Scotland (National Football)

 On the artificial turf of the Shyberry Excelsior Stadium, Dundee United edged out their lower league rivals with a pair of goals, one in each half.

The scoreline could have been much higher if chances had been taken by either side but, over the piece, the tangerines from the east coast deserved the victory and now proceed to the next round of the Communities Cup.

In front of a small crowd, both sides failed to gather any early momentum to grab the game by the scruff of its neck ,and it could have been the artificial turf, it could have been playing lower league opposition, but Dundee United failed to gel and lacked cohesion in the early stages.

United's goalkeeper even seemed to resort to second division football by hoofing the ball whenever possible, losing the ability to pass the ball out from the back, dragging his side down to a lower level of football that helped level the playing field slightly throughout the match.

Peter Houston's side were soon passing the ball around, though, with most of the attacking threats coming from the left hand wing area with the crosses coming in from this area posing the biggest threat to the home side on every occasion.

Shots peppered the Airdrie goalie, with his hands being stung five times in the opening 11 minutes, but it was a mistake by the keeper that handed the opening goal to the visitors after a rebound dropped to the feet of Dow to slot home the opener.

The crosses from either side continued to ping across both goal areas with neither keeper making any particular dominance felt in the danger zone.

Even Dundee United defender Gary Kenneth was trying to spice things up with a couple of fluffed clearance efforts either side of the halftime whistle that nearly handed his opponents goals on both occasions. Fortunately for him, Airdrie failed to capitalize.

The game was put to bed, though, on the 75th minute with a wicked cross, again from the left, that Daly side-footed home to end Airdrie's aspirations of clawing themselves into extra time in the tie.

In the after match press conference the relief was clear for United boss Peter Houston, but was full of praise for his hosts tonight.

Houston now looks forward to a last eight clash with an early season opportunity at a piece of silverware.

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.

Dundee United Break Diamonds Hearts with Hard Fought Victory

It appears that Scotland can't escape the drama surrounding penalties this week with Saturday's double incidents still fresh in the mind as we headed into tonight's match at Hampden. What we didn't expect was more penalty intrigue to add to the week's mix.
  
Amidst the furor still lingering around about the double penalty incidents from the match against the Czech Republic on Saturday, tonight's match against Lithuania was made all the more important as the home side needed maximum points in their hunt for second spot and the playoff place.

With an ever decreasing window of opportunity of games remaining, a win and three points tonight was the only result that could hold open this window in their hunt for a slot in next year's European Championships in Poland & Ukraine.

With changes required due to suspension and injuries, Barry Bannan & David Goodwillie were to make their senior debuts as the Scots squad was stretched to breaking point and the youngsters were asked to perform on the big stage at a time when experience may have been the better option.

However, neither player was to let their side down on the night, with Barry Bannan in particular putting in a man of the match performance with no nerves and some excellent deliveries throughout the time he spent on the pitch.

The first half was dominated by the Scottish side with some excellent play that belied some of the players experience at this level although Darren Fletcher, James Morrison and Phil Bardsley were exceptional throughout. Steven Naismith was also a thorn in the Lithuanians' side and acted as a backup in the front line, sitting just behind David Goodwillie, mopping up his knock downs and deflections.

Goodwillie worked hard in his lone striker role and got very little change for all his hard work but helped Bardsley, Naismith, Berra and Fletcher all have attempts to open the scoring.

However, it was to be just one minute prior to the halftime whistle that the matches bizarre penalty incident was to occur. Barry Bannan was to throw in one of his trademark in swinging free kicks and rather strangely, the Lithuanian defender was to act in a manner more akin to superman, when he threw out his hand and punched the ball away and gave the referee no option but to give a penalty, yellow carding the defender for the incident.

After a small argument ensued between Fletcher and Bannan over the taker of the spot kick, it was the Manchester United man that stepped up to the plate. It's normally Kenny Miller that takes the penalties but as the front man was suspended for this match, it was Fletch that took the responsibility.

The penalty was struck well to the right of the goal but the keeper was equal to it and there could be no argument about the save and with this ended the first half.

The second half didn't take long to get the blood rushing as Lithuania started the quicker from the traps with three curling crosses into the box in quick succession but it was Scotland that was to eventually make the breakthrough.

With only four minutes of the second half played, Bannan was to play in another cross from the right, over the top of the defenders for Naismith to meet on the edge of the six yard area with a sliding shot into the net to give his side the lead they had so desired.

The relief could be felt throughout the stadium as the stress of winning seemingly lifted from the shoulders of the fans.

Both sides had further chances to add to the night's scoreline with Lithuania in particular pushing for the equalizer, playing with up to five strikers for the last 20 minutes of play but the match ended with this 1-0 result for the home side and gives some reprieve to Craig Levein in a week that has seen him take much criticism about tactics.

Scotland's final two matches in this group are on the road, firstly against Lichtenstein and then in the final group match against World Champions and group leaders Spain. Should be simple enough!

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.

Scotland Grab Glimmer of Euro Hope With Lithuania Win

Scotland under 21's side played host to Bulgaria tonight at St Mirren Park in Paisley for their opening match in the European Championships qualifying group.

It was chilly in Paisley tonight but that didn't stop a large 2700 strong support turning up to see the next generation of Scotland players take to the field in what is a new season for them.

Unlike the senior squads, the under-21 teams tend to change from one season to another thanks mainly to the age limit imposed on the squad. this can make it difficult to let players gel for any length of time over the course of a tournament but gives valuable experience to the players involved as they chase the eternal dream of playing for their national team at senior level.

It's a sad state of affairs that when these two sides met tonight, there would be very few people in the crowd that could name any of the players taking the field for their home nation. Then I asked myself if I knew of any club teams from Bulgaria and despite priding myself on football knowledge, I am ashamed to say that not one team springs to mind.

Billy Stark's men took to the field to rapturous applause and the fans paid respect to firstly the Bulgarian national anthem, then Flower of Scotland before the ref blew his whistle for the visitors to kick off.

Throughout the match, both teams created plenty of chances to grab the first goal and it appeared that both sides were intent on gifting their opponents the opportunity to manage this at times, but come the final whistle neither side had capitalised on the chances presented them during the game time.

The first half seemed to pass quickly but with very little incident to spark the imagination of the supporters. Some fans turned their attentions to the substitutes who were warming up on the touchlines in front of us.

Gregg Wylde took centre stage as the most recognisable player and the young kids who seemed to take great pleasure in surrounding me as I tried to commentate the match, gave me respite, albeit temporarily, as they turned their attention to getting the Rangers players autograph on their match programmes, their arms and even their capri sun box.

The match itself swung from end to end with Bulgaria preferring the long distance shot effect and were very effective on the left wing where they seemed to start most of their attacks as the winger and midfielder were influential in kick starting most moves towards the Scotland defensive area.

The Scots, for their part, were happy on the ball and liked to move it about on the ground whenever possible but the fact was, too many times we hoofed the ball rather than play it on the ground. I am a great advocate for the style of play that I witness at youth football around the country but some of that seemed to be lacking in tonight's match. It may just have been the opponents that caused the Scots to play like that, as this style of play suited the visitors with both sides seemingly cancelling each other out.

Both teams could rightly feel aggrieved at not taking the full three points from the game so I suppose they will reckon a point a piece will be deserved, but Billy Stark will be in no doubt that his side must win all their home games at least to progress in this tournament and tonight's result didn't get them off to the start he would have hoped.

In light of the decisions that the referee made in the Scotland seniors match on Saturday against the Czech Republic, the officials were going to be under more scrutiny throughout this match and although the referee went about his business without any relative mishaps, I have to voice my opinion on the nearside assistant who would not make a decision about anything unless indicated by the referee.

It annoys me to watch the assistant wait for the referee to indicate a throw in one way or another when it happens right in front of the lino, it annoys me when a tackle is made in front of him but won't wave his flag to indicate an illegal challenge but instead waits for the man in the middle who is sometimes 20 or 30 yards away and unsighted to the incident, to make a decision. What annoys me even more is that the linesman then waves his flag in agreeance with the main man as if that was the correct decision to make.

Come on UEFA, get these guys trained properly, they know the rules but seem afraid to make a decision and help the man in black in the middle. Isn't that what they are employed to do?

Scotland's next match is the away fixture to Luxembourg on the 6th October with a home tie just four days later against Austria.

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.

Scotland Under 21s Battle With Bulgaria End's Goalless

We needed the win, we were in front twice and thought the points were in he bag with injury time left to play; Unfortunately for us, fate conspired to deal us the underhand yet again in the qualifying stages of a major competition.
  
Scotland were within the allotted three minutes of extra time after 90 minutes; they were inches away from the win and three points they needed to force themselves back into the pole position of second spot in group I, in the European Championships qualifying stages.

Strangely though, the Dutch referee decided to inflict the ultimate injustice upon the Scots team by allowing himself to be conned into awarding a penalty kick to the Czech Republic when Jan Rezek went down like he'd been shot after Danny Wilson went into a challenge, in the box, but clearly did NOT make contact with the diving Czech.

The referee was in clear view of the incident so it's unsure why he gave such a decision, which was buried into the top of the net to give the visitors a well-deserved draw in the game.

It can't be argued that the Czech's probably deserved something from the match as they had many more opportunities throughout the 90 minutes. The galling thing for Scottish fans was that no matter how they had managed to get the lead, they were leading at the point the match seemed to be grabbed from their grasp and had it been a legitimate goal, there would be no argument.

The real point that is now sticking in the throats of all Scottish football supporters is the rejection of an almost carbon-copy penalty claim just two minutes later in the Czech box, except this time there was contact made on Christophe Berra as he burst into the area. For some reason—as yet unexplained—the referee decided to book the Scotsman for diving instead of giving a penalty.

Now in most games, either penalty would have been soft—there's no argument there—but there has to be consistency when the man in the middle makes decisions.

In this instance it could spell the end of Scotland's bid for qualification to the European Championships next summer, and therein lies the problem. All we ask for is for the officials to show a knowledge of the game, to be fair and just. Unfortunately that wasn't the case in today's match at Hampden.

It might sound bitter and resentful but as stated previously, I believe that the Czechs deserved something from the game and had the goal been scored in a legitimate manner, there would be no accusation of cheating.

It was a deja vu moment when it happened and brought back the agony of watching a Spanish referee give a wrongly given free kick to Italy in the same competition four years ago, which was subsequently scored to end Scotland's campaign that year as well.

The match was pre-empted by Craig Levein's comments that he was willing to shoulder the burden of weight for Scottish football after the recent club sides failure in European competition. This did not help relieve the pressure upon the players who knew nothing but a win was good enough.

Scotland opted for Kenny Miller playing as the sole attacker but with five midfielders which included Charlie Adam starting his first competitive match in Scotland colours.

The match started brightly for Scotland but it was the Czech Republic that took the initiative and the visitors should have been two goals up after only six minutes after a couple of glorious chances were squandered; The Scots breathed a collective sigh of relief that they had remained with a clean sheet so early in the game.

Scott Brown was to earn himself an early yellow card after a tackle on Tomas Rosicky, which rendered him inert for the remainder of the match but also for the next match after he reached the limit for discipline within the competition. Kenny Miller was also to receive another yellow later in the match that would also see him miss the match on Tuesday night against Lithuania.

The story of the first half read badly for the Scottish skill factor, bad first touches, poor under pressure and with no real attacking prowess. Their failure to win one-on-one battles was also holding them back immensely in their fight for supremacy and the opening goal.

Fletcher, sporting a beard and without a first team start this season with Manchester United due to illness, was playing a captain's role, and as such ended up assisting his side with the opening goal only one minute before the half time whistle. The Man United midfielder was to win the ball just outside the Czech box and played in Miller on the left whose shot squirmed under the keepers foot and into the bottom right hand corner of the goal much to the delight of the 50,000 strong tartan army.

Chances came for both sides in the second half, with Scotland forcing into the play in a manner that was missing in the first 45 minutes.

Despite this vast improvement in the second half, Scotland failed to increase the scoreline and were punished for this on 78 minutes when a Czech cross from the right failed to be intercepted, and appeared to strike the visiting attacker's stomach to end in the net and equalise the match.

However Scotland were to show their mettle and only four minutes later found themselves back in the lead when a brilliantly weighted pass from Kenny Miller on the left found captain Fletcher running in at the back post to meet the ball and slot home from eight yards out to once again give his side the lead.

At this point it looked like Fletcher would have won the match, but no one was to be ready for the inexplicable decision of the referee.

The first penalty came as much of a shock as the second one didn't and with these decisions, they more or less ended Scotland's participation in the competition.

Scotland now have three matches left to play—Tuesday night at home to Lithuania, next month against Lichtenstein and then away to Spain. For any chance for progression we must win the next two matches and hope to take something from Spain—a tall order in any sense of the word.

The Czechs are now five points clear of Scotland but only have two matches remaining, the first of which is away to Lithuania, their second match is at home to Spain but realistically need only the one point from both these matches to take the coveted second spot that will allow them into a playoff spot for a shot at the competition proper next summer in Poland & Ukraine.

Things did not go as planned for Scotland today and they can only go about winning their remaining matches in the hope the Czechs drop points. Only then can today's wrongs be righted, and that can only start on Tuesday night with a win for Scotland over Lithuania.

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 would take too long and be too boring to talk about the recent transfers that have taken place over the last month, especially the final day that saw almost £500 million of player exchanges taking place in England alone. Instead we look back at the Homeless World Cup final that took place in Paris on Sunday.

 
Scotland had won this competition previously in 2007 and Mexico were making their first final appearance, so it appeared at first glance that the odds were in the Scottish sides favour at the Stade de Liberte.

Going into the competition as 9th seeds, the Scots managed to reach the final after defeating Kenya 5-3 in the semis; Mexico for their part, saw them defeat Brazil 5-1, which set up an exciting final that was widely welcomed by the noisy and colourful fans.

As well as beating Kenya in the semis, Scotland had inflicted a 7-0 defeat upon Romania, beat Germany 15-2 and had to fight hard to get beyond Poland 9-8 to set up this final match against the Mexicans.

The event brings together players from a range of social projects across the world-including Street Soccer Scotland, and the initiative uses football to reach out and help people from some of Scotland's most disadvantaged communities.

 
It was an interesting game that ended with seven goals and it was the Scots that drew first blood with a fine William Hamilton goal to start off the goalscoring antics of the afternoon, but the Mexicans struck back with a low drive from Morales Montiel to equalize the score at 1-1.

William Lawrence was to be in inspiring form and a brilliant double save kept the scoreline equal and despite the Mexican pressure in the match at this point of the game, it was the Scottish side that were to break up field when a deflected shot from Sean Lawrence put his side back in the lead again.

However as the half drew to a close, El Tri drew level once again with a Juan Jose Torres Mendoza low shot as the match started to become a stalemate in midfield. 

 As the second half began, Scotland started to force themselves into pole position in the match. But were nearly caught on the counter with a tremendous volley from the Mexican side, that cracked the underside of the crossbar and only an alert Will Lawrence in goals kept the score 2-2 with an almost 'Peter the Cat' like save low to his right.

However it was Scotland's dominance that was the driving force in this match, as a Hamilton double seemed to seal the victory for Ally Dawson's side. With minutes remaining to go Scotland could have added another when a Matt Ramsay shot clipped the post.

The match was opening up as Mexico pushed further forward looking for a goal that would drag them back into the running but it appeared Scotland had the measure of the game with some nice possession play but with seconds to spare Mexico piled pressure upon their opponents when they struck an excellent third goal.

It was to be too little too late for the Mexicans though and as the final whistle was blown, a huge roar of delight rose from the watching supporters in support of the Scots who had won not only the match but also their second World Cup. Kinda ironic in a week that saw all Scottish sides dumped so miserably from European competition.

In admiration for their efforts, the team will be paraded at at Hampden Park on Tuesday night prior to the Men's National team in the Euro qualifying match against Lithuania.

Well done to Ally Dawson and to all the players involved, a great result and hopefully they can be an inspiration to millions of people around the world of what can be achieved with hope and ability.

Scotland Squad: James Horsburgh, William McLean, William Lawrence, Barry Gannon, Robert Hare, Sean Lawrence, William Hamilton, Matthew Ramsay.

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.

Scotland Win World Cup With Thrilling Win Over Mexico (highlights)

Just when you think Scottish Football is improving, things hit a brick wall and it all comes crumbling down; only this time all the kings horses and all the kings men won't be able to put Scottish Football back together again. 

Like GULLIVER, Scottish Football is tied down, not with little people but with administration, bureaucrats and self preserving club chairmen.

You would think it's quite easy to solve the issues that hold back the progress of our sides but in a time when the majority of the football supporters in the country openly voice their opinion on a 14/16/18 team top tier, it appears the fans knowledge and wishes for the game falls on deaf ears in the corridors of power.

In order to help our top sides perform better in the qualifying sections of European competitions this season, the SPL started the season early to help these sides get match fit in time for the all important money spinning matches.

They couldn't have got it more wrong!

This early start failed to help any of the sides and the lack of positives that could be taken from all the matches that involved Scottish sides is nothing short of embarrassing but where do we go from here?

The SPL needs to be expanded, pure and simple to help competition within our country and that's where it needs to start. This notion we have of being a major footballing powerhouse is extraordinary and a little bewildering as we have failed to do anything major in Europe at club level since the heady days of Aberdeen and Dundee United in the early '80s. This history is great but that's where it should stay; in the past.

For us as a nation to move forward we have to look to the youth-plan for the future before it's too late to turn back. We have some excellent youth setups in the country and some fantastic training complexes around the towns and cities in Scotland. So why are we not seeing progress?

The problem lies with the pressure of surviving in a 10-team top division. With one team being relegated every season, the managers have a must win scenario every single week irrespective of the performance. They are forced to bring in veteran players who have the experience of playing at this level-the flip side of this for youth is that there is very little space left in the squad for the future star players to show what they are capable of.

Politicians and the footballing powers of Scotland have put together countless 'think tanks,' gathering information, visiting clubs, talking to chairmen to find what the problems are and how to resolve them.

I'll tell you what the problems are, it's these think tanks that are put together, they are a waste of time, effort and money, all things that could be spent on solving and helping move the coaching, development and training of young players forward in the right direction.

People constantly call for a change in grass roots football but there is already a huge youth setup at most senior clubs throughout the country. All of these youth teams play under the SFL & SFA guidelines which operates a coaching and development policy which puts more emphasis on the coaching and development of the players as opposed to a results driven mindset.

Younger players are also playing 7v7 on smaller pitches, which befits the age groups and size of players. This is much more attuned to the European coaching setups that have been in place for many years;we may be relatively late with these setups but we have them in place now and we have to learn to adapt to changing formats to allow progression within the game.

If you ask any 40-year-old that's involved with one of the SFL youth setups in the country, they will tell you that what's available to the young players now is like night and day to what they had available to them when they were the same age. 

We trained on the local playing field come wind, rain or shine. The kids now have three or four G pitches to train on all year round. We had the magic sponge, they have fully trained professionals catering to their every strained muscle, sports scientists, dietitians and physios on hand at every outing. 

The youth set up may need some fine tuning but that isn't the problem, the players are being produced, they just aren't getting the opportunities to play at their desired level, which goes back to the pressure placed upon managers to succeed. Untried youth players are classed as being too risky a proposition to throw in at the deep end but in most cases they excel when called upon. But more often than not they are then demoted back to the reserves or under 19s when things go badly for them or the team.

In light of the early season European departures by our clubs, an emergency meeting should have been called for all the leading figures within Scottish football that run the clubs to change the set up of playing staff for the remainder of the season.

A minimum of five under 23 players should have been implemented in the team's playing squad for match days to help bring through young players. If every team was to implement this immediately, every team would be in the same boat, no one loses from this and the up point from this is the term of time we would have to run with this. 

A full year to play in this manner can only reap benefits for the whole country and with no European competition to participate in, the so called larger teams that would normally play in Europe at this time would be under no pressure from this rule change.

It will be interesting to see how or if any changes are made over the coming weeks to help with the shortcomings of our European exploits but if past committees are anything to go by, instead of 'if it ain't broke, don't fix it' we'll probably have 'hear no evil, see no evil, speak no evil,' instead.

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 have done it again; Yet another SPL side have become victims of the Somerset Park side in a cup competition; this time it was ex-England and Glasgow Rangers man Terry Butcher, and his Inverness side.
 

The SPL side must have been confident of victory, if recent times are anything to go by, after the Inverness side trounced Ayr 7-0 two seasons ago in the final steps of a season that saw the Highland side promoted to the SPL whilst Ayr United suffered the indignity of relegation to the second division.

Tonight, though, Ayr had their revenge, dumping Inverness from the newly named Communities League Cup with a hard fought but overall deserved 1-0 victory on home soil.

Somerset Park's new lights were installed and subsequently passed the SFL's inspection for use in tonight's match, which pleased the Ayr United support to no end after the need to use Morton's Cappielow Stadium in the last midweek match against Raith Rovers in the Ramsdens Cup.

The day has come and gone and although the victory was a splendid one, the reason why they had to play in Greenock that night will want to be forgotten by all who love the club as a bad memory.

Tonight's match was anticipated as much for the new floodlights as it was for the visit of an SPL side, but once the game got underway, all was forgotten as the free flowing play got underway on the fabulous looking turf.

The 987 fans that turned up were treated to a free style of passing football from the home side that dominated the first 45 minutes. It only took five minutes for Ayr to throw down the gauntlet, when McGowan curled in a brilliant effort that somehow slipped past the post, which gave stark warning to their visitors that they were in a fight for survival. This would not be the walkover they had experienced on previous occasions.

Ayr were to suffer an early blow as inspirational central defender Martyn Campbell, who had been red carded in Saturday's league match against Falkirk, limped from the pitch. He was replaced by upcoming star Gareth Armstrong, who has seem some inspirational performances when called upon this season.

McGowan was to impress all evening in this match, and saw another of his shots deflected wide shortly after with the resultant corner was blasted high and wide by Andy Geggan.

Ayr had the bit between their teeth though, and looked the more likely side to open the scoring, yet Inverness managed to clear their lines every time the home side charged at them. On occasion, they were free to penetrate the Somerset Park defensive wall to try and ease the pressure being placed upon them in the first half.

Ayr's McGowan was to watch in agony as a curling free kick slid past the post, whilst at the other end Caley's Doran made Kevin Cuthbert work in the home goal with a fine freekick that the alert keeper dove to keep out.

Inverness were again unlucky a few moments later when another dangerously struck set piece clipped the top of the bar on the way out of play.

Ayr peppered the Inverness goal area, with McGowan running riot at every chance he was awarded. He should have given Ayr the lead when his daisycutting cross from the right hand side swung across the six yard box, but it was inches away from the outstretched feet of all three Ayr strikers as they lunged and slid their way into contention. However, the ball remained out of the reach of the Ayr men, much to the relief of the defensive backline.

Wardlaw was next to team up with McGowan as they burst down the right wing, before the latter forced his way inside and unleashed a shot that was again held by Tuffey.

The Caley strikers found the space to let fly a shot on target, but Ayr had a lucky break as Cuthbert managed to stop the ball on the goal line at the second time of asking, which ended the first half goal less in an entertaining opening 45 minutes.

Right after the restart Ayr got a break of play that could have ended their match for the evening, as Ross Tokely connected with a first minute corner. However, he managed to hit the post instead of the target, and the ball rebounded into the open arms of Cuthbert in the Ayr goal line.

Inverness pushed more in the opening stages of the second half, hoping for the goal that could end the tie in their favour. They watched another effort slip past after Ayr seemingly gifted them an effort on goal, after losing the ball from a throw in just outside their own 18 yard line, but the consequential shot was blocked and the chance was gone.

Ayr's big powerful striker Gareth Wardlaw was a nuisance to his marking defenders all night and on 52 minutes it looked like his hard work had earned him a penalty. He was hacked down in the penalty area, but the referee decided that he had acted unsportsmanlike and dove, which ended not with a penalty but with a yellow card for his actions.

It was the 58th minute that was to set the home fans alight, though, as they watched a McGowan shot meet a helping hand from Tuffey in nets, which caused the ball to clear the goal. During the resultant corner kick, Eddie Malone picked up a head flick which he buried in the back of the goal to give his side a well deserved lead.

The joy and relief on the players and fans faces was clear to see, with the belief starting to rise that they could indeed walk away from this tie with a victory.

Veteran defender John Robertson was next to have his penalty claim waved away by the officials, after meeting a cross on the 6 yard line only to be knocked over unceremoniously by his marker. His complaints were all in vane as the ref waved play on.

Caley really pressed towards the end, and the final 10 minutes seemed to drag for the home support—nails were being bitten to the quick after a long lob ball went right over Chris Smith's head and into the path of a surprised Caley attacker, who could only half hit his shot into the arms of the perfectly placed Cuthbert.

Ayr very nearly cut their own throats when a wild clearance scuttled past the post and out for a corner. Much to the relief of the defending players (and for the second match in a row at Somerset Park), a last second goal was chalked off for the visitors after being called offside by the farside assistant referee.

This ended the proceedings of the evening with the near 1000 fans leaving in jubilant mood at the sight of Ayr United once again claiming the scalp of yet another SPL team in cup competition.

The next round draw will take place at Falkirk Stadium on Monday 29th August.

Final Score from Somerset Park
Ayr United 1
Inverness Caley Thistle 0

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 Dump SPL Side Inverness from the League Cup

For what it's worth to the Greenock Morton fans, that game tonight against St. Mirren was belting to watch.
 
Seven goals in all in the 90 minutes of play which swung from end to end from start to finish. Penalty claims were astoundingly kept to just one despite at least five clear cut opportunities that would have been given in other matches throughout the land.

In front of just under 5,000 raucous supporters, this local rivalry never failed to deliver as the fans screamed and shouted at their opposite numbers, the match officials and the opposing team throughout. Morton even managed to gather themselves a cheerleading troupe that entertained before the match and at halftime to keep the fans amused during the interval.

The match fired into life after only seven minutes with a superbly executed free kick from St. Mirren's ex Scotland star Gary Teale into the top right hand corner of the net. It was unstoppable and silenced the home fans but introduced a roar of support and air of gloating from one end of Cappielow as the large travelling Smurn fans taunted their Renfrewshire rivals with utter glee and bedevilment.

This joy was short lived though as within 20 minutes Morton had not only equalized but taken the lead after a couple of brilliantly crafted moves took the Morton players into the box for Tidser(17) and MacDonald(27) to finish beautifully on both occasions. The lead was not undeserved at this point as the first division side matched their SPL counterparts man for man, pass for pass.

The first half ended with the Greenock fans much the happier at the scoreline at this point. Back page headlines were already being bandied about the Morton fans with hints of what might be discussed with rival workmates the following day.

The second half had barely got underway when the real big penalty claims were to start rolling in. But the man in black waved them away oblivious to how clear they looked from the stands surrounding him. Morton had the first shout when Paul McGowan clearly stopped the ball with his arm whilst on the ground in the box after a Di Giacomo cross; Then it was the Saints who would have their claims ignored after Thompson was bundled over by a falling Evans, who didn't even look as if he was watching the ball when making a challenge. Both incidents incensed the watching sets of supporters as they claimed the ref was biased against them.

It took 10 minutes of the second half before the Paisley side were to draw themselves level after a ball into Thompson in the six yard area found him with the simple task of glancing his shot into the net to make it 2-2.

This goal was harsh on the home side but they were still in with a fighting chance and never gave up despite their opponents superior passing techniques and skill.

However, the home players and fans were stunned in the next 10 minutes as they watched Saint Mirren win a penalty which was slotted home by Hasselbaink and then watched aimlessly as Thompson rose free at the back post on 66 minutes to power home his side's fourth goal which almost put the seal on the victory for the visitors.

Thompson had another chance to end the game when he picked up a fluffed kickout by the keeper. He sent a delightful lob over the keeper's head, but watched as it bounced on top of the crossbar and out. This was reminiscent of Ayr United's Ross Robertson's goal against Raith Rovers a couple of weeks ago here, only that time Rossco found the back of the net.

Morton kept pushing for an opening and with 11 minutes remaining on the clock, substitute Jackson scored a low drive into the bottom left to give his side hope of at least a draw and subsequent extra time. But as the time ticked away there best chance came nearly on the stroke of full time when a glancing header was saved by the diving Samson in the Saints goal and with that went the chance of extra time.

A thoroughly entertaining match and en excellent spectacle and exhibition of Scottish Football. We may not be the best of the most skillful in the world but for blood and thunder, we can outdo any other country in the world.

Final score from Cappielow
Morton 3 St. Mirren 4

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.

Morton & St Mirren Serve up Rival Cracker

Continuing on the rich vein of support that has been growing for Women's football all over the World, thanks mainly to the recent fantastic showpiece World Cup that saw Japan return triumphant from, good news emerged from Serbia earlier today involving a Scottish women's side.

Glasgow City women's side emerged victorious from today's match with not only a 5-0 victory over Faroese side Klaksvik, but with a golden ticket to the last 32 and the knock out stages of the European Champions League.

After dominating Scottish football for years, Glasgow City have stumbled at the final qualifying stage of this illustrious competition for the past two years. But all the hard work came to fruition as they ran out easy winners of their group, winning all three group matches and scoring 17 goals with none against on the road to this point.

Captain Rachel Corsie, who was celebrating her 22nd birthday on this day, led her team to possibly the most historic day in Scottish women's football history and gave a stark warning to the men's sides playing in Europe that the bar has been set regards success.

Glasgow City got off to a great start in the match and were two nil up after only eight minutes. Kat Lindner scored both goals with a couple of powerfully hit strikes despite the best efforts of the opposition keeper.

Leanne Ross was next on the score-sheet after receiving a brilliant through ball from her captain Rachel Corsie, before firing across the goal and into the net for an unassailable 3-0 lead.

Moments before the Scottish side actually added their fourth goal, they were kept at bay by a hard worked Klaksvik keeper after some superb play from Lindner in and around the danger zone. Lindner twisted and turned her way free from her markers before passing to Murray in the box who herself showed incredible skill and was only kept from celebrating the goal of the match by the form of the home team stopper.

This momentum was to be rewarded seconds later when Jo Love made it 4-0 with a left foot strike from inside the box which ended proceedings of a breathless first 45 minutes of play.

The second half failed to live up to the scoring exploits of the first half with the match as a contest already over. Eilish McSorley added the fifth and final goal on 65 minutes after screaming a shot from 30 yards out into the bulging net, sealing the three points for her team but more importantly the place in the final 32 of the competition.

Commenting on the historic day, Head Coach Eddie Wolecki Black said on the Glasgow City FC website, “I am delighted we have gone through and to be honest, we thoroughly deserved it. We can now look forward to a really challenging end to the season. I am proud of the players for all of their hard work and dedication and they deserve to play at the highest level in European football.”

The ladies now look forward to the draw which will see them pitted against one of the top 16 seeded teams in the competition. But after their recent winning form,  they must be confident in their abilities to progress at the expense of some of the giants of European women's football.

City’s home leg will be played on either the 28th or 29th of September at Petershill Park, Springburn Glasgow.

Photos: Glasgow City FC website

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.

Glasgow City FC Victorious;Last 32 in Women's Champions League Awaits