On Saturday the over 50s returned to Glasgow Green to defend the Scottish Cup that they have held for the last three years. Three years ago they came to Glasgow Green for the day out, not expecting to win anything but hoping for a good day out and a good showing. After a slow start and some adjustment they made it out of their group and into the quarter finals. And the rest, as they say, is history. So three years later could they repeat the deed?
This year there were 17 teams in the over 50s competition split into two groups of six and one group of five. Raith found themselves in a group of six with teams from Drumchapel Utd, Hearts, Pollock Utd (B), Rossvale and Scone WFC. The top two in each group along with the two best third places going forward to make the last eight in the quarter finals.
Front row: Charles Doherty, Derek Finnie, Pete Munn, John Wylie
The first game in the groups saw Drumchapel Utd play Hearts who were runners up three years ago. The game ended with a 4-0 victory for Hearts. Next up was Pollock Utd (B) against Scone WFC. This game ended in a 1-1 draw despite Pollock being awarded a penalty in the last minutes. Scone goalie, Gary, guessed correctly and “fell” (his description) in the right direction and saved a valuable point for his team.
And so to our first game. We played Rossvale a team we previously played in the group stages of the Glasgow Life cup when both teams had effectively been eliminated. A tight game with both teams pressing and some excellent defending and goal keeping with luck not going for either team. In 9 minutes a Scott Jackson shot beat the keeper but crashed off the post and out. Two minutes later a John Cunningham shot hit the other post and stayed out. In the final minute a brilliant Scott Jackson shot was expertly saved by the keeper and the game finished 0-0.
The next game saw Drumchapel Utd play Scone. Scone ran out comfortable 3-1 winners with the Scone goalie once again “falling” the correct way and saving a penalty.
Our next game saw us play Hearts the team we beat on penalties after a 0-0 draw in the final three years ago. With Raith having five players returning from that game and Hearts having more than a few familiar faces this was always going to be a tight game. And so it proved. A rare on target shot from Willie Carroll in the seventh minute and a Steve Fleming dig in fourteen minutes were the only incidents of note apart from a wee bit of niggle between John Wylie and a Hearts defender. And so the game ended 0-0.
Next game up was Rossvale against Pollock Utd (B). Another tight game which Rossvale finally ran out 2-1 winners.
With only two points from the first two games and no goals, a quick start and a few goals were needed in our next game which was against Drumchapel Utd. And that’s exactly what happened. John Wylie took the centre and passed a short ball back to Scott Jackson. Scott struck a vicious shot goal ward which deflected off a Drumchapel player and flew past the keeper for a perfect start to the game. A minute later Scott returned the favour to John, intercepting a defensive pass and slipping the ball to John who finished well to put Raith two nil up. In six minutes a through ball found Steve Fleming in front of goal and he finished with aplomb. In eight minutes John Wylie hit the score sheet again making the keeper move first before chipping the ball over his prostrate body for four nil. Raith ended the scoring in ten minutes when John Cunningham intercepted a pass across the back and beat the keeper for five nil and keeper Pete Munn’s third clean sheet of the day.
We then had two games before the lunch break which Raith weren’t involved in which saw Rossvale beat Scone 3-2 (Gary failed to save the penalty in this one) and Hearts beating Pollock Utd (B) 4-1.
The first game after lunch saw Rossvale beat Drumchapel Utd 3-0 to take the lead in the group.
The next game for Raith was against Pollock (B) with Raith needing a win to keep up the challenge for the quarters. And what an explosive game this was. Raith kicked off trying the same tactic that worked at the start of the last game but this time to no avail. However a quick goal by Willie Carroll from a corner in two minutes started the “ball” rolling. A minute later a through ball found John Wylie and he beat the keeper for a “comfortable” two nil lead. The lead however didn’t last for long with a goal for Pollock a minute later and then a lost ball in midfield leading to another goal, tying the game. However Scott Jackson intercepted a pass in seven minutes and shot past the keeper to make it three two. In ten minutes a passing move between Steve and Scott allowed Scott to shoot past the keeper again for four two. Then in eleven minutes Scott closed out the game and earned his hat trick when he collected a pass from John Wylie and scored to make it five two.
There then was a three game wait until our last game with Hearts beating Scone WFC 5-0, Pollock Utd (B) beating Drumchapel Utd 3-2 and Hearts beating Rossvale 2-1 in between.
Going into our last game, and the group last game, we knew we were in third and a win against Scone WFC would see us comfortably into second in the group and through to the quarters. But in true Raith fashion things didn’t go as planned. Raith found it hard to break down a stubborn Scone defence and a third running offence by Raith in the eleventh minute meant it was a penalty to Scone which they duly scored. Three minutes later and a third running offence by Scone saw Scott level the scores from the resultant penalty. With the game looking like a it was closing to a draw a Scone player took a speculative shot from far and wide on the left beating Pete in the home goal for our first defeat of the day.
Having secured third place in the group we had an anxious wait while the numbers guys worked out the numbers before it was confirmed that we had made it through to the quarter final draw. The draw was made and the third game to be drawn had Raith playing Pollock United (A).
The quarter final started badly for Raith with a second minute goal for Pollock. Pollock passed the ball well through midfield to their front man who turned and shot low into Pete’s right hand corner for a one nil lead. The game continued end to end with both teams passing well and having chances. Pollock hitting the post in the ninth minute and a short backpass in the tenth minute bringing off a point blank save from Pete. A nice passing move from Raith in the next minute and Scott with only the keeper to beat put the ball inches wide. With time running out and Raith pressing for an equalising goal another slick passing move sees the Pollock front man turn again and slot the ball into Pete’s bottom right hand corner. With Raith still pushing in the fourteenth minute a ball to the left finds a Pollock man on his own and he slots the ball across the face of the goal, into the net and the tie is over.
And so our cup adventure was over. A good display considering the squad issues but everyone, on the day, played their part and played them well. It just wasn’t to be.
Special mention though has to go to John Wylie for playing through the pain and Scott Jackson for his five goals. However Man of the Tournament for Raith has to go to Pete Munn for his great performance in goal. Three clean sheets in the group stages, two against the teams that topped the group, in his first big tournament was immense. Well done Pete.
RRCF Walking Football 