Alba Challenge Cup Final - Preview
Teaser Paragraph:
This will be ICT's third appearance in the final having one win and one defeat to their name. Opponents Dundee have exactly the same record as Inverness in the various guises of this Challenge Cup for Scottish League teams below the SPL.
Inverness's first crack at the trophy fell just short as a Martin Cameron inspired Alloa Athletic, lifted the trophy after extra time and penalties in a high scoring final. Paul Sheerin scored a hat-trick in that game but still ended up on the losing side. Barry Wilson opened the Inverness scoring that day, but Alloa who were a division lower than Inverness triumphed in a penalty shoot out with the scores tied at 4-4, 3-3 after ninety minutes. Alloa went on to win 5-4 on penalties in front of 4,043 fans at the Excelsior Stadium in Airdrie. Clark, Wilson and a Cameron double secured the penalty shoot out for the Athletic. Inverness had defeated St Mirren 1-0, Hamilton 0-3, Clydebank 2-0 and Livingston 1-0 on the way to the final before being stung by the Wasps. Alloa, incidentally, had eliminated Ross County in a third round tie in Dingwall.
Teams that day on the 21st November 1999 were
Inverness CT: Fridge ,Tokely ,Hastings ,Teasdale ,McCulloch ,Sheerin ,Wilson ,Xausa (Bavidge ,104 ) ,Wyness (Glancy ,106 ) ,Charlie Christie ,Golabek (Byers ,72)
Alloa: Cairns ,Boyle ,Clark ,McAneny ,Beaton ,Valentine ,Little ,Clark (Christie ,67 ) ,Cameron ,Irvine ,Wilson (McKechnie ,65)
Subs not used Donaghy,
Our second shot at the final in season 2003/2004 proved to be more successful as we eventually overcame stubborn resistance from Airdrie United to win the trophy at McDiarmid Park by two goals to nil. David Bingham had opened the scoring with a bullet header from six yards some ten minutes before the end and, second half sub Steve Hislop killed off the game in the last minute slotting home after a mazy dribble with the Airdrie defence in tatters. 5,428 witnessed that game in Perth which brought ICT their first silverware.
Inverness CT: Brown, McAffrey, Mann, Golabek, Tokely, Duncan, Wilson, McBain, Hart (Keogh 86), Ritchie (Hislop 58), Bingham (Thomson 90).
Subs Not Used: Munro, Fraser.
Airdrie Utd: McGeown, McManus, Stewart, Scott Wilson (Ronald 73), William Wilson, Marvyn Wilson, Docherty (Singbo 64), Dunn, Vareille (McKeown 83), Roberts, Gow.
Subs Not Used: Glancy, Hollis.
This was ICT's promotion season and on the way to the final they had scored twelve goals and conceded only one, away to Peterhead, beating Ross County by a solitary goal but trouncing Raith Rovers 0-4 at Starks Park. They had opened their cup campaign by thrashing Gretna 0-5. The double was on its way.
Dundee won at the first attempt in the inaugural final in season 1990/91 by defeating Ayr United 3-2 after extra time at Fir Park, Motherwell. A Billy Dodds hat-trick won the match for Dundee after it finished 2-2 through ninety minutes. Smith and McAllister had scored for Airdrie.
Teams:-
Ayr United: D. Purdie, D. Kennedy, D. Smyth, I. McAllister, A. Gillespie, J. McCann, T. Bryce, (S. Evans), S. Johnston, A. Graham, H. Templeton, P. Weir
Dundee: T. Carson, A. Dinnie, R. Shannon, G. Chisholm, W. Jamieson, M. Craib, C. West, (J. McBride), S. Forsyth, K. Wright, W. Dodds, G. McLeod, (S. Frail)
They were not so fortunate in their next final appearance as Airdrieonians triumphed by the same scorline, this was also after extra time. The 94/95 final was the fifth Challenge Cup final and this one was in Perth. Dundee had beaten Arbroath 5-0, Morton and Dunfermline by 2-1 and knocked Inverness out on penalties after a 1-1 stalemate in the second round. Jim Duffy scored the crucial penalty that knocked Inverness out that evening. Goals by Britton, and a Hay og were not enough to prevent Airdrie lifting the trophy though, after Boyle, Harvey and Smith had scored their goals. An excellent crowd of 8,844 watched this game.
Teams that day were:-
Dundee: M. Pageaud, J. McQuillan, K. Bain, R. Farningham, J. Duffy, M. Wieghorst, G. Shaw, D. Vrto, P. Tosh, (J. Hamilton), G. Britton, N. McCann
Airdrieonians: J. Martin, A. Stewart, (Anthony Smith), P. Jack, J. Sandison, G. Hay, K. Black, J. Boyle, J. Davies, S. Cooper, P. Harvey, A. Lawrence, (Andrew Smith)
The Challenge Cup winners list is headed jointly by Airdrieonians and Falkirk with three wins apiece. Hamilton are next with two wins and Inverness, Dundee, Ross County, Queens, St Johnstone, St Mirren, Airdrie United, Stenhousemuir and Stranraer all have one win each. Ross County and Ayr United have both lost out in the finals twice, although Sundays losers will add to that statistic. The Alloa v ICT game has been the highest scoring final, and Falkirk have been the most comprehensive winners beating St Mirren 3-0 in the 93/94 final. The final has gone to extra time seven times in it's eighteen years, with penalties being required to separate the teams on five occasions. There was no competition held in 1998/99 season through lack of sponsorship.
Route to the final
Inverness have disposed of Montrose, Stranraer, Partick Thistle and Ross County on the way to the final. Two of these games required penalty shoot outs for Inverness to progress, Montrose and Partick, while we scored three goals against Stranraer without reply. In the Highland derby semi-final Inverness edged out County one nil, thanks to a fortuitous but welcome goal from Robert Eagle.
Dundee have had what appears to be a more comfortable experience including a bye in the first round, with victories away to Cowdenbeath and Stirling Albion and at home to Annan Athletic in their semi. Cowdenbeath and Annan were both beaten three nil and Stirling put up a fight before losing 2-1.
The form guide between these teams can only really be assessed on the clubs first meeting in the league this season when Inverness held Dundee to a 2-2 draw. ICT had started brightly but Dundee opened the scoring against the run of play when Harkins scored after cutting inside and shooting low past Esson from the edge of the box. Danni Sanchez quickly restored parity before Harkins once again nudged Dee ahead with the ICT defence posted missing. Lee Cox got on the end of some great foraging by Foran to complete the scoring but not the action as this turned out to be one of the best games of the season so far. So, spoils shared in the first game and here we are now on the eve of the second encounter between these sides this season. Inverness have been on a decent run recently, the only disappointment coming at the hands of local rivals County. Consistency has been the problem for Inverness with the roller coaster rides seeing some fans quick to write off ICT's chances of promotion or indeed winning anything this year. Dundee on the other hand have been bankrolled sufficiently to give them a tremendous opportunity to at last climb out of the first division. Being able to attract some of the finest SFL players to the City of Discovery has given the Dundee supporters cause for optimism. Glorious Gary Harkins and Leigh Griffiths have been instant hits with the Dee fans and former County keeper Tony Bullock is holding the No1 spot from Rab Douglas.
News from the dugouts
Inverness have eased their injury worries just in time for the final, with Eric Odhiambo making a timely appearance last weekend and scoring a superb twenty yard strike with his second touch of the ball. Jamie Duff will miss out as he will undergo surgery soon. Mr Butcher now has plenty of time to assess his squad as the Scotland assistants job has been removed from his CV. I would imagine the team which has been more settled the last few weeks will be the one that starts this Sunday, which would mean no starting place for little Jonny, who has performed well coming off the bench recently. Look out for the same 4-2-3-1 formation being used again. So that should read something like Esson in goals with Tokely, Bulvitis, Munro and Golabeck across the back four. Duncan and Proctor will provide the link from back to front and break up the Dundee attacks with Imrie Sanchez and Foran the middle men setting up Adam Rooney in the lone strikers role. It is nonetheless an attack minded formation which has seen Inverness become the leagues top scorers within the last month. Terry Butcher may see Dundee as a different proposition though and may well adopt a more cautious approach. The latest from Mr Butcher is that we have no fresh injury worries with a full squad to select from.
Dundee will have to do without Paul McHale after he suffered a groin injury during the turgid draw with Queen of the South last weekend. Maros Klimpl has undergone surgery and the Slovakian international will definitely miss this one. Cowan is doubtful, which should see Lauchlan retain his place in defence. Brian Kerr is making good progress and could return to the squad after his ankle injury. Chris Casement is back after u21 duty with Northern Ireland and will be included in the squad. Former ICT favourite Richie Hart may get a start after impressing Jocky Scott in recent games. Ex County forward Sean Higgins who scored a double against Airdrie a fortnight ago could make it difficult for the manager to ignore him.
Tm4tj prediction
Basing my prediction on the first game between these sides I can't separate the teams. Inverness have upped their game recently but Dundee are still five points ahead in the league. This game could go all the way to penalties and that's how I see it, although both teams have potential match winners in their respective squads. Eric Odhiambo could come off the bench along with Jonny Hayes and they could be key men for Inverness, while Leigh Griffiths and Gary Harkins need to be watched closely by the sometimes unreliable ICT back four.
There is one thing firmly in our favour this weekend. We are deemed to be the away team, and will be playing in our white away strip, using the away dressing room and travelling by bus to the game for a couple of hours. What better omen could we have asked for, an away day in the fair city of Perth.
On that basis, I'll stick with my penalty shoot out prediction, so it could be squeaky bum time all round, and penalty stopper Ryan Esson to become the ICT hero.
By
Guest in Previews 2009-10 ·
- 0 comments
- 544 views
