The over 50s set off from Kirkcaldy this morning heading to Glasgow for this year’s Glasgow Cup with an unusually full squad. The group ahead of us included: Glenbuck &Douglas Valley, who we haven’t played before; Drumchapel United Reds, who we last played in last year’s Scottish Cup; Arbroath, from the East Premiership; Park Villa, who we played in this year’s Scottish cup and The Ants, a late addition from the St Anthony’s programme who were filling in for a late pull out.

Back row: Willie Carroll, Stephen MacCrimmon, Davey Ramsay, Ian (Chillo) McMillan, George Lindsay, Garry Cochrane
Front row: Haig Hutchison, Kev Henderson, Charles Doherty, Ritchie Malcolm

We sit out the first two games which see Drumchapel Utd beat Arbroath 1-0 and The Ants beat Park Villa 6-1.
And so to our first game against Glenbuck & Douglas Valley. We were desperate not to continue our competitive form with a slow start however we found ourselves struggling to score. Mainly due to the exploits of Glenbuck’s goalkeeper who was playing out of his skin. However a loose defensive ball was pounced on in the seventh minute by Kev and he shot past the keeper for a 1-0 lead. Within a minute we were 2-0 up when the team pressed hard on the defense allowing Kev to again fire past the keeper. We were unable to stretch the lead however due to some great saves and finished the game winning 2-0.

The next group game saw Arbroath beat Park Villa 4-0.
We were next up against Drumchapel Utd. The game was pretty unremarkable except for a penalty given to Drumchapel for a foul in the penalty zone. However the Drumchapel penalty taker fired his shot wide of Garry’s right hand post. Both teams pushed for a winning goal but accuracy was in short supply in this game and it ended 0-0.

Our next game is against Arbroath who currently play in the league above us. However before we played them The Ants beat Glenbuck 4-0. Our game against Arbroath went as our games against them normally go. Tight! Both teams cancelling each other out. So much so that when Haig played a corner in from the right for Kev to score in the eleventh minute Arbroath equalised within a minute with a cracking shot from midfield. However with time running out in the last minute Stevie sets off after a ball down the right wing and cuts it back to Davey standing almost on the penalty spot who puts the ball past the keeper for a 2-1 victory.

There are two more games before we have a break for the refs. Glenbuck & Douglas Valley beat Park Villa 1-0 and The Ants beat Drumchapel 2-1. This leaves St Ants, who on closer inspection are St Anthony’s first team not a “filling in” team, lead the group on 9 points with ourselves in second on 7 points and Drumchapel on 4.

After the break Arbroath beat Glenbuck 2-0 and then we were up against “The Ants”. Things start badly for us against the team we lost on penalties to in the Scottish Cup semi as an Ants player loses his marker in the first minute and finds the goal to lead 0-1. In six minutes “The Ants” double their lead and in the tenth minute it’s 0-3 as a deflected shot flies past Garry. Despite fighting back Raith were unable to beat an inspired Ants’ keeper and lost 0-3.

We were now in a precarious position in our group. Three points ahead of Drumchapel we had one game to play whereas they had two games. We both had a goal difference of zero so whatever goal difference they racked up in their two games we had to match or better in the final group game.

The next game is Drumchapel against Park Villa. Drumchapel run wild scoring six unanswered goals to run out 6-0 winners. Next up “The Ants” beat Arbroath 2-0 before Drumchapel face Glenbuck. At this point we’re hoping for a Glenbuck victory or at worse a small loss to give us a chance in the final group game. However Drumchapel score three without reply to win 3-0 meaning we have to beat Park Villa by nine clear goals to tie Drumchapel on points and goal difference!

The game starts well with a passing move on the right in the first minute ending with the ball at Kev’s feet and he coolly slots it past the keeper. A minute later it’s Kev again and our lead has doubled. Despite pressure and shots, some actually on target, there are no further goals and it looks like our progress out of the group will stall. However we got a glimmer of hope in six minutes when Kev gets his hat trick. In eight minutes a long ball out of defence from Ritchie finds Kev who passes inside for Willie to blast the ball past the keeper for 4-0. In eleven minutes it’s Kev again as a defensive blunder presents him with an opportunity which he takes. 5-0. Another two goals in the twelfth minute, yes from Kev, take us to 7-0 with three minutes to get three goals. In thirteen minutes Davey puts the ball in the net followed by another Kev goal (his seventh in this game!!!) leaves us needing just a goal to go through. In the last minute of the game Stevie finds himself in space with only the keeper to beat but instead of shooting he passes and the ball is deflected out for a corner. The resultant corner comes in and Ritchie is on hand to slot it past the keeper for our tenth and our exit to the quarter final.

The quarter final saw us play against Giffnock Reds. A tight first 4 minutes ends with us losing the ball in midfield and Giffnock scoring. In 10 minutes we draw level when a pass from Chillo finds Kev who beats the keeper. The parity doesn’t last long as a Giffnock player gets beyond the defense and fires past Garry in the Raith goals. However in 13 minutes Stevie MacCrimmon finds Chillo with an inch perfect pass and parity is restored and we head to penalties.
We start the penalties with the first attempt and of course Kev scores. Garry saves the first Giffnock penalty and we have a 1-0 lead.
Chillo steps up next and scores as does the Giffnock player 2-1.
Next up Stevie’s shot is saved but Giffnock score 2-2.
Ritchie’s shot is also saved but so is Giffnock’s 2-2.
Willie steps up for our fifth penalty and scores. Garry saves Giffnock’s final penalty and we go through to our third semi final in three competitions this year.

The semi final against Hearts was a close affair. Both team’s defenses cancelling out the other’s attacks, both keepers pulling off saves and both team’s strikers failing to find the back of the net. Just as we’re heading for penalties the ref calls a third running infringement on Raith and awards a penalty to Hearts. Hearts score the penalty with almost the last kick of the ball and progress to the final.