Challenge Cup - (in case someone cares)

[frasermc]

North/East draw:

Ross County v St. Johnstone
Alloa Athletic v Dundee
Arbroath v Forfar Athletic
Brechin City v East Fife
Dunfermline Athletic v Stirling Albion
Peterhead v Montrose
Elgin City v Cowdenbeath

Bye: Raith Rovers


South/West draw:

East Stirlingshire v Ayr United
Clyde v Gretna
Stenhousemuir v Albion Rovers
Partick Thistle v Queen's Park
Berwick Rangers v Queen of the South
Livingston v Stranraer
Airdrie United v Dumbarton

Bye: Morton

All matches are scheduled for Saturday 26 July.


current holders St Johnstone have to travel to division 2 champions Ross County in the first round which won't be easy. Gordon's Fifers will be away to 2nd division rivals Brechin. Scottish cup finalists QotS should have no problem at Berwick. Gretna away to Clyde? doubt it. will that be Spartans instead...?

and Morton get a bye to the next round which might cheer alex up a bit, but i doubt it.

[Gordon EF]

Not a good draw for us. We played Brechin away in the cup last season, we slaughtered them all game but left with a 1-1 draw, then they beat us at Bayview. It'll be a tough game and we'll be making two other visits to Glebe Park next season anyway.

Can't wait for the new season to start. The Euros will be nice 'filler' though.

[frasermc]

Can't wait for the new season to start. The Euros will be nice 'filler' though.

aye.

we should start a EURO '08 thread for discussion on here. just a general thread that would encompass everything, even the warm up matches.

i watched the first 60mins of Russia-Serbia yesterday before i had my mince and tatties.

saw Progebnyak hit a screamer before he went off with a badly twisted knee, which according to Hiddink, might keep him out of the EURO's altogether now.

[Gordon EF]

aye.

we should start a EURO '08 thread for discussion on here. just a general thread that would encompass everything, even the warm up matches.

i watched the first 60mins of Russia-Serbia yesterday before i had my mince and tatties.

saw Progebnyak hit a screamer before he went off with a badly twisted knee, which according to Hiddink, might keep him out of the EURO's altogether now.

How do you think Russia will get on? I'm not sure what I think about them. They sneaked past an awful England team in qualfying and seemed to be a bit behind Croatia.

I think they've got a fair chance of getting out of their group though but they'll be paired with one of the survivors of the Group of Death and I can't see them getting past the QFs.

[frasermc]

How do you think Russia will get on? I'm not sure what I think about them. They sneaked past an awful England team in qualfying and seemed to be a bit behind Croatia.

I think they've got a fair chance of getting out of their group though but they'll be paired with one of the survivors of the Group of Death and I can't see them getting past the QFs.

i think Greece might get out of the group with Spain. i do think it's a disadvantage to the Russians to be playing Spain first. i think they'll be on 0 points after the first game and may have to play catch up on one of the other two.

another big hurt for them is they can't play their main playmaker Arshavin for the first two matches while he serves a suspension. Hiddink is a smart cookie but he carries a bit of luck and it'll run out sooner or later. i don't think they're great defensively, especially in the middle and i think that the Greeks might exploit that and get the other spot with the Spanish.

[Jasonma]

Wow, playing in the Scottish Cup final makes for a short offseason for QoS. Only 2 months off between matches.

I don't think you'll see many complaining though. :D

[st mirren till i die]

it's called the challenge cup because of the 'challenge' to make supporters turn up for it. :)

[alexp92]

and Morton get a bye to the next round which might cheer alex up a bit, but i doubt it.

:confused:

[alexp92]

it's called the challenge cup because of the 'challenge' to make supporters turn up for it. :)

would be interesting to see a cup between some of the lower league scottish teams and english teams. england has a few of those lower league tournaments, i think combining one with the challenge cup would be a good idea. will probably never happen however.

[Gordon EF]

would be interesting to see a cup between some of the lower league scottish teams and english teams. england has a few of those lower league tournaments, i think combining one with the challenge cup would be a good idea. will probably never happen however.

Like a Texaco cup with shit teams instead of good teams? Sounds good. Travelling would be prohibitive though.

[st mirren till i die]

would be interesting to see a cup between some of the lower league scottish teams and english teams. england has a few of those lower league tournaments, i think combining one with the challenge cup would be a good idea. will probably never happen however.
i've always thought it would be better to incorporate the amatuer and junior leagues in the existing challenge cup, which could hopefully soften the transition to a proper pyramid system.

[frasermc]

Airdrie 3
(Noble 53, Cardle 58, Di Giacomo 75)

Dumbarton 2
(Clark 25, Carcary 43)

good start to his career at Airdrie for the former Killie striker.


Alloa Athletic 2
(Townsley 59, Stevenson 83)

Dundee 1
(Antione-Curier 88)

Jamie returns to Alloa and also scores on his debut.


Arbroath 1
(Scott 44)

Forfar 2
(Kilgannon 62pen, McLeish 71pen)

2 pens for Forfar in this local derby. and yet again, a debutant makes the difference. this time it's Kevin McLeish.


Berwick 1
(Little 47)

Queen of the South 5
(O'Connor 12, 58, Kean 31, 65, Barr 80)

last seasons Scottish Cup finalists hit the ground running with a demolition of Berwick. Stewart Kean, newly arrived from St Mirren helped himself to a double as The Doonhamers made no mistakes in the first round like they did last year.


Brechin 0

East Fife 1
(Templeman 69)

no doubt Gordon will provide a more extensive match summary. :) suffice to say a Chris Templeman strike was enough to separate the teams.


Clyde 2
(Trouten 61pen, 74)

Annan 0

Alan Trouten got his Clyde career off to the best possible start with a double against the newcomers to the SFL, Annan.


Dunfermline 3
(Burke 3, Phinn 61, Williamson 74)

Stirling Albion 0

a conmfortable win for Dunfermline. old man Alex Burke led the way before goals from young guns Phinn and Williamson sealed the victory.


Elgin City 0

Cowdenbeath 2
(McGregor 13, McQuade 80)

goals in each half were enough for Cowdenbeath. just what Elgin wanted as it means they can concentrate on the league. ;)


Livingston 4
(Griffiths 33, 72, Hamill 67, McParland 70)

Stranraer 0

three goals in 5sec half minutes blew Stranraer away and gave Roberto Landi a winning start to his managerial career with Livi. ex-Celtic kid Anthony McParland scored on his competitive debut.


Partick Thistle 2
(Gray 9, Roberts 10)

Queens Park 1
(Henry 17)

it was Firhill for thrills in the first half as the Jags got off to a flyer only to see Queens Park pull one back, but it wasn't enough for the spiders.


Peterhead 6
(Bavidge 24, 78, Cumming o.g.45, Gunn 52, 58, 68pen)

Montrose 0

top scorers today. Martin Bavidge has hit the goal trail early this season and was ably abetted by young Craig Gunn on loan from Ross County.


Ross County 2
(Winters 53, Higgins 65)

St Johnstone 1
(Samuel 84)

both title contenders for the 1st divison, Dundee and St Johnstone, have been eliminated from the Challenge Cup in the first round. it was sweet revenge for the highland side who were beaten by St Johnstone in this same competition last season at home in the second round. Collin Samuel, back from a stint in MLS scored to make it interesting in the 84th, but it wasn't enough.


Stenhousemuir 0

Albion Rovers 1
(Donnelly 87pen)

a late penalty from Ciaran Donnelly was enough to see Albion into the second round and ensure no matches went to extra time either.

[alexp92]

move this thread into the scottish football league thread. anyone agree?

[Gordon EF]

Good win for us today. tyhe most impressive thing swas the way we won withiout playing that well.#

Champs!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[frasermc]

anyone else get the impression Gordon was slightly inebriated when he typed the above post. :p

[Gordon EF]

Aye, I was a wee bit wasted.:rolleyes:

It was a good win for us though, Brechin are a good 2nd division team so it's a good yardstick for us.

A bit of a shock with Alloa beating Dundee but all the other games went as expected really.

[frasermc]

A bit of a shock with Alloa beating Dundee but all the other games went as expected really.

it would seem that Jamie had quite a game.

no doubt i'll hear more about it from his dad on Wednesday.

[alexp92]

Aye, I was a wee bit wasted.:rolleyes:

It was a good win for us though, Brechin are a good 2nd division team so it's a good yardstick for us.

A bit of a shock with Alloa beating Dundee but all the other games went as expected really.

i see that templeman got the goal. how was he? some of the morton goal highlights with templeman i have saved on my computer are very impressive.:)

[Gordon EF]

i see that templeman got the goal. how was he? some of the morton goal highlights with templeman i have saved on my computer are very impressive.:)

He was a sub and came on for the last half hour and did make a difference. His goal yesterday was very unspectacular. A long shot came in, the keeper got to it but could only push it out to Templman who swept it onto an empty net. Still, right place, right time and all that.

[frasermc]

East Stirling 2
(Richardson 86, Rodgers 89)

Ayr United 1
(Williams 15)

Ayr probably thought they'd done just enough as Alex Williams continued where he left off last season but two late goals for East Stirling see them through to the next round.