2003 Scottish Challenge Cup final

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2003 Scottish Challenge Cup final
Event 2003–04 Scottish Challenge Cup
Date26 October 2003
Venue McDiarmid Park, Perth
Referee Willie 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.

Contents

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 Thistle 2 – 0 Airdrie United
Bingham Soccerball shade.svg79'
Hislop Soccerball shade.svg89'
Report
McDiarmid Park, Perth
Attendance: 5,428
Referee: Willie Young
INVERNESS CALEDONIAN THISTLE:
GK1 Flag of Scotland.svg Mark Brown
DF2 Flag of Scotland.svg Ross Tokely
DF3 Flag of Scotland.svg Stuart Golabek
DF4 Flag of Scotland.svg Bobby Mann (c)
DF5 Flag of Scotland.svg Stuart McCaffrey
MF6 Flag of Scotland.svg Russell Duncan
MF7 Flag of Scotland.svg Barry Wilson
MF8 Flag of Scotland.svg Richie Hart Sub off.svg 86'
FW9 Flag of Scotland.svg Paul Ritchie Sub off.svg 58'
MF10 Flag of Scotland.svg Roy McBain
FW11 Flag of Scotland.svg David Bingham Sub off.svg 90'
Substitutes:
DF12 Flag of Scotland.svg Grant Munro
MF14 Flag of Scotland.svg Darran Thomson Sub on.svg 90'
FW15 Flag of Scotland.svg Steven Hislop Sub on.svg 58'
FW16 Flag of Scotland.svg Liam Keogh Sub on.svg 86'
GK17 Flag of Scotland.svg Michael Fraser
Manager:
Flag of Scotland.svg John Robertson
AIRDRIE UNITED:
GK1 Flag of Scotland.svg Mark McGeown
DF2 Flag of Scotland.svg Stephen Docherty (c)Sub off.svg 64'
DF3 Flag of Scotland.svg Sandy Stewart
DF4 Flag of Scotland.svg Scott Wilson Sub off.svg 73'
DF5 Flag of Scotland.svg Allan McManus
MF6 Flag of Scotland.svg Willie Wilson
FW7 Flag of France.svg Jerome Vareille Sub off.svg 83'
MF8 Flag of Scotland.svg Marvyn Wilson
FW9 Flag of Scotland.svg Mark Roberts
MF10 Flag of Scotland.svg David Dunn
MF11 Flag of Scotland.svg Alan Gow
Substitutes:
FW12 Flag of Scotland.svg Paul Ronald Sub on.svg 73'
DF14 Flag of Benin.svg Felicien Singbo Sub on.svg 64'
MF15 Flag of Scotland.svg Stephen McKeown Sub on.svg 83'
FW16 Flag of Scotland.svg Martin Glancy
GK17 Flag of Scotland.svg Lee Hollis
Manager:
Flag of Scotland.svg 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 2 Scottish League Challenge Cup round 1 Results - 2003/04 Archived 26 October 2012 at the Wayback Machine , ESPN Soccernet. Retrieved 2011-06-12.
  2. 1 2 Scottish League Challenge Cup round 2 Results - 2003/04 Archived 26 October 2012 at the Wayback Machine , ESPN Soccernet. Retrieved 2011-06-12.
  3. 1 2 Scottish League Challenge Cup round 3 Results - 2003/04, ESPN Soccernet. Retrieved 2011-06-12.
  4. 1 2 Scottish League Challenge Cup Semi-finals Results - 2003/04, ESPN Soccernet. Retrieved 2011-06-12.