2001 Scottish Challenge Cup Final

2001 Scottish Challenge Cup Final
Event 2000–01 Scottish Challenge Cup
Airdrieonians Alloa Athletic
First Division Second Division
2 1
Date 14 October 2001
Venue Broadwood Stadium, Cumbernauld
Man of the Match Mark Roberts[1]
Referee Mike McCurry[1]
Attendance 4,548[2]

The 2001 Scottish Challenge Cup Final was played on 14 October 2001, at Broadwood Stadium in Cumbernauld and was the 11th staging of the final in the history of the tournament. It was played between Airdrieonians and Alloa Athletic of the First and Second Divisions respectively. Airdrieonians emerged winners after defeating Alloa Athletic 2–1 to win the tournament for the second consecutive year, also being Airdrieonians last honour before going into liquidation in 2002.

Route to the final

Airdrieonians

Round Opposition Score
First round Queen of the South (h) 2–0
Second round Albion Rovers (a) 4–1
Quarter-final Clydebank (a) 2–1
Semi-final Brechin City (h) 1–1 (a.e.t.)
(4–3 pens)

The first round draw brought Queen of the South to face Airdrieonians at the Excelsior Stadium for the second consecutive season[3][4] with the home team emerging 2–0 victors.[4] The second round was an away game at rivals Albion Rovers with Airdrie producing a 4–1 win[4] to progress to the quarter-finals. Just like the previous season Airdrie were drawn against Clydebank in the quarter-finals[3][4] and again emerged winners with a 2–1 victory.[4] The semi-final draw paired the club with Brechin City at home and it took penalties to separate the sides with The Diamonds winning 4–3 after a 1–1 draw after extra time to progress to the final.[4] Airdrieonians reached the Scottish Challenge Cup final for the third time, and second consecutive season since winning the 1994 final against Dundee and defeating Livingston the previous season to win the 2000 final.[3]

Alloa Athletic

Round Opposition Score
First round East Stirlingshire (a) 1–0
Second round Inverness Caledonian Thistle (h) 3–2 (a.e.t.)
Quarter-final Stranraer (h) 4–3 (a.e.t.)
Semi-final Clyde (a) 1–0

Alloa Athletic were drawn against East Stirlingshire away from home in the first round at Firs Park[5] and produced a 1–0 victory[4] over the club. The second round draw saw The Wasps drawn against Inverness Caledonian Thistle[4] whom they defeated on penalties in the 1999 final,[6] with the game being decided in extra time again with Alloa Athletic emerging 3–2 winners after a 1–1 draw after 90 minutes.[4] Another home game was drawn in the quarter-finals with Stranraer providing the opposition which saw Alloa Athletic win in extra time for a second consecutive game by winning 4–3[4] to progress to the semi-finals. The opposition provided was Clyde away from home with Alloa Athletic winning 1–0[4] to reach the Scottish Challenge Cup final for the second time after their 1999 triumph.

Pre-match

Analysis

Airdrie and Alloa both played two games at home and two away each. In the process Airdrieonians scored nine goals and conceded three whilst Alloa Athletic also scored nine but conceded five. However, Alloa Athletic had kept a total of two clean sheets, both away from home, compared with Airdrie's one clean sheet. In Alloa's two games at Recreation Park it took extra time on both occasions before the club emerged winners. One of Airdrieonians' games had gone to extra time but then penalties before a winner was declared. This was Airdrieonians' third time competing in the Scottish Challenge Cup final,[1] whilst holding a 100% record after winning both the 1994 and 2000[3] finals. Alloa Athletic were appearing in the final for the second time in the club's history since defeating Inverness Caledonian Thistle on penalties after a 4–4 draw in the 1999 final.[6] On the road to that final Alloa Athletic had knocked out Airdrieonians in the second round at the Excelsior Stadium.[6]

Match

October 14, 2001
15:00
Airdrieonians 2 – 1 Alloa Athletic
Coyle  76'
Roberts  85'		 Report Evans  90'
Broadwood Stadium, Cumbernauld
Attendance: 4,548
Referee: Mike McCurry

Teams

AIRDRIEONIANS:
GK 1Scotland Allan Ferguson
MF 2 Republic of Ireland Paul Armstrong
DF 3 Scotland Craig McPherson
DF 4Scotland Sandy Stewart
DF 5Scotland Allan McManus (c)
DF 6 Scotland Kevin James
MF 7 Scotland Lee Gardner  73'
MF 8Scotland Neil MacFarlane
FW 9 Republic of Ireland Owen Coyle
MF 10Scotland Stuart Taylor
FW 11 Scotland Mark Roberts
Substitutes:
FW 12Scotland Robert Dunn  73'
FW 14 Scotland Colin McDonald
DF 15England Darren Beesley
MF 16Scotland Stephen Docherty
GK 17 England Neil Bennett
Manager:
Scotland Ian McCall
ALLOA ATHLETIC:
GK 1Scotland Derek Soutar
DF 2Scotland Andy Seaton
DF 3Scotland Gregg Watson
DF 4Scotland Steven Thomson
DF 5Scotland Keith Knox  79'
DF 6Scotland Craig Valentine
MF 7Scotland James Fisher  72'
MF 8Scotland Ian Little
FW 9Scotland Richard Walker  57'
FW 10Scotland Gareth Hutchison
MF 11Scotland Ross Hamilton
Substitutes:
MF 12Scotland Harry Curran  79'
FW 14England Gareth Evans  57'
MF 15Scotland Martin Christie  72'
MF 16Scotland William Irvine
GK 17Scotland Jim McQueen
Manager:
Scotland Terry Christie

References

  1. 1 2 3 Airdrie retain Challenge Cup, BBC Sport. 2001-10-14. Retrieved 2011-06-13.
  2. ↑ Scottish League Challenge Cup Final Results - 2001/02, ESPN Soccernet. Retrieved 2011-06-13.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Scottish League Challenge Cup 2000/01, Soccerbase. Retrieved 2011-06-12
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Scottish League Challenge Cup 2001/02, Soccerbase. Retrieved 2011-06-12.
  5. ↑ Match: East Stirlingshire v Alloa Athletic, ESPN Soccernet. Retrieved 2011-06-12.
  6. 1 2 3 Scottish League Challenge Cup 1999/00 - Final, Soccerbase. Retrieved 2011-06-12.
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