2008–09 Scottish Challenge Cup

2008–09 ALBA Challenge Cup

Country	Scotland
Teams	30
Champions	Airdrie United
Runners-up	Ross County
Matches played	29
Goals scored	87 (3 per match)
← 2007–08 2009–10 →

The 2008–09 Scottish Challenge Cup, known as the ALBA Challenge Cup due to sponsorship reasons with MG Alba, was the 18th season of the competition, competed for by all 30 members of the Scottish Football League. The defending champions were St. Johnstone, who defeated Dunfermline Athletic by 3–2 in the 2007 final.

The competition was won by Airdrie United who defeated Ross County 3–2 on penalties following a 2–2 draw after extra time, the winning penalty was scored by Marc Smyth.

Schedule

Round	First match date	Fixtures	Clubs
First Round	26 July 2008	14	30 → 16
Second Round	12 August 2008	8	16 → 80
Quarter-finals	7 September 2008	4	8 → 4
Semi-finals	12 October 2008	2	4 → 2
Final	16 November 2008	1	2 → 1

First round

The First round draw was conducted on 29 May 2008. Holders St. Johnstone were drawn against Ross County away from home.

North & East Region

Raith Rovers received a random bye to the second round.

Home team	Score	Away team	Additional information
Alloa Athletic 2 – 1 Dundee Townsley  59' Stevenson  83' Antoine-Curier  88' Report Report link Date 26 July 2008 Kick off 15:00 Stadium Recreation Park, Alloa Attendance 793 Referee Chris Boyle
Arbroath 1 – 2 Forfar Athletic Scott  44' Kilgannon  62' (pen) McLeish  71' (pen) Report Report link Date 26 July 2008 Kick off 15:00 Stadium Gayfield Park, Forfar Attendance 563 Referee Euan Norris
Brechin City 0 – 1 East Fife Nimmo  78' Templeman  69' Report Report link Date 26 July 2008 Kick off 15:00 Stadium Glebe Park, Brechin Referee S Nicholls
Dunfermline Athletic 3 – 0 Stirling Albion Burke  4' Phinn  61' Williamson  74' Report Report link Date 26 July 2008 Kick off 15:00 Stadium East End Park, Dunfermline Attendance 1,340 Referee Eddie Smith
Elgin City 0 – 2 Cowdenbeath McGregor  13' McQuade  80' Report Report link Date 26 July 2008 Kick off 15:00 Stadium Borough Briggs, Elgin Attendance 379 Referee G Salmond
Peterhead 6 – 0 Montrose Bavidge  24',  78' Cumming  45' (own goal) Gunn  52',  58',  68' (pen) Report Report link Date 26 July 2008 Kick off 15:00 Stadium Balmoor, Peterhead Attendance 503 Referee Craig Charleston
Ross County 2 – 1 St Johnstone WInters  53' Higgins  65' Samuel  84' Report Report link Date 26 July 2008 Kick off 15:00 Stadium Victoria Park, Dingwall Attendance 2,365 Referee Craig Thomson

Source:^{[citation needed]}
a.e.t. = after extra time; agg. = aggregation score; pen. = decision by penalties.

South & West Region

Greenock Morton received a random bye to the second round.

Home team	Score	Away team	Additional information
Airdrie United 3 – 2 Dumbarton Noble  53' Cardle  58' di Giacomo  75' Clark  25' Carcary  43' Report Report link Date 26 July 2008 Kick off 15:00 Stadium Excelsior Stadium, Airdrie Attendance 808 Referee Calum Murray
Berwick Rangers 1 – 5 Queen of the South Little  47' O'Connor  12',  58' Kean  31',  65' Barr  80' Report Report link Date 26 July 2008 Kick off 15:00 Stadium Shielfield Park, Berwick Attendance 655 Referee J McKendrick
Clyde 2 – 0 Annan Athletic Trouten  61' (pen.),  74' Report Report link Date 26 July 2008 Kick off 15:00 Stadium Broadwood Stadium, Cumbernauld Attendance 700 Referee Steven O'Reilly
Livingston 4 – 0 Stranraer Griffiths  33',  72' Hammill  67' McParland  70' Nicoll  81' Report Report link Date 26 July 2008 Kick off 15:00 Stadium Almondvale Stadium, Livingston Referee C Brown
Partick Thistle 2 – 1 Queen's Park Gray  7' Roberts  9' Henry  17' Sinclair  66' Report Report link Date 26 July 2008 Kick off 15:00 Stadium Firhill Stadium, Glasgow Attendance 1,382 Referee Stephen Finnie
Stenhousemuir 0 – 1 Albion Rovers Donnelly  87' (pen) Report Report link Date 26 July 2008 Kick off 15:00 Stadium Ochilview Park, Stenhousemuir Attendance 323 Referee B Maddenn
East Stirlingshire 2 – 1 Ayr United Richardson  86' Rodgers  89' Williams  15' Report Report link Date 27 July 2008 Kick off 15:00 Stadium Ochilview Park, Stenhousemuir Attendance 761 Referee A Muir

Source:^{[citation needed]}
a.e.t. = after extra time; agg. = aggregation score; pen. = decision by penalties.

Second round

The Second round draw was conducted on 30 July 2008.

Home team	Score	Away team	Additional information
Alloa Athletic 0 – 2 Clyde Clarke  58' Gibson  76' Report Report link Date 12 August 2008 Kick off 19:45 Stadium Recreation Park, Alloa Attendance 414 Referee Iain Brines
Cowdenbeath 3 – 2 Albion Rovers McQuade  8' Gemmell  54' Fairbairn  89' Barr  30' Martin  75' Report Report link Date 12 August 2008 Kick off 19:30 Stadium Central Park, Cowdenbeath Attendance 204 Referee Crawford Allan
Livingston 1 – 0 Forfar Athletic Griffiths  51' Report Report link Date 12 August 2008 Kick off 19:45 Stadium Almondvale Stadium, Livingston Attendance 800 Referee Calum Murray
Partick Thistle 4 – 2 (a.e.t.) Peterhead Donnelly  52' McKeown  92',  115' Harkins  112' Gunn  23' Kozmanski  103' Report Report link Date 12 August 2008 Kick off 19:30 Stadium Firhill Stadium, Glasgow Attendance 1,133 Referee Steve Conroy
Raith Rovers 1 – 2 Ross County Weir  72' Keddie  52',  54' Report Report link Date 12 August 2008 Kick off 19:45 Stadium Stark's Park, Kirkcaldy Attendance 1,080 Referee William Collum
East Fife 0 – 2 Airdrie United Lynch  10' Smith  84' Report Report link Date 13 August 2008 Kick off 19:45 Stadium Bayview Stadium, Methil Attendance 606 Referee Mike Tumilty
East Stirlingshire 0 – 3 Greenock Morton Masterton  22' McGuffie  32',  53' Report Report link Date 13 August 2008 Kick off 19:30 Stadium Ochilview Park, Stenhousemuir Attendance 753 Referee Stevie O'Reilly
Dunfermline Athletic 0 – 2 Queen of the South Kean  9' O'Connor  75' Report Report link Date 20 August 2008 Kick off 19:45 Stadium East End Park, Dunfermline Attendance 1,373 Referee Michael McCurry

Source:^{[citation needed]}
a.e.t. = after extra time; agg. = aggregation score; pen. = decision by penalties.

Quarter-finals

The Quarter-final draw was conducted on 14 August 2008.

7 September 2008 15:00	Clyde	0 – 1	Ross County	Broadwood Stadium, Cumbernauld Attendance: 756 Referee: Steve Conroy
	McGregor  45'	Report	Craig  25'

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7 September 2008 15:00	Cowdenbeath	1 – 2	Airdrie United	Central Park, Cowdenbeath Attendance: 643 Referee: Stephen Finnie
	Fairbairn  79' Baxter  84'	Report	di Giacomo  53'  75'

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7 September 2008 15:00	Livingston	0 – 2	Partick Thistle	Almondvale Stadium, Livingston Referee: David Somers
		Report	Turner  75' Twaddle  78'

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7 September 2008 15:00	Queen of the South	0 – 2	Greenock Morton	Palmerston Park, Dumfries Attendance: 2,991 Referee: William Collum
		Report	Wake  48' McGuffie  77'

Semi-finals

The Semi-final draw was conducted on 11 September 2008.

12 October 2008 14:00	Partick Thistle	0 – 1	Airdrie United	Firhill Stadium, Glasgow Attendance: 2,761 Referee: David Somers
		Report	di Giacomo  4'

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12 October 2008 15:00	Ross County	4 – 1	Greenock Morton	Victoria Park, Dingwall Attendance: 1,396 Referee: Mike Tumilty
	Craig  6' Daal  42'  62' Dowie  84'	Report	McManus  55' Weatherson  77'

Final

Main article: 2008 Scottish Challenge Cup Final

16 November 2008 15:00	Airdrie United	2 – 2 (a.e.t.) ( 3 – 2 pen.)	Ross County	McDiarmid Park, Perth Attendance: 4,091 Referee: Calum Murray
	McKenna  80' Dowie  103' (o.g.)	Report	Nixon  59' (o.g.) Higgins  113'
		Penalties
	Lynch McLaughlin Hazley McDonald Smyth	3 – 2	Winters Higgins Hart Morrison Scott

Media coverage

The Partick Thistle v Airdrie United semi-final was shown live and the final was shown live on BBC Alba.

External links

• BBC Scottish Cups page