roberts
MF 10Scotland David Dunn
MF 11 Scotland Alan Gow
Substitutes:
FW 12Scotland Paul Ronald  73'
DF 14Benin Felicien Singbo  64'
MF 15Scotland Stephen McKeown  83'
FW 16Scotland Martin Glancy
GK 17Scotland 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. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Scottish League Challenge Cup Round 1 Results - 2003/04, ESPN Soccernet. Retrieved 2011-06-12.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Scottish League Challenge Cup Round 2 Results - 2003/04, ESPN Soccernet. Retrieved 2011-06-12.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Scottish League Challenge Cup Round 3 Results - 2003/04, ESPN Soccernet. Retrieved 2011-06-12.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Scottish League Challenge Cup Semi-finals Results - 2003/04, ESPN Soccernet. Retrieved 2011-06-12.

{{2003–04 in Scottish football}}