2010 Scottish Cup final

The 2010 Scottish Cup Final was the 125th final of the Scotland's most prestigious football knockout competition, the Scottish Cup. The match took place on 15 May 2010,[1] at Hampden Park, Glasgow and was contested by first time finalists Ross County and 1994 winners Dundee United. Craig Conway scored a brace as Dundee United ended a wait of 16 years to win the Scottish Cup for the second time in the club's history.[2] The match was the first final since 1938 in which both teams came from outwith the Central Belt.[3]

2010 Scottish Cup Final
Event2009–10 Scottish Cup
Date15 May 2010
VenueHampden Park, Glasgow
Man of the MatchCraig Conway (Dundee United)
RefereeDougie McDonald
Attendance47,122
WeatherSunny
2009
2011

Background

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Dundee United had previously reached the Scottish Cup Final eight times, winning only one of them, while Ross County were making their first ever Scottish Cup final. Ross County join the list of lower division sides who have reached the final in the last five years, Gretna in 2006 and Queen of the South in 2008. Dundee United and Ross County had played each other only four times before, with United winning the last three. All of their encounters had been in the League Cup, Ross County won the first game at Victoria Park on 19 August 1998, 2–0 after extra time, their next encounter came almost exactly a year later on 18 August 1999 at Tannadice Park when United won 3–1. Eight years after their last encounter they met again at Tannadice where United got a 2–1 win. They then played each other earlier in the 2009-2010 season with United winning 2–0 at Victoria Park.

Route to the final

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Ross County

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Round Opposition Score
Third round Berwick Rangers (h) 5–1
Fourth round Inverurie Loco Works (h) 4–0
Fifth round Stirling Albion (h) 9–0
Quarter-final Hibernian (a) 2–2
Replay Hibernian (h) 2–1
Semi-final Celtic (n) 2-0

Ross County entered in the third round, playing their first match against Third Division side Berwick Rangers. In rounds four and five, Ross County scored a total of thirteen goals, first against non-league Inverurie Loco Works, then facing Second Division side Stirling Albion. Their quarter-final match was their first against an SPL side, and they took Hibernian to a replay, which they won with a goal in the 90th minute. In their semi-final at Hampden, they faced Celtic and defeated them 2–0, booking their first appearance in the final of the Scottish Cup.

Dundee United

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Round Opposition Score
Fourth round Partick Thistle (a) 0–2
Fifth round St Johnstone (a) 0–1
Quarter-final Rangers (a) 3–3
Quarter-final replay Rangers (h) 1–0
Semi-final Raith Rovers (n) 2–0

As a member of the SPL, Dundee United did not enter until the fourth round. Their fourth round game was against First Division side Partick Thistle and fifth round game was against SPL side St. Johnstone. In the quarter-final, United took the defending champions Rangers to a replay at Tannadice which they won 1–0. In the semi-final they faced another First Division team in Raith Rovers, who they beat 2–0.

Ticketing

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Dundee United sold more than 20,000 tickets for the match up to the end of April and have asked the Scottish Football Association for another 5,000 tickets. Ross County president Roy McGregor expects 20,000 supporters to attend the final, after they sold the initial allocation of 11,000 tickets in just three days. Another batch of 5,000 was received from the SFA and all expect to sell out.[4]

European qualification

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The winner automatically qualifies for the play-off round of the 2010–11 UEFA Europa League. Because Dundee United had finished in a Europa League spot in the SPL, Ross County would only have qualified had they won the final. Since Dundee United won, the remaining Europa League spot was allocated to Motherwell, who finished fifth in the SPL.[5][6]

Team news and build-up

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It was confirmed on 11 April 2010, that Dundee United's Paul Dixon would miss the final after he sustained a broken foot in the semi-final win over Raith Rovers.[7] Dundee United's Darren Dods also missed the final after being ruled out with a cartilage injury.[8]

Dundee United manager Peter Houston let former captain Lee Wilkie lead the team out for final. The defender was forced to retire at the age of 29 earlier in the season after being plagued by knee problems.[9]

On 5 May 2010, Ross County announced that they had abandoned plans for a training camp in Spain because of the latest volcanic ash cloud. They were due to fly from Glasgow but, with airport closures and the expected traveller backlog, the club decided to stay in Scotland and prepare for the final.[10]

Match

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Summary

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Dundee United dominated the match, but for an hour were unable to make a breakthrough, with interventions from Ross County defender Alex Keddie twice rescuing his side when United had goal scoring opportunities in the first half.[3][11] United finally scored on 61 minutes when David Goodwillie picked up a clearance from County's Goalkeeper Michael McGovern and lobbed the ball over him and into the goal from 25 yards out.[3][11] Craig Conway then scored twice in the final quarter of the match to ensure United's second Scottish Cup win.[3][11]

Details

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Dundee United3–0Ross County
Goodwillie   61'
Conway   75', 86'
Report
Attendance: 47,122
 
 
 
 
 
Dundee United
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Ross County
GK 1   Dušan Perniš
RB 2   Mihael Kovačević   83'
CB 3   Andy Webster (c)
CB 18   Garry Kenneth
LB 19   Seán Dillon
RM 14   Danny Swanson   74'
CM 15   Prince Buaben
CM 16   Morgaro Gomis  
LM 6   Craig Conway
CF 9   Jon Daly
CF 25   David Goodwillie     78'
Substitutes:
GK 13   Steve Banks
DF 27   Keith Watson   83'
MF 8   Scott Robertson   74'
MF 12   David Robertson   78'
FW 10   Danny Cadamarteri
Manager:
  Peter Houston
GK 1   Michael McGovern
RB 2   Gary Miller  
CB 5   Scott Boyd
CB 6   Alex Keddie
LB 3   Scott Morrison
RM 7   Michael Gardyne   77'
CM 4   Jimmy Scott     79'
CM 10   Richard Brittain (c)
LM 11   Iain Vigurs
CF 8   Andrew Barrowman
CF 9   Steven Craig   52'
Substitutes:
GK 18   Joe Malin
DF 14   Stuart Kettlewell
MF 15   Paul Lawson   52'
FW 12   Paul di Giacomo   77'
FW 16   Garry Wood   79'
Manager:
  Derek Adams

MATCH OFFICIALS

  • Assistant referees:
    • Francis Andrews
  • Fourth official:

MATCH RULES

  • 90 minutes.
  • 30 minutes of extra-time if necessary.
  • Penalty shoot-out if scores still level.
  • Five named substitutes.
  • Maximum of three substitutions.
Match statistics
Dundee United Ross County
Goals scored 3 0
Total shots 11 4
Shots on target 7 3
Ball possession 58% 42%
Corner kicks 4 2
Fouls committed 13 18
Yellow cards 2 2
Red cards 0 0

References

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  1. ^ "Scottish Cup Round Dates". Retrieved 18 April 2010.[permanent dead link]
  2. ^ "Conway the cup hero at Hampden". ESPN Soccernet. 15 May 2010. Archived from the original on 23 October 2012. Retrieved 10 August 2010.
  3. ^ a b c d Robertson, Forrest H. C. (2014). How the Cup Was Won. The Scottish Cup Final Story. Kirkcaldy: PM Publications. p. 103. ISBN 978-0-9534682-7-0.
  4. ^ Spence, Jim (29 April 2010). "Scottish Cup finalists want more tickets". BBC Sport. BBC. Archived from the original on 3 May 2010. Retrieved 6 May 2010.
  5. ^ Scotsman newspaper
  6. ^ Harris, Andy (21 April 2010). "European qualifying clarity for cup final teams". BBC Sport. BBC. Archived from the original on 29 April 2010. Retrieved 6 May 2010.
  7. ^ "Dundee United's Paul Dixon to miss Cup final". BBC Sport. BBC. 13 April 2010. Archived from the original on 16 April 2010. Retrieved 6 May 2010.
  8. ^ "Darren Dods to miss Cup final for Dundee United". BBC Sport. BBC. 7 May 2010. Archived from the original on 12 May 2010. Retrieved 12 May 2010.
  9. ^ "Lee Wilkie touched by Dundee United Cup final gesture". BBC Sport. BBC. 12 May 2010. Archived from the original on 15 May 2010. Retrieved 12 May 2010.
  10. ^ McDaid, David (5 May 2010). "Ash ruins County's Cup final trip". BBC Sport. BBC. Archived from the original on 9 May 2010. Retrieved 12 May 2010.
  11. ^ a b c Watson, Mike (2014). Greatest Games Dundee United. Durrington: Pitch Publishing. p. 202. ISBN 978-1-90962-635-5.