2012 Scottish Challenge Cup Final

The 2012 Scottish Challenge Cup Final, also known as the Ramsdens Cup Final for sponsorship reasons, was an association football match between Falkirk and Hamilton Academical on 1 April 2012 at Almondvale Stadium in Livingston. It was the 21st final of the Scottish Challenge Cup since it was first organised in 1990 to celebrate the centenary of the Scottish Football League.

2012 Scottish Challenge Cup Final

Event	2011–12 Scottish Challenge Cup
Falkirk Hamilton Academical 1 0
Date	1 April 2012
Venue	Almondvale Stadium, Livingston
Referee	Brian Winter
Attendance	5,210

Both teams progressed through four knock-out rounds to reach the final. The match was Falkirk's fourth appearance in the Scottish Challenge Cup Final with the club defending an unbeaten record in the final having won on three previous occasions, the most recent in 2004. It was also Hamilton's fourth appearance, the club winning twice in successive years in the early-1990s and losing in 2005. The tournament was contested by clubs below the Scottish Premier League with both clubs from the First Division. The match was watched by 5,210 spectators as well as being broadcast live on BBC Alba.[1][2]

An early goal from Darren Dods in the 2nd minute was enough for Falkirk to win the match 1–0. In doing so Falkirk became the first club to win the tournament for a fourth time.[3]

Route to the final

See also: 2011–12 Scottish Challenge Cup

The competition is a knock-out tournament and in 2011–12 was contested by 32 teams: the 30 clubs that played in the First, Second and Third Divisions of the Scottish Football League and two Highland Football League clubs by invitation. For the first round only, the draw was divided into two geographical regions made up of 16 clubs – north/east and south/west. Teams were paired at random and the winner of each match progressed to the next round and the loser was eliminated.

Falkirk

Round	Opposition	Score
First round	Brechin City (a)	2–1
Second round	Dundee (h)	1–0
Quarter-final	East Fife (a)	4–1
Semi-final	Annan Athletic (a)	3–0

Falkirk were placed in the north/east region for the first round and were drawn against Second Division side Brechin City away from home. All of the goals came in the first half but Darren Dods's debut goal in the 33rd minute proved to be the decider in the 2–1 win at Glebe Park.[4] In the second round Falkirk faced fellow First Division side Dundee at the Falkirk Stadium. The only goal of the game came from Moroccan, Farid El Alagui in the 43rd minute and was enough to send Falkirk through to the quarter-final stage.[5][6]

The reward for reaching the quarter-final stage was an away game against East Fife of the Second Division. The Methil based club took the lead on the 27th minute courtesy of a right-foot curler from Ryan Wallace.[7] However, two goals in quick succession from Kallum Higginbotham and Craig Sibbald to make the score 3–1 was enough to overcome East Fife, with Higginbotham sealing the scoreline at 4–1 on the 87th minute in the match at Bayview Stadium.[8]

The semi-final draw paired Falkirk with high flying Annan Athletic of the Third Division. Annan Athletic had played 12 games and won 10 in all competitions leading up to the semi-final tie and had knocked out First Division club Ayr United in the previous round. However, three first half goals, one from Mark Millar and two from Farid El Alagui[9] saw off Annan Athletic in front of a record official attendance of 1,575 at Galabank.[10][11]

Hamilton Academical

Round	Opposition	Score
First round	Queen's Park (a)	2–0
Second round	Partick Thistle (h)	1–0
Quarter-final	Greenock Morton (h)	2–1
Semi-final	Livingston (h)	1–0

Hamilton Academical competed in the south/west region for the first round and faced Third Division side Queen's Park at Hampden Park. Two debutant senior goals from Ali Crawford and David Hopkirk in the 72nd and 80th minutes respectively ensured a 2–0 victory[12] for Accies and a clean sheet to progress to the second round. The opponents drawn were Partick Thistle of the First Division. A late penalty goal from Irishman James Chambers in the 86th minute at New Douglas Park was enough to book a place in the quarter-final stage.[13]

The quarter-final draw paired Hamilton Academical with another First Division side, Greenock Morton, whom Accies defeated in the 1992 Final. Despite Greenock Morton taking the lead in the 10th minute from a Paul Di Giacomo goal, Hamilton scored two other first half goals from Greig Spence and Simon Mensing to win 2–1 at New Douglas Park to progress to the semi-final stage.[14]

A third club from the First Division provided the opposition for Hamilton in the semi-final in the form of Livingston. A late first half goal in the 43rd minute from Mark McLaughlin was enough to knock out the West Lothian side in front of a crowd of 1,418 and progress to their fourth Scottish Challenge Cup Final in the club's history.[15]

Pre-match

Almondvale Stadium hosted the final.

Venue

The 2012 final marked the first time the event was hosted at Almondvale Stadium in Livingston, the home of Livingston F.C..[16] The venue opened in 1995 and at the time of the final was officially known as the Braidwood Motor Company Stadium after its sponsor. Seating arrangements for spectators in the stadium were segregated with Falkirk supporters occupying the East Stand and parts of the North and South Stands whilst Hamilton fans were allocated tickets for the West (Main) Stand.[17] Falkirk travelled around 20 miles (32.2 km)[18] to the venue and Hamilton Academical travelled approximately 30 miles (48.3 km).[19]

Analysis

With the inclusion of two Highland League clubs for the first time, this brought the number of teams competing up to 32 which meant that there was no random bye for any club into the second round so both Falkirk and Hamilton entered the first round. Falkirk eliminated three lower league clubs en route to the final whilst Hamilton eliminated only one; defeating three First Division teams before the final.[2]

Both teams appeared in the final for the fourth time. Falkirk had won the tournament on their three previous final appearances in 1993, 1997 and 2004, whereas Hamilton Academical had won the tournament twice in successive years in 1991 and 1992 and came runner-up in 2005.

Match

First half

Second half

Details

1 April 2012

16:05 BST

Falkirk	1–0	Hamilton Academical
Dods  2'	Report

Almondvale Stadium, Livingston

Attendance: 5,210[1]

Referee: Brian Winter[1]

Falkirk

Hamilton Academical

GK 1 Michael McGovern DF 2 Kieran Duffie DF 3 Tam Scobbie DF 4 Darren Dods (c) DF 5 Murray Wallace MF 6 Jay Fulton  36' MF 7 Craig Sibbald  86' MF 8 Mark Millar FW 9 Farid El Alagui MF 10 Willie Gibson MF 11 David Weatherston Substitutes: DF 12 Rhys Bennett DF 14 Stephen Kingsley MF 15 Blair Alston  86' FW 16 Jordan White GK 17 Graham Bowman Manager: Steven Pressley

GK 1 David Hutton DF 2 Simon Mensing DF 3 Mark McLaughlin  71' DF 4 Lee Kilday MF 5 Jon Routledge MF 6 Daniel Redmond MF 7 Alex Neil (c)  43' MF 8 Jim McAlister MF 9 Jordan Kirkpatrick  45' FW 10 Mark Stewart  45' FW 11 Jon McShane Substitutes: GK 12 Blair Currie DF 13 Stephen Hendrie  45' DF 14 Grant Gillespie FW 15 Greig Spence  45' FW 16 Andy Ryan  71' Manager: Billy Reid

Officials[20] Referee: Brian Winter Assistant Referee 1: David Watt Assistant Referee 2: Stuart Hodge

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.

Statistics

Match statistics[21]

	Falkirk	Hamilton
Goals scored	1	0
Total shots	6	8
Shots on target	3	5
Ball possession
Corner kicks	5	2
Fouls committed	11	13
Offside	2	5
Yellow cards	1	1
Red cards	0	0

References

1. Falkirk 1 - 0 Hamilton Academical : Sunday, 1 April 2012 Archived 23 September 2012 at the Wayback Machine, Scottish Football League. Retrieved 4 April 2012.
2. Ramsdens Cup final to be broadcast live on BBC Alba, BBC Sport. 28 March 2012. Retrieved 3 April 2012.
3. Falkirk 1-0 Hamilton Accies, BBC Sport. 2012-04-01. Retrieved 2012-04-04.
4. "Brechin City 1-2 Falkirk", BBC Sport. 2011-07-23. Retrieved 2011-10-13.
5. "Falkirk 1 - 0 Dundee : Tuesday, 9th August 2011" Archived 25 June 2013 at the Wayback Machine, Scottish Football League. 2011-08-09. Retrieved 2011-10-13.
6. "Falkirk 1-0 Dundee". BBC Sport. 9 August 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2011.
7. "East Fife 1 - 4 Falkirk : Sunday, 4th September 2011" Archived 23 November 2011 at the Wayback Machine, Scottish Football League. 2011-09-04. Retrieved 2011-10-13.
8. "East Fife 1-4 Falkirk", BBC Sport. 2011-09-04. Retrieved 2011-10-13.
9. "Annan Athletic 0-3 Falkirk", BBC Sport. 2011-10-09. Retrieved 2011-10-13.
10. "Annan Athletic 0 - 3 Falkirk" Archived 4 October 2011 at the Wayback Machine, Annan Athletic F.C.. 2011-10-09. Retrieved 2011-10-13.
11. "Record day at Annan", Scottish Football League. 2011-10-12. Retrieved 2011-10-13.
12. "Queens Park 0 Accies 2". Hamilton Academical F.C. 23 July 2011. Archived from the original on 15 June 2012. Retrieved 18 October 2011.
13. "Hamilton 1-0 Partick Thistle". BBC Sport. 9 August 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2011.
14. "Hamilton Accies 2-1 Morton". BBC Sport. 4 September 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2011.
15. "Hamilton Academical 1-0 Livingston". BBC Sport. 9 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2011.
16. "Livingston Host Ramsdens Cup Final". Livingston F.C. 20 October 2011. Retrieved 20 October 2011.
17. Ramsdens Cup Final Ticket Info, spfl.co.uk. Scottish Professional Football League. 24 March 2012. Retrieved 19 August 2013.
18. Directions from Falkirk Football Club to Almondvale Stadium, bing.com. Bing Maps. Retrieved 19 August 2013.
19. Directions from Hamilton Academical Football Club to Almondvale Stadium, bing.com. Bing Maps. Retrieved 19 August 2013.
20. Falkirk vs. Hamilton Academical 1 - 0, soccerway.com. Retrieved 2012-03-04.
21. Falkirk 1 Accies 0, Hamilton Academical F.C.. Retrieved 2012-04-07.