The Lost City (Cup)

[HibeeJibee]

East of Scotland Cup Final
Linlithgow Rose 2-2 Gala Fairydean Rovers (3-4p)
at Ferguson Park, Rosewell




Gala won an enthralling and astonishing City Cup Final - the greatest witnessed this century - before a bumper crowd at sunny Rosewell of 500 to 600 (its largest in decades). They looked down and out: behind in 30 seconds, 'keeper sent off before HT for felling opponent outside the box, then going 2-0 down on the hour when Rose's attacker hooked a through ball over onrushing sub stopper.

However a penalty with 20mins left gave hope and saw Linlithgow - who hit bar and blew numerous chances either side of HT - move onto the defensive. Pandemonium ensued when the Fairies headed an equaliser on cusp of FT, and threatened a winner in stoppage time. Penalties it was and remarkably - despite making 3 saves - Linlithgow somehow snatched defeat from the jaws of victory blasting 4 over.

Gala lift the EOS Cup for the first time since 1988; indeed their first silverware of any kind since 1995. Linlithgow fail to unite Qualifying and Cup titles nor break a West Lothian hoodoo dating back to 1910.
 

 

 

Edited March 26, 2023 by HibeeJibee

[19052012]

How was the pitch today? Seems to have been a lot of concern about the playing surface prior to the match.

[Blowin In the Wind]

Have to say gutted for Lithgae and their fans today. But happier days for you are just around the corner so stay strong

[Carmel Wafer]

14 minutes ago, 19052012 said:

How was the pitch today? Seems to have been a lot of concern about the playing surface prior to the match.

For a pitch for a final, truly embarrassing. Goalmouths like a field with no grass in them and the rest of the pitch very uneven. If you like pump the ball up the park football, perfect.  Suspect it was reflected by 5 pens going over the bar.

Why Hearts see this as a suitable venue for its b team and to develop players god only knows.

 

 

 

[grinderbrokeyourhearts]

38 minutes ago, 19052012 said:

How was the pitch today? Seems to have been a lot of concern about the playing surface prior to the match.

Was very bobbly and heavy but the ground staff had clearly tried their best when the weather has been dreadful for a month.

No excuses as same for both teams. 

[newcastle broon]

30 minutes ago, Carmel Wafer said:

For a pitch for a final, truly embarrassing. Goalmouths like a field with no grass in them and the rest of the pitch very uneven. If you like pump the ball up the park football, perfect.  Suspect it was reflected by 5 pens going over the bar.

Why Hearts see this as a suitable venue for its b team and to develop players god only knows.

 

 

 

 Grass parks in March will all be in peak condition of course.

4 pens missed  from the same team. 

Soor grapes, dry yer eyes min, I'd be  be sore after being 2 up against 10 men and losing.

If anything wasnt the park,  look to your management bringing subs on when ye were in complete control of the game. 

Edited March 26, 2023 by newcastle broon

[Marooneye]

Just now, newcastle broon said:

 Grass parks in March will all be in peak condition of course.

4 pens missed of course from the same team. 

Soor grapes, dry yer eyes min, I'd be  be sore after being 2 up against 10 men and losing.

If anything wasnt the park,  look to your management bringing subs on when ye were in complete control of the game. 

He's not a Rose fan.

Park was fine from my viewpoint.  Only ourselves to blame.

[Carmel Wafer]

2 minutes ago, newcastle broon said:

 Grass parks in March will all be in peak condition of course.

4 pens missed of course from the same team. 

Soor grapes, dry yer eyes min, I'd be  be sore after being 2 up against 10 men and losing.

If anything wasnt the park,  look to your management bringing subs on when ye were in complete control of the game. 

Awfy defensive.

Rose thought they had it won after the second goal. The high 5s and smiles from those subs said it all. 

[newcastle broon]

1 minute ago, Carmel Wafer said:

Awfy defensive.

Rose thought they had it won after the second goal. The high 5s and smiles from those subs said it all. 

I thought better jump before 19/5/12 does 

Think everyone thought they'd won it then to be fair. I certainly never seen the comeback coming but subs definitely changed the game. 

Fair play to Gala though for never giving up. 2 0 doon and kept battling. 

[searchers1963]

2 hours ago, HibeeJibee said:

East of Scotland Cup Final
Linlithgow Rose 2-2 Gala Fairydean Rovers (3-4p)
at Ferguson Park, Rosewell




Gala won an enthralling and astonishing City Cup Final - the greatest witnessed this century - before a bumper crowd at sunny Rosewell of 500 to 600 (its largest in decades). They looked down and out: behind in 30 seconds, 'keeper sent off before HT for felling opponent outside the box, then going 2-0 down on the hour when Rose's attacker hooked a through ball over onrushing sub stopper.

However a penalty with 20mins left gave hope and saw Linlithgow - who hit bar and blew numerous chances either side of HT - move onto the defensive. Pandemonium ensued when the Fairies headed an equaliser on cusp of FT, and threatened a winner in stoppage time. Penalties it was and remarkably - despite making 3 saves - Linlithgow somehow snatched defeat from the jaws of victory blasting 4 over.

Gala lift the EOS Cup for the first time since 1988; indeed their first silverware of any kind since 1995. Linlithgow fail to unite Qualifying and Cup titles nor break a West Lothian hoodoo dating back to 1910.
 

 

 

Is there no extra time In this cup?

I think they should go straight to pens in league Cup and King cup. As a lot of teams in the King don't have lights and would open upto more options for fixtures

[HibeeJibee]

14 minutes ago, searchers1963 said:

Is there no extra time In this cup?

Quirk of format - on occasion SFs & Final have been played Sat>Sun as a 4-team mini-tournament, during preseason/international weekends/etc., and 240mins within 24hrs would be excessive.

 

57 minutes ago, grinderbrokeyourhearts said:

Was very bobbly and heavy but the ground staff had clearly tried their best when the weather has been dreadful for a month. No excuses as same for both teams. 

 

46 minutes ago, newcastle broon said:

 Grass parks in March will all be in peak condition of course.

 

44 minutes ago, Marooneye said:

Park was fine from my viewpoint.  Only ourselves to blame.

Park wasn't perfect but was wholly satisfactory.

Edited March 26, 2023 by HibeeJibee

[tamthebam]

I thought the Fergie Park pitch was fine - I've seen a lot worse pitches in my time (including Netherdale before they went plastic fantastic)

Lithgae must have got to the top of the League winning on worse- maybe a case of soor plooms (Gala folk will get that allusion)

@The Mantis reckoned the ghost of Sir Peter was putting off the Lithgae penalty takers from behind the goals 

[HibeeJibee]

Gala Fairydean Rovers celebrate historic cup success | Peeblesshire News

 

Edited March 26, 2023 by HibeeJibee

[UpInTheStand]

 

[searchers1963]

9 hours ago, UpInTheStand said:

 

Good highlights 

[Dicko23]

Went as a neutral and it was a good game. Thought that Rose should have been home and dry at half time. Even in the 2nd half they missed a few. 

Mark Stowe needs a goal. It just isn't falling for him just now. 

Thought that when Lithgae scored the 2nd and then made the subs and took off Sneddon Stowe Etc off after that and that's when the game turned and it was like nerves took over after Gala got one back.

Felt for the Rose keeper as he kept them in the shoot out after the shambles of the penalties taken.

Well done to Gala though who after going down to 10 men stuck in and kept it close and rallied in the last 20 Min. Also held thier nerve in the shoot out. 

[Crow]

19 hours ago, tamthebam said:

I thought the Fergie Park pitch was fine - I've seen a lot worse pitches in my time (including Netherdale before they went plastic fantastic)

Lithgae must have got to the top of the League winning on worse- maybe a case of soor plooms (Gala folk will get that allusion)

@The Mantis reckoned the ghost of Sir Peter was putting off the Lithgae penalty takers from behind the goals 

A certain Alex Jack Cup final at Netherdale springs to mind I don’t think there was a blade of grass left at the end !!! 

[Spyro]

19 hours ago, tamthebam said:

@The Mantis reckoned the ghost of Sir Peter was putting off the Lithgae penalty takers from behind the goals 

"But the penalty spot told me to f**k off and questioned my sexuality Gaffer! Honest!"

[Auld Heid]

Unfortunately (fortunately) I wasn't there on Sunday.

A lot said on our substitutions, however Herdy often makes such changes and this has often worked.

The real problem was our game management at 2-0 and that's the bottom line.

Congratulations to Gala.

[HibeeJibee]

Dramatic penalty shoot out victory for Gala Fairydean Rovers | Border Telegraph

Linlithgow Rose opened the scoring in the first minute when captain Connor McMullan headed home from a free-kick. And things got worse for Gala just before the break when keeper Ruaiidh Adams was shown a straight red card for a foul on Mark Stowe just outside the area.

Then in the 57th minute Alan Docherty doubled Linlithgow’s lead with a deft lob and the East of Scotland Cup looked destined for West Lothian. But Martin Scott’s men refused to accept defeat and in the 67th minute  Danny Galbraith pulled one back for the penalty spot after he had been brought down. 

From then on it was all Gala and with three minutes remaining local lad Ciaran Greene headed home a Quinn Mitchell cross from the left, sparking wild celebrations both on and off the pitch.

No extra time was played and the game went to a penalty shoot-out. Linlithgow sent four penalties over the bar while their keeper Lewis McMinn saved three Gala efforts. Then with the score tied at 3-3 substitute Ciaren Chalmers stepped up to fire the winning penalty into the net and create history.



Gala Fairydean Rovers celebrating first cup win since revival in 2013 | The Southern Reporter

Gala Fairydean Rovers are celebrating winning their first-ever silverware in their current incarnation, this year’s East of Scotland Cup.
 

The Galashiels club went about pulling off that historic win the hard way against Linlithgow Rose on Sunday, however. They went behind almost straight from kick-off at Rosewell’s Ferguson Park, opposition captain Connor McMullan scoring with a header from a Mark Stowe free-kick, and conceded again just ahead of the hour mark, to an Alan Docherty lob, having been reduced to ten men by a red card for goalkeeper Ruairidh Adams by that point for a foul on Stowe just ahead of half-time.

The Borderers were reluctant to admit they were as good as beaten, though, and captain Danny Galbraith got them back in the game with a 67th-minute penalty after being fouled in the area. Ciaran Greene then added an equaliser three minutes ahead of the final whistle, heading in a Quinn Mitchell cross, to take the match straight to a penalty shootout, no extra time being played. East of Scotland Football League premier division table-toppers Linlithgow fired four of their spot-kicks over and the West Lothian side’s goalkeeper, Lewis McMinn, saved three of Rovers’ attempts prior to substitute Ciaren Chalmers netting from the spot to win it for player-manager Martin Scott’s side by 4-3.

Scott was delighted to have made history with Rovers, describing Sunday’s win as one of the highlights of a senior football career stretching back almost 20 years and including spells at Hibernian and Livingston.

“It probably eclipses anything I’ve ever done as a player and I’ve been fortunate to have had a decent career, I’d like to think, and have earned some medals out of it, scored some big goals and played in some big games,” said the 37-yeat-old. “As a manager, you see it from a different perspective and you see the amount of effort and time that people put in behind the scenes.”

Scott said he’d called on his team at the interval to raise their game or risk leaving Midlothian empty-handed and had got the reaction he wanted. “At half-time, we spoke to the guys and we questioned them a wee bit – were we competing enough for a cup final? – but in the second half, without being disrespectful, it was total domination,” he said. “I think we were the team in the ascendancy, although Linlithgow looked really threatening. They’ve got some really good players and I think they’ll go on to win their league.

“From our perspective, I’m delighted. It’s one of the best feelings I’ve ever had in football.”

The East of Scotland Cup is the first silverware won by his team since their creation in their current form in 2013 by merging two previous town clubs, Gala Fairydean and Gala Rovers, reversing their split into two teams in 1907, 13 years on from their original formation. Fairydean had won that same cup twice before, in 1961 and 1988.Sunday’s victory also saw Rovers make amends for their 3-1 defeat in 2022’s East of Scotland Qualifying Cup final, staged last May in Penicuik, by Rose, now looking set to join them in the Scottish Lowland Football League next season.

Martin Scott: "One of best feelings I have ever had in football" | Border Telegraph

A PROUD Gala Fairydean Rovers boss Martin Scott says that winning the East of Scotland Cup yesterday ‘eclipses’ everything he did as a player.

Gala came back from 2-0 down with only ten men to draw level with Linlithgow Rose at Ferguson Park in Rosewell on Sunday and his players held their nerve to win the penalty shoot-out. Scott enjoyed a successful career with Ross County, helping the Highland team to the Scottish Cup final by scoring against favourites Celtic in the semis. He also had a spell with Hibs and Livingston in Scotland’s top-flight before moving to Gala. After taking over from former manager Neil Hastings who left the club to join Premiership Livingston where he is currently assistant to manager David Martindale, Scott has led the Borders club to their equal highest ever points tally in the Lowland league with four games remaining. He also guided the team to the East of Scotland Qualifying Cup final which Gala lost to Sunday’s opponents Linlithgow Rose in May.

Speaking after the final whistle he said: “It probably eclipse anything I ever done as a player. I was really fortunate, I had a decent career and earned some medals out of it, scored some big goals and played in some big games, but as a manager you see it from a different perspective. “When you see the amount of effort and time people put in behind the scenes and I did say that before the game. “I said that we would need absolutely everyone if we are going to win this cup today. “And at half time we spoke to the guys, and we questioned them a wee bit and asked whether we were competing enough for a cup final. “And I think in the second half, without being disrespectful, I think it was total domination. I think we were the team in the ascendency, although Linlithgow were really threatening.  They have some really good players and I think they will go onto to win their league. “But from our perspective I’m delighted. It’s one of the best feelings I have ever had in football.”