CUMNOCK COME GOOD IN THE NICK OF TIME

THE FIN WON IT FOR CUMNOCK

Friday night saw Cumnock crowned Scottish Junior Cup winners for the third time in their history thanks to a narrow but ultimately deserved 1-0 victory over Rutherglen Glencairn.

There you are I’ve said it now, not without difficulty I should add for someone of my background,(the Glens were my first Junior club after all ???) however if anyone out there can better sum up the Broadwood Stadium joust then please get in touch?

`Punching above their weight` is an oft used cliché as is `It’s never over till it’s over ` yet while a place could be found for both to be applied by those of us tasked with describing this down to the wire showpiece (another cliché?), arguably the most telling vignette occurred with little more than a couple of normal time minutes to play and with the teams locked at 0-0.

The urgency shown by the Ayrshire side’s Jared Willet in chasing and retrieving the ball from trackside after an aimless clearance from a Glencairn defender had kicked it there was a surefire sign that he and his team mates felt the Final was still there for the winning whereas the visibly tiring Ru’Glonians, under the cosh for almost the entire second half, appeared to have already settled on concluding matters via a penalty kick shoot-out.

Willet was not the only Cumnock player showing drive and determination in spades, substitute front man Gordon Boyd was too, because why else would he, deep into added on time ,have chased down a seemingly lost cause ball played into an area of the pitch out within touching distance of a corner flag.

Nothing looked on particularly with a couple of Glens defenders breathing down his neck however Boydy cleverly turned back on himself and created enough space for a lay off back into the path of Willet whose first time outswinging cross was met with a Jordan Moore head glance taking it beyond Glens keeper Scott Law but not the far post upright however the resulting rebound spiralled back across the goal line allowing Nock midfielder Findlay Frye to demonstrate the awareness that has got him into countless goalscoring positions all season by steaming in to knock the ball home from point blank range.

His matchwinner status seemed a most appropriate payback for the experienced Fin after we learned later that he had sacrificed the first day of his own stag weekend in Malaga in order to take part in the Cup Final and he just had sufficient time to pull off and momentarily wave the black Cumnock jersey above his head before being engulfed by a sea of ecstatically celebrating teammates.

And the 31 year old ,who had netted a brace of goals in the 4-2 semi-final victory over Glenafton , put to bed initial confusion in the stands as to whether Moore’s header had actually crossed the line by gleefully proclaiming ,

“ Not a chance, it’s my goal and big Jordan knows it so he’ll just have to settle for an assist on this occasion.”

Their late in the day demise was particularly cruel on a Glencairn side that could have been excused for feeling entitled to a penalty kicks decider after putting so much into staying alive throughout a second half almost totally dominated by the Ayrshiremen.

The rank outsiders, for whom 48 years have elapsed since their last appearance on the Cup Final stage, had contributed every bit as much as their higher league opponents to an opening 45 minutes, later described as “typically Cup Final cagey”by Nock boss Brian McGinty.

There was precious little in the way of goalmouth action for the watching on 4034 crowd to get excited about as both teams nervously felt their way into a game , punctuated by an array of petty fouls and where the main talking point was centred around who was going to be the first recipient of a card when Referee George Calder dispensed with his initial approach of giving offenders nothing more than a talking to?.

Just short of the half hour mark came the answer as Glens midfielder Michael Lone incurred the Category One whistler’s yellow wrath for a trip on opponent Andy McLaughlin so right there and then one should have put the veritable mortgage on him following the mantra of so many of his men in the middle ilk by balancing the books and true to type, the name of Ryan Carnwath (Cumnock) was the next jotted down???

The growing belief among Glencairn supporters that this Final could go either way was being fueled by the combined efforts of centreback pair Mick O’Byrne and Dom McLaughlin in comfortably curtailing the threat of Cumnock’s 31 goal hitman Moore and more so when the halfway point arrived with the teams locked in a 0-0 stalemate.

Nock gaffer McGinty’s realization that his game plan wasn’t cutting it saw him replace wide midfielder James Dolan with his more target man type Graham Boyd early in the second half and the switch almost brought an instant reward after a Willet free kick was headed just wide of the upright by centreback Greg Ferry team mates.

Boyd’s introduction was making a huge difference, his willingness to show for balls played forward enabling Moore to look anything but the ordinary striker he’d been up to then and it was noticeable how the game was now almost predominantly played in Glencairn’s half other than when their own big front man Jack McIlveen would latch onto clearances upfield and ease the pressure on his defensive team mates.

To further add to Glencairn’s mounting agonies, McGinty added the blistering pace of substitute Jamie Conn to his attacking mix and he soon had the Ayrshire supporting throng singing his praises with a number of jet paced runs, one in particular should have brought a goal when he scorched past Schoneville and sent over a driven cross that Frye, from no more than a couple of yards out, contrived to sky over the crossbar when it looked easier to score.

Shorly after that glaring miss, Moore brilliantly worked his way along the byeline from the left flank only to incur the wrath of several team mates by electing to shoot for goal when a cut back was the better option.

Cumnock continued to throw everything they had at the Glens but to no avail and Broadwood’s digital clock having long since reached 90 minutes had most onlookers resigned to spot kicks until the game’s dramatic conclusion.

But even then , a valiant Glencairn urged upfield by gaffer Willie Harvey managed a last ditch attempt for parity by forcing a couple of corner kicks however Nock skipper Kyle McAusland marshalled his troops to effectively clear the danger and ensure he got to joyfully hold aloft the coveted silverware afterwards.

Beaming boss McGinty took time out from parading the trophy to his club’s supporters to sum up his thoughts

“ I feel sorry for Willie and his team to have lost in this manner but I’d be feeling a whole lot worse if my guys had not scored the goal their overall play deserved .

“The first 45 minutes was a non-affair as Cup Finals often are but Cumnock were by far the better team throughout the second half and we got there in the end though I did fear we were going to run out of time. “

GINTS AND HIS PLAYERS GIVING IT LALDY AT TIME UP

Asked whether the game’s turning point was his bold tactical change in bringing Boyd into the fray brought Gints to add.

“ We set our stall out to play a certain way but it wasn’t working and any manager worth his salt knows you cannot wait 90 minutes to ring the changes so we made them early however sometimes they work for you and sometimes they don’t”?

“ The big moments in big games is when you need big players to stand up to be counted and that’s why the Scottish Cup is coming back to Cumnock.

WEEKEND RESULTS: Clydebuilt Home Improvements.Scottish Junior Cup Final. Cumnock 1 Rutherglen Glencairn 0.

Regards

Jim O’Donnell