2010 Scottish Cup final

2010 Scottish Cup Final

Event	2009–10 Scottish Cup
Dundee United Ross County 3 0
Date	15 May 2010
Venue	Hampden Park, Glasgow
Man of the Match	Craig Conway (Dundee United)
Referee	Dougie McDonald
Attendance	47,122
Weather	Sunny
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The 2010 Scottish Cup Final was the 125th final of the Scotland's most prestigious football knockout competition, the Scottish Cup. The match took place on 15 May 2010, ^[1] at Hampden Park, Glasgow and was contested by first time finalists Ross County and 1994 winners Dundee United. Craig Conway scored a brace as Dundee United ended a wait of 16 years to win the Scottish Cup for the second time in the club's history. ^[2] The match was the first final since 1938 in which both teams came from outwith the Central Belt. ^[3]

Background

Dundee United had previously reached the Scottish Cup Final eight times, winning only one of them, while Ross County were making their first ever Scottish Cup final. Ross County join the list of lower division sides who have reached the final in the last five years, Gretna in 2006 and Queen of the South in 2008. Dundee United and Ross County had played each other only four times before, with United winning the last three. All of their encounters had been in the League Cup, Ross County won the first game at Victoria Park on 19 August 1998, 2–0 after extra time, their next encounter came almost exactly a year later on 18 August 1999 at Tannadice Park when United won 3–1. Eight years after their last encounter they met again at Tannadice where United got a 2–1 win. They then played each other earlier in the 2009-2010 season with United winning 2–0 at Victoria Park.

Route to the final

See also: 2009–10 Scottish Cup

Ross County

Round	Opposition	Score
Third round	Berwick Rangers (h)	5–1
Fourth round	Inverurie Loco Works (h)	4–0
Fifth round	Stirling Albion (h)	9–0
Quarter-final	Hibernian (a)	2–2
Replay	Hibernian (h)	2–1
Semi-final	Celtic (n)	2-0

Ross County entered in the third round, playing their first match against Third Division side Berwick Rangers. In rounds four and five, Ross County scored a total of thirteen goals, first against non-league Inverurie Loco Works, then facing Second Division side Stirling Albion. Their quarter-final match was their first against an SPL side, and they took Hibernian to a replay, which they won with a goal in the 90th minute. In their semi-final at Hampden, they faced Celtic and defeated them 2–0, booking their first appearance in the final of the Scottish Cup.

Dundee United

Round	Opposition	Score
Fourth round	Partick Thistle (a)	0–2
Fifth round	St Johnstone (a)	0–1
Quarter-final	Rangers (a)	3–3
Quarter-final replay	Rangers (h)	1–0
Semi-final	Raith Rovers (n)	2–0

As a member of the SPL, Dundee United did not enter until the fourth round. Their fourth round game was against First Division side Partick Thistle and fifth round game was against SPL side St. Johnstone. In the quarter-final, United took the defending champions Rangers to a replay at Tannadice which they won 1–0. In the semi-final they faced another First Division team in Raith Rovers, who they beat 2–0.

Ticketing

Dundee United sold more than 20,000 tickets for the match up to the end of April and have asked the Scottish Football Association for another 5,000 tickets. Ross County president Roy McGregor expects 20,000 supporters to attend the final, after they sold the initial allocation of 11,000 tickets in just three days. Another batch of 5,000 was received from the SFA and all expect to sell out. ^[4]

European qualification

The winner automatically qualifies for the play-off round of the 2010–11 UEFA Europa League. Because Dundee United had finished in a Europa League spot in the SPL, Ross County would only have qualified had they won the final. Since Dundee United won, the remaining Europa League spot was allocated to Motherwell, who finished fifth in the SPL. ^{[5] [6]}

Team news and build-up

It was confirmed on 11 April 2010, that Dundee United's Paul Dixon would miss the final after he sustained a broken foot in the semi-final win over Raith Rovers. ^[7] Dundee United's Darren Dods also missed the final after being ruled out with a cartilage injury. ^[8]

Dundee United manager Peter Houston let former captain Lee Wilkie lead the team out for final. The defender was forced to retire at the age of 29 earlier in the season after being plagued by knee problems. ^[9]

On 5 May 2010, Ross County announced that they had abandoned plans for a training camp in Spain because of the latest volcanic ash cloud. They were due to fly from Glasgow but, with airport closures and the expected traveller backlog, the club decided to stay in Scotland and prepare for the final. ^[10]

Match

Summary

Dundee United dominated the match, but for an hour were unable to make a breakthrough, with interventions from Ross County defender Alex Keddie twice rescuing his side when United had goal scoring opportunities in the first half. ^{[3] [11]} United finally scored on 61 minutes when David Goodwillie picked up a clearance from County's Goalkeeper Michael McGovern and lobbed the ball over him and into the goal from 25 yards out. ^{[3] [11]} Craig Conway then scored twice in the final quarter of the match to ensure United's second Scottish Cup win. ^{[3] [11]}

Details

15 May 2010

15:00

Dundee United	3–0	Ross County
Goodwillie 61' Conway 75', 86'	Report

Hampden Park, Glasgow

Attendance: 47,122

Referee: Dougie McDonald

Dundee United

Ross County

GK 1 Dušan Perniš RB 2 Mihael Kovačević  83' CB 3 Andy Webster (c) CB 18 Garry Kenneth LB 19 Seán Dillon LM 6 Craig Conway RM 14 Danny Swanson  74' CM 15 Prince Buaben CM 16 Morgaro Gomis ST 9 Jon Daly ST 25 David Goodwillie  78' Substitutes: GK 13 Steve Banks DF 27 Keith Watson  83' MF 8 Scott Robertson  74' MF 12 David Robertson  78' ST 10 Danny Cadamarteri Manager: Peter Houston

GK 1 Michael McGovern RB 2 Gary Miller CB 5 Scott Boyd CB 6 Alex Keddie LB 3 Scott Morrison RM 7 Michael Gardyne  77' CM 4 Jimmy Scott  79' CM 10 Richard Brittain (c) LM 11 Iain Vigurs ST 8 Andrew Barrowman ST 9 Steven Craig  52' Substitutes: GK 18 Joe Malin DF 14 Stuart Kettlewell MF 15 Paul Lawson  52' ST 12 Paul di Giacomo  77' ST 16 Garry Wood  79' Manager: Derek Adams

MATCH OFFICIALS Assistant referees: Francis Andrews Fourth official:

MATCH RULES 90 minutes. 30 minutes of extra-time if necessary. Penalty shoot-out if scores still level. Five named substitutes. Maximum of three substitutions.

Match statistics

	Dundee United	Ross County
Goals scored	3	0
Total shots	11	4
Shots on target	7	3
Ball possession	58%	42%
Corner kicks	4	2
Fouls committed	13	18
Yellow cards	2	2
Red cards	0	0

References

1. "Scottish Cup Round Dates" . Retrieved 18 April 2010.^{[ permanent dead link ]}
2. "Conway the cup hero at Hampden". ESPN Soccernet. 15 May 2010. Archived from the original on 23 October 2012. Retrieved 10 August 2010.
3. Robertson, Forrest H. C. (2014). How the Cup Was Won. The Scottish Cup Final Story. Kirkcaldy: PM Publications. p. 103. ISBN   978-0-9534682-7-0.
4. Spence, Jim (29 April 2010). "Scottish Cup finalists want more tickets". BBC Sport . BBC. Archived from the original on 3 May 2010. Retrieved 6 May 2010.
5. Scotsman newspaper
6. Harris, Andy (21 April 2010). "European qualifying clarity for cup final teams". BBC Sport . BBC. Archived from the original on 29 April 2010. Retrieved 6 May 2010.
7. "Dundee United's Paul Dixon to miss Cup final". BBC Sport . BBC. 13 April 2010. Archived from the original on 16 April 2010. Retrieved 6 May 2010.
8. "Darren Dods to miss Cup final for Dundee United". BBC Sport . BBC. 7 May 2010. Archived from the original on 12 May 2010. Retrieved 12 May 2010.
9. "Lee Wilkie touched by Dundee United Cup final gesture". BBC Sport . BBC. 12 May 2010. Archived from the original on 15 May 2010. Retrieved 12 May 2010.
10. McDaid, David (5 May 2010). "Ash ruins County's Cup final trip". BBC Sport . BBC. Archived from the original on 9 May 2010. Retrieved 12 May 2010.
11. Watson, Mike (2014). Greatest Games Dundee United. Durrington: Pitch Publishing. p. 202. ISBN   978-1-90962-635-5.