Balmoral Stadium, North of Scotland Amateur Cup Final. 25/4/25
Me still 342, Wee Man still 204
Cup final Friday’s are a great idea. As stated before I have warmed over the years to Friday fitba, when it has the added bonus of a trophy it makes it all the better. The top two of the Premier League head to head for silverware also added to the night. It was set up for a decent battle. I am sure Wee Man will say that the kick about at the Balmoral added more goodness to the trip in behind Makro also.
£12 quid it cost us to get in, a £2 pound hike from the semi (we were at Cowie v Echt). I don’t know how it was split but I am guessing £8 and £4, but for amateurs? Jeezo. But I jest somewhat as I love this level of fitba and its free 99.999999% of the time. To date we have been to Cove Rangers for amateur semis and finals to the extent I have now lost count of how many occasions the Balmoral has welcomed us on a Friday in Spring. Being honest its always enjoyable and this was no different.
A tight game with both teams having spells of superiority during it. Kincorth started the better of the two. The local side was quicker out the traps. I say local because Wee Man asked where Kincorth was and when thinking about it I couldn’t help but think Cove Rangers ground is actually closer to Kincorth than it is to Cove. (Correct me if I am wrong). The Aberdeen side took the lead through an error in the Cowie box when a ball somehow made it to the back post where it dropped leaving black clad men queuing up to score. It was Ryan Hall on hand who stuck the ball into the net from close range with the nearest man in blue at least five yards away. But if it wasn’t Hall a team mate in the vicinity would have finished the job as Cowie had switched off here. The same man was a ball hair away from making it two a couple of minutes later and it really deserved to go in when Hall managed to angle his body into a strange shape to connect a half volley which had incredible bend and dip on it only to head past the right of the goal frame at the apex of the bar and post. For our view at the other end we saw the elastic nature of Hall’s body and the bend of the ball perfectly. Wee Man thought it was in, I thought it was in and KC sub Michael Gunn who was warming up next to us thought it was in. It deserved to be in. Kincorth had another huge chance when a through ball saw Kieran Wilson burst into the box , Cowie keeper Stuart Miller came out but the Kincorth striker made his way round him and fired at goal, but from what seemed like out of nowhere Cowie’s man mountain of a centre half Martin Crisp went flying across the goal to superbly block the effort. Brilliant defending from the big man. Cowie did ask a question of Jarvie late in the half when McDonald lashed a shot low but the keeper replied with a tidy low save to his left to keep his team in the lead at half time. There was some action off the pitch too. The far enclosure from us was housing the the Cowie young team to start but the Kincorth young boys were not having it and entered the fray. This making the wee terrace seem like a bag of angry ferrets. The angrier of the futrets being the KC boys who pretty much chased the Stonehaveners (correct term?) away reminiscent of old school end taking back in the 70s and 80s. Amusing stuff which carried on for the rest of the game.
HT 1 v 0
As the young loons continues to stalk and chase each other around the place Kincorth had the ball in the net again. But it was chopped off by the lino in front of us, Mr Gerraghty, for offside. Credit to the assistant for seeing this as he also had to contend with a concurrently raging skirmish on the deck in front of him between the two number 10s , McCombie(C) and McAllister(K) which looked like Judo and not fitba. From here Cowie grew into the game and were the better of the two for a long period of the half, but during what was their best spell of the match they didn’t really make ex Dundee United and Peterhead keeper Paul Jarvie work at any point. This was to cost them as Kincorth sucker punched them when a long through ball found sub Gunn who sprinted to the edge of the box and sent a cool finish past Miller. It was far too easy, leaving Kincorth with one hand on the trophy, while Cowie as holders were losing their grip on it. Cowie resorted to sticking Crisp up top against fellow giant centre half Ifi(very good player for the record) as a last throw of the dice. A tactic I appreciate as does my old mucker and ex KC player Lee Carver who was now in our company. Its a tactic that gets slated in the modern game but is good if utilized correctly. However, for Cowie it didn’t pay off as the game fizzled out. On the opposing central defenders Crisp and Ifi, surely they are the two biggest in the AAFA. I’m a big loon but they both would tower over me. As the darkness started to drop in, the final whistle sounded and Kincorth won the North of Scotland Cup for the fifth time and third in four years. The entertainment was not over for the night as the trophy presentations were quality with the WWF type master of ceremonies yelling and barking out his script. Funny stuff then it was all over for the night as the floodlights were turned off as soon as the KC team photo was taken. As the winning players walked of one shouted “to the Covies”, I am sure it will be some night in the Kincorth boozer tonight.
Attendance – 287 (Rough head count, probably got bigger too)
Entrance – £12 (twelve) for both
Pie – £6.50, pie, coffee, crisps
Pint – Didnt bother
Score Predictions – Me 2 v 2, Wee Man 1 v 2
Season Score Prediction Totals – Me 4 v 4 Wee Man
FITBAWBAG 