Scotland (National Football)

In Europe's qualifiers for the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil, Group A looks to be wide open, and it may not hurt for a team to be flying in under the radar.  With no traditional "super power" in Group A, the attention has been focused on Croatia, who didn't qualify for the 2010 Cup in South Africa but have now risen to No. 8 in FIFA's World Rankings.

But is there room for a surprise in this group?  Serbia has only won two of their last ten contests, despite maintaining a No. 37 FIFA World Ranking.  Belgium is another dark horse in the group and have improved their overall profile of recent years, but they still lack the quality win that puts them into an elite category.

Enter Scotland.

The Scots have not fielded a team for the World Cup Finals since France in 1998.  But their passionate fan base is starving for victory, and many sense that with the quality of Manchester United midfielder Darren Fletcher, and Scotland's mass of young rising stars like Danny Wilson, Tartan's Army could be celebrating in the streets come fall of 2013.

Scotland skipper Craig Levein feels good about his team's chances, and why not?  Scotland is 4-1-1 in their past six matches, with their lone loss against Spain in Madrid.

“Football throws up results where the underdogs come out on top," Levein said of Group A.  "I look at this group and there are loads of situations where we can pick up points. If things aren’t going well there are loads of banana skins as well. We’re in the middle and have to play above ourselves.”

Scotland have a friendly contest coming up on the 29th of February against Slovenia.  Levein will use this game to measure how prepared his squad is for the European WCQ, which begins the 8th of September against the aforementioned Croatia team.

With a good result there, Scotland could be on their way to qualifying for the Cup again.

It was cold, cold and blustery in the stands of Livingston's Almondvale or Braidwood Motor Company Stadium this afternoon for Ayr's visit to their fellow first division counterparts. Whatever the name of their stadium, it seemed like Livvy expected the victory against the only part-time side in the league and not many would have bet against the Honest Men after recent results, but you should never back a wounded animal into a corner.

Not for a second would I compare Ayr United to a wounded animal, but a part-time playing staff and a small squad has taken its toll on Brian Reid's team this season, as they fight for every morsel and scrap to help stave off the threat of relegation.

So the option of a day out at a Scottish Cup match gave some light relief for all involved at the club. From chairman to supporter, every one of the Honest Men and Bonnie Lassies breathed a combined exhale knowing that a break away from the recent run of results in the league could be broken with a chance to progress in the nation's most prestigious cup competition.

With a semifinal in the other cup competition to look forward to in three weeks, the players had to get back to basics in order to win this match.

We have watched with growing admiration this season as SPL team after SPL team have fell at the alter of Somerset Park, but its been a struggle against other first division sides at times and when Livingston were drawn from the hat as Scottish Cup opponents, a sigh of resignation to familiarity shrouded the Ayr fans as another match against first division opponents weren't the desired choice.

However, when the draw is made, it's made. It can't be changed so in a professional manner the Ayr team took to the road early Saturday morning to make the way up the M77 & M8 to head towards the town of Livingston.

Despite a rogue fire alarm sounding in the stadium which resulted in a 15-minute delay in kickoff, the spirit was apparent from the start that both teams were up for the match to help break the monotony of league football.

Livvy were on the attack from the start and for the opening 20 minutes they pushed the Ayr midfield and defence hard looking for the goal to break the deadlock. At the same time, the Ayr strikers were getting short charged in terms of goalscoring chances.

The game lit up, though, with a few minutes remaining of the fist 45 after some nice play on the left by Ayr's Mark Roberts and Eddie Malone resulted in the cross being headed goal ward by Tam McManus at the back post, who must have thought he had scored as he watched his effort drift past the keeper only to see Andy Geggan steal in at the near to get a final touch on the ball to give the visitors a perhaps undeserved lead.

It's always a perfect time to score moments before the break, but Livvy to their credit fired themselves back into the match only minutes later with a McNulty header from a Fotheringham corner with moments of the first half left to play.

The second half started with Ayr pushing further up the field and although neither keeper had been seriously tested, all the watching fans expected more goals to come from the match.

It was a moment of individual brilliance that was to give Ayr the lead again when midfielder Michael McGowan picked the ball up on the right, made a bit of space for himself before unleashing a thunderbolt Greek god Zeus himself would be proud of.

The shot flew into the net that 100 goalkeepers could not have stopped which sent the traveling support into raptures and his teammates into celebration overdrive.

Over the remainder of the game, chances were available at either end with Ayr keeper Cuthbert saving a couple of goalbound efforts to keep his team in the lead.

In the end, the scoreline stayed the same and sees the Ayrshire side progress to the next round of the Scottish Cup which will be drawn live on Sky Sports this coming Monday, 9th January.

Afterwards Ayr boss Brian Reid said, "Although Livvy pushed us back for the first 20 minutes, they didn't pressure us in defence or make our keeper make a save and I though we deserved our lead."

"And when Mikey picked up the ball in the second half, I was screaming at him to make the pass into the middle but when he scored it was phenomenal," said the ex-Morton and Rangers man.

Michael McGowan said jokingly about his bosses comments about passing into the box,"I think the gaffer sees things that aren't there some times to be honest."

Talking about his goal, McGowan said:"As soon as I hit it, I knew it was going in."

Not too shabby a goal Mikey, not too shabby at all!

Ayr now look forward to Monday's draw with many hoping for another SPL team at Somerset Park to add to the collection of scalps they have collected over the past year and who knows, maybe another semifinal place beckons for the Black & White army.

Marc Roseblade is a Contributor for Bleacher Report, NotJustScottishFootball as well as PR for Ayr United Football Academy & Galveston Pirate Soccer Club. All quotes are obtained first-hand unless otherwise stated.

Every so often, there are sports stories that seemingly make no sense. This is one of them.

According to scotsman.com, Scottish Junior Cup player Philip John "P.J." Dolan was issued a yellow card by referee Gavin Duncan for playing significantly past the referee's whistle, going so far as to score a goal and celebrating despite the referee and assistant referee calling the play offsides.

Dolan, who plays for Kilsyth, subsequently received a second yellow for diving, resulting in an automatic sendoff and two-game suspension.

When such an event happens in the United States—most notably in the NBA—the offender is assessed a penalty for showing up the official. The Orlando Magic's Dwight Howard led the league last season with 18 technicals while second place Kobe Bryant picked up 16, many for showing up the referee. Just last night, Bryant received a delay-of-game warning for refusing to give the game ball to the nearest official.

Soccer empowers and instructs its officials to penalize similar behavior. If a player ignores a whistle to stop play and continues to delay the game by running the pitch and scoring a fake goal, that player is to receive a booking—former MLB manager Lou Piniella often delayed games by throwing bases into the outfield enroute to his demonstrative ejections.

But what if the player can't hear the whistle?

What if the player can't hear anything at all?

What the Kilsyth vs. Armadale Scottish Junior Cup box score does not say is that Philip Dolan is deaf.

According to Philip's father, "The whistle went and Philip carried on. The linesman put the flag up but he didn’t see it and he kept going and scored the goal, but he was offside."

When a soccer forward has broken away and is on his way to a one-on-one showdown with the opposing goalkeeper, he often has more important things to focus on than a raised flag tens of yards away on the sideline, which is most likely positioned behind the player by the time it is raised.

In FIFA, MLS and other popular soccer leagues, the flag never stops play—indeed, that flag is often not noticed by the common fan or players until the referee's whistle has blown to stop the action.

So we are left with the 24-year-old Dolan, who is "profoundly deaf," running past the assistant referee on the sideline, past defenders—past everyone—and a whistle sounds. It is safe to say, Dolan cannot hear it.

I have officiated basketball contests between completely deaf teams before. The whistle means absolutely nothing—how can it? Instead, we used an exaggerated and animated gesture, defined prior to each contest, that communicates to the players that play has been stopped. In field sports, bright flags may additionally be used.

Occasionally, players wouldn't see our human stop signs and would continue playing for five or ten seconds longer. Given our advanced knowledge of the players' hearing disability, it was fairly easy to accommodate and allow the players time to react. Not once were they penalized for failing to immediately stop playing.

And therein lies our complication.

Kilsyth has conceded that no one bothered to inform referee Duncan of Dolan's auditory deficiency on the day of the contest. Dolan was the only deaf player on either team.

Though Kilsyth manager Eric Sinclair had allegedly informed Duncan about Dolan's deafness during a match four weeks prior to the contest at hand, Sinclair never followed up to remind Duncan on the day of Dolan's double-yellow.

Most sports officials lead busy lives—officiating is often an avocation that is performed during spare time yet often enough that multiple games tend to run together and information about a specific detail can be lost. A busy human being cannot always recall one specific piece of information told to him four weeks prior regarding a person he thinks he will never see again.

Duncan most likely forgot about Dolan's deafness in the four weeks since first being informed. The most recent contest was a replay of a Scottish Junior Cup tie, a game Duncan likely did not anticipate he would be working four weeks prior.

So when Duncan blew his whistle and Dolan kept on running, he naturally thought Dolan was displaying resentment toward the call or otherwise delaying the game with unsportsmanlike conduct, an offense punishable with a booking.

When Kilsyth objected to the yellow card, it was likely too late. Recanting a penalty after the fact often sets a dangerous precedent, even when the circumstances are as extreme as a player who violated because he was incapable of doing otherwise.

When Duncan issued Dolan his second yellow card for diving and sent him off, that was a routine call with a penalty that mandated a disqualification and suspension.

Still, the question remains: Is it the coach's responsibility to inform the official about a circumstance as significant as deafness or is the official's responsibility to ask the coach each and every game whether a player might need accommodation?

Though the answer may not be completely straightforward, this much is clear. A lack of communication between coach and referee has led to a controversial penalty and mandatory suspension that could have been prevented.

This article also featured on Close Call Sports.

Unless you follow and support a team like Ayr United, it's hard to comprehend how topsy turvy a life you lead. One match, you are ecstatic at the way the players are performing on the field; the next three, you are pulling your hair out at the lack of invention and movement on the field.

That, however, is the way Ayr United supporters like it!

 Without these lows that we suffer, we would never be able to reach the fantastic highs that the players manage to make us reach.

Tuesday night at St. Mirren Park in the quarterfinals of the Communities League Cup proved that point once again, but yet again, it was agonising stuff to watch.

The SPL side outplayed Ayr for most of the match with their superior passing and with more confidence on the ball, and they looked the more likely to make the breakthrough but the Ayr United defence stood firm.

Ayr have leaked a lot, and I mean a lot of goals away from home this season, but when we have faced teams from the highest tier of football this country can muster, this side just cannot be beaten.

Inverness Caley Thistle, Hearts and now St. Mirren have all faltered at the feet of the rampaging Honest Men, and with Killie defeating East Fife in one of the other quarterfinals, it's lining itself up nicely for a Ayrshire Derby.

Killie would be the obvious choice for me in the semis. The match would get a huge gate, and after Ayr defeat their old rivals, they would still have a final to look forward to. As I said on the bus home: "It's like two finals in row!"

I am quite sure it's the influence of the fans on these particular occasions, as the fans belt out Somerset Boab songs and old classics to lift the hearts of the players into a new echelon of stamina and playing techniques. The players just won't give up on these nights; they don't want to let the fans down, and to be downright honest and to use an old cliche, the supporters are a 12th man in these matches.

Chris Smith acknowledged the fans after scoring the winner five minutes prior to the end, knowing that without the tremendous support he and his team mates had received during this match, the game could have ended differently.

The fans were outstanding, singing, chanting, waving flags, waving at opponent supporters, jeering ex-players Gary (Twinkletoes) Teale and Craig (giveawayagoal) Samson, resisting the overbearing stewards and police, releasing smokebombs, throwing paper rolls and generally causing more noise than an away support does at any given ground in Scotland.

For this and many other things, it makes me proud to say I am an Honest Man.

Comedy moment of the night came on and around the 60th minute mark, when the stadium announcer belted out the speakers:"St Mirren Football club would like to remind everyone that the stadium is all seater," just as if he had suddenly realised that all 1,200 Ayr fans had been standing for the first time. Maybe you had to be there, but it was hilarious. Needless to say, no Ayr fans took a blind bit of notice of the announcement.

So, semifinal bound, the team and fans find themselves for the first time since 2002, and unless I am mistaken, it's the first time since then that the team have worn yellow as an away strip since then as well. The omens are ominous, as we reached the final that year and some 12,000 travelling black and white supporters made the journey to Glasgow for our first major final ever. Let's hope we can make another.

The semifinals will take place weekend 28/29th January and will comprise of Ayr United, Falkirk, Kilmarnock and the winners of Celtic or Hibs.

Bring on the Killie!

Marc Roseblade is a Contributor for Bleacher Report as well as Not Just Scottish Football and youth development reporter for Ayr United Football Academy. All quotes are obtained first-hand unless otherwise stated.

Ayr United's 12th Man Pushes Them To Victory

Scotland versus Spain.

Tuesday 11th October 2011, k.o 7.45pm. Estadio Jose Rico Perez, Alicante, Spain.

It's a huge match for the whole of Scottish football.

With Spain having already qualified, Scotland need to win to secure qualification—or, more realistically, hope that Lithuania beat the Czech Republic in Kaunas to seal the Scots' progress to the play-offs.

However, with a fired-up national team playing against a side who have already comfortably qualified, should Scotland fans go into the game with a defeatist attitude?

Probably. But stranger things have happened.

Nobody predicted that Scotland would beat France at home and away on the road to Euro 2008 qualifying—but they did.

Although Spain are a massively different team to the aging French squad who were suckered at both Hampden and the Parc des Princes, there's no ruling out another shock result. But if Craig Levein's men are to win in the searing Spanish temperatures, Scotland desperately need some help from Lady Luck after receiving none of it from a certain Dutch referee in last month's 2-2 draw with the Czechs.

The now infamous Kevin Blom awarded the Czechs a last-minute penalty after a blatant dive by Rezek, but seconds later booked Scottish defender Christophe Berra for diving after he was tripped in the box.

Scotland fans will be praying for some redistributed fortune tonight.

But it's not just the national side who need a lift.

SPL sides have endured a horrible season in Europe, with Dundee United, Hearts, Motherwell and Rangers all crashing out before August had even ended.

Only Celtic remain in the Europa League, and they've stuttered to a loss and a draw in an admittedly tough group. The European co-efficient continues to slide.

Rangers are also in deep trouble. A multi-million pound tax case hangs over the club and could send them into administration if it does not go their way—but Scotland's progress tonight could see the gloom lifted over Ibrox, even if only for a short while.

So as Craig Levein's side take to the field tonight, they go with the hopes of an entire nation resting on their shoulders.

It could be one of the most crucial matches in the history of Scottish football.

Glasgow City's 19-year-old star striker Lisa Evans has been called into the Scotland squad for their opening European qualifying group match against Israel at Ness Ziona on Wednesday as a replacement for 120-time capped Julie Fleeting.

The 31-year-old Fleeting, who has hit 116 goals in 120 international appearances, withdrew from the squad on Friday due to a calf injury and head coach Anna Signeul called up the uncapped 19-year-old Glasgow City attacker Evans, who scored three of her side's goals in the 4-1 aggregate win in the Champions League over Icelandic side Valur last Wednesday.

Eddie Wolecki Black has likened Evans style to that of the former Arsenal and France striker Thierry Henry telling the SFA, "Lisa's greatest asset is her lightning pace."

"When she runs at defenders she just leaves them for dead. She works really hard on her finishing as well and when she's on a run of goals she's virtually unplayable. She's not like Julie, who's big and strong and plays through the middle, Lisa plays wide in our front three and I'd say her style's more like Thierry Henry than a central striker."

Scotland manager Anna Signeul aims to lead her side into what would be the nation's first major tournament.

After watching Israel's recent 5-0 defeat by the group favourites France in preparation for her own team's first qualifier, Signeul also told the SFA, "I had never seen Israel play before but I was impressed by their organisation and the technical skills of some of their players.

"It will be difficult on Wednesday, especially so because the kickoff is midday and we shall be playing in temperatures approaching 30 degrees. But it's important we get off to a good start and, if we are at our best, I believe we can win this game."

Marc Roseblade is a Contributor for Bleacher Report as well as Not Just Scottish Football and youth development reporter for Ayr United Football Academy. All quotes are obtained first-hand unless otherwise stated.

It was a night of high-drama at Somerset Park as incident followed incident. By the end of the game, there was elation; well for the Ayr United fans anyway.

After three painful defeats in recent weeks for Brian Reid's Ayr side, things looked bleak for the home team as they headed into this Communities Cup match against Scotland's third force, Heart of Midlothian.

Ayr United have a good recent record against SPL sides with notable wins against St Mirren preseason, Hibs in the cup last season and numerous victories over the auld enemy from up the road.

Although their recent mini slump was fresh in the memory of the players, they didn't let it affect their mental state as they prepped for the "Big" match.

Talk over the recent weeks for the Ayr fans had been focused on the returning Ryan Stevenson, but disappointment was to befell the midfielder. Stevenson found himself out of the running for not only a starting spot, but also a place on the bench. The player himself had stated recently that should he score against his old side, he would not celebrate. Got to love the loyalty there from him.

After last night's surprise win for East Fife over Aberdeen, Hearts were not in the mood to become another SPL scalp taken by a lower league club and were well aware of Ayr's big game hunting over the past years. So, they started with big shooters Skacel and Sutton up top to try and kill the Honest Men off, but the Somerset Park hoodoo is not one that shall be distinguished easily by any SPL side.

With all the victories that lower league teams shower upon the so called big guns, it makes a mockery of the power brokers of Scottish football that the top tier can't be expanded due to lack of competition but that's a story for another day.

Tonight though belonged to the terraces of the old lady of Scottish football and her new lights.

It was the visiting Edinburgh side that plied all the early pressure with Novikovas flying down the left wing with relative ease, pinging crosses in with stunning consistency, and it didn't take long for the first real effort on Kevin Cuthbert's goa. However, a superb dive down to his left kept the ball from bulging the net and set the scene for what could have been a long night for the stopper.

Ayr were limited to counter attacks at this point but surprisingly had the better of the chances over the next 10 minutes with efforts from Trouten, Moffat and Wardlaw all going close. Just minutes before the half time whistle, McKernon was unlucky not to connect properly with the ball after Wardlaw cleverly stepped over and dummied the ball, opening up space for the ex St Mirren man. He watched as his effort spun high and away from the danger zone.

Ayr started brightly in the second half with Wardlaw trying an audacious effort from 40 yards out after catching a glimpse of open goal with Janos Balogh 10 yards out from the goal line, but the big striker's effort drifted over.

Hearts got lucky just four minutes into the half as a corner dropped to an unmarked Scott Robinson on the edge of the box. His shot managed to squirm its way through the defender's legs and seemed to roll unsighted into the corner of Cuthbert's goal to give the Tynecastle side the lead.

Ayr were unlucky just moments later as the ever resourceful Michael McGowan whipped in wicked corner kick that seemed to agonisingly curl past the back post as Ayr players scrambled to get a touch on it.

Ayr had to make a tactical substitution just nine minutes into the second as veteran stopper John Robertson left the field injured. Due to low squad numbers, 19-year-old Ross Robertson filled into a makeshift defender's role despite being a midfielder. However, the youngster performed admirably throughout the remainder of the game, thwarting several opportunities by the attacking Hearts side.

In a moment of controversy in the 61st minute, Hearts bundled the ball into the goal, and the players wheeled away in delight as they appeared to have taken a two-goal lead. Although the referee pointed to the centre spot acknowledging the goal, he was summoned by the assistant referee on the far side as the Ayr players demanded that the decision be overruled for a handball incident.

After much deliberation the referee reversed his decision and yellow carded Eggert Jonsson for allegedly punching the ball into the goal.

The relief on Brian Reid's face was apparent to the watching Ayr fans and from this moment, Ayr took the initiative. Through pressure, Wardlw managed to intercept a scuffed clearance to slot home from 18 yards, much to the delight of the Somerset Road end fans.

The big attacker had been immense throughout this match, using his experience to muscle, pressure and push his opponents defenders to breaking point.

With their tails up, Ayr were playing well at this point, McGowan in particular causing all sorts of problems for the defenders with every pass, every turn and every run. Ayr got lucky halfway through the half when Cuthbert was called upon to save a point blank shot to keep his side on level terms.

Sutton and Templeton had a couple of half chances for the visitors before the end of the 90 minutes, and McGowan was again unlucky for the home side when his whipped-in corner had to be cleared from the near post by the hand of Hearts stopper Balogh.

As the final whistle was blown for the end of the 90 minutes, the heavens opened as if to douse the flames of optimism that either side had in finishing the match in regular time, but extra time beckoned. Few would argue that the full-time SPL side would surely hold the advantage regards fitness. This was to prove a fruitless thought, as it were the part-time Ayrshire side that bolted from the gates in extra time with a couple of chances early on from McKernon and Moffat sailing wide.

Hearts were to dominate the remainder of the first period of extra time with only a couple of respites for the Ayr defensive backline. Right at the death of this first 15 minutes, Hearts' Ryan McGowan went down in the box claiming to be felled, but the nearside assistant referee was unimpressed and waved play away much to the big Australian's disbelief.

The second half of extra time was to prove a more matched affair with both sides having opportunities to score the winner, but when the referee's whistle shrilled at the end, no one could argue that penalties were the least that both sides deserved.

The lottery of penalties was upon us. As the players and keepers headed to the away end in front of the Hearts fans, Ayr's Michael Moffat stepped up first to score for the home side with Eggert Jonsson equalized for the away team.

However, this was to be Hearts' only penalty goal as they watched McKernon and Trouten step up to keep the Ayr ball rolling. The SPL side's next penalty efforts from Grainger and Skacel were brilliantly saved by Cuthbert in goal, and it was left to Mark Roberts to fire the final nail in the coffin of the Scottish capital side's cup dreams.

The final penalty sparked elation amongst the Ayr fans, who promptly invaded the pitch to celebrate the victory with their heroes once again.

Hearts boss Paulo Sergio was adamant afterwards that the disallowed goal should have stood claiming that the assistant ref had ran 30 yards back toward the halfway line, a claim that no one else had apparently seen, but the man in charge is entitled to his opinion.

Kevin Cuthbert also spoke about the incident and the part he played in getting the decision reversed. He was fairly open about what he saw or didn't see. The stopper wasn't sure of the handball by the Hearts man but claimed it all the same in a protest to the referee that saw the decision reversed in his favour.

Brian Reid said that his players effort and commitment from a part-time squad was terrific and even when they lost John Robertson, he had faith in the young backline that was left to defend his side from defeat. He is also looking forward to the draw tomorrow hoping, for a favourable home draw.

One thing is for sure, Ayr will not be a draw that any other club will savour.

All remaining clubs are now looking at the prospect of two more wins in is competition. They will be in the final and with Rangers, Aberdeen and now Hearts all out of the running, it gives a lot of smaller sides a great chance of stardom.

Marc Roseblade is a Contributor for Bleacher Report as well as Not Just Scottish Football and youth development reporter for Ayr United Football Academy. All quotes are obtained first-hand unless otherwise stated.

Ayr's Honest Men Break Hearts