KaisAyr - IFA UK Cup Winners !
Ayr United Internet Supporters Team, KaisAyr, were crowned champions
of Britain when they lifted the IFA British Cup on Friday evening in
Leeds. The Honest Men defeated Millwall 7-6 in a penalty shoot out
after a tense 2-2 draw during the regulation 90 minutes.
KaisAyr took their time to jump off the starting blocks and were
punished very early on for their slackness when Millwall scored from
virtually their first attempt on goal with a half volley shot from 18
yards, which whizzed across goalkeeper Stuart Bell and into the far
corner. Not long after the opener, Millwall used their terrifying
pace down the flanks to pass Paul Roseblade and cross the ball over
to the waiting forward to bounce a shot off the ground and over the
stranded goalkeeper for 2-0.
Manager Ronnie McJannet had to make changes and brought on 15 year
old Andrew Gamble for the unfortunate Grammy Morton and moved
Scott "Diege" Plain from left midfield into the right full back
position. The introduction of Gamble on the right wing proved vital
as his attacking movements caused all sorts of problems for the slow,
heavy Millwall back line. The referee played advantage from a late
challenge on the youngster and he managed to stay on his feet to find
George Dunlop who - after beating his customary eleven men - found
Pete Noble. He flashed a first time effort across the goalkeeper and
off the inside of the far post. Despite Millwall appeals for offside,
this got KaisAyr on the scoresheet and more importantly back into the
match. It hadn't look like coming as Ayr were on the back foot for
most of the first half but pulling one back before the break was
important.
KaisAyr got their first touch of good fortune when Millwall had a
third goal disallowed. The linesman flagged early and ruled that the
striker had strayed offside before planting the ball past Bell.
The second half belonged to KaisAyr who kept pushing and pushing for
that important equaliser. And midway through the first half the
leveller eventually came courtesy of a goal mouth scramble. Big Alan
Jess couldnt quite finish from Gary McNeill excellent freekick
delivery, but the ball fell to Pete Noble who somehow managed to
bundle the ball across the line. The sidelines exploded with noise
and even Partick Thistle, Motherwell, Dunfermline and our good
friends Inter Milan were joining in the celebrations - though it
suddenly went rather quiet from the section that the Kilmarnock team
were occupying. To most of the teams watching, a little unknown team
from the west coast of Scotland had managed to pull back the score.
With only minutes left on the clock, it could had ended in disaster
for KaisAyr. A long hopeful ball above the defence found a striker
less than 6 yards from the goal line with no sign of a offside flag -
he surely couldnt miss, Stuart Bell didnt have time to intercept but
luckily the importance of the moment was too much for the lad and he
punted the ball high into the trees behind the goal - you could hear
a great sigh of relief from the team.
The final whistle had blown and the match went straight into
penalties.
It turned out that every outfield player that finished the match had
to take a kick for KaisAyr.
Pazza Roseblade took the first to give KaisAyr the lead, but this was
quickly levelled. Then Brian McJannet saw his kick blocked by the
Millwall keeper. Millwall scored to make it 2-1.
Diege scored and James Kearns burst the net, while the Lions scored
one and missed one, leaving the score level at 3-3 going into the
last penalty.
Gary McNeill pulled his shot wide and things looked bleak for KaisAyr
before the unfortunate Millwall striker who had spurned their late
opportunity to win the game could only strike the angle of post and
bar. We had sudden-death.
Gamble, Steve Noble and man of the match Geo Dunlop all scored their
penalties, but unfortunately Millwall also kept scoring. Davie
McJannet saw his kick saved and this prompted the Millwall team to
fly into celebration. They had miscounted and thought that the cup
was theirs, but after much whistle-blowing, the referee managed to
get the shoot-out back on track.
When Millwall stepped up for the next, Bell managed to make the save
and keep the tie alive. The famous - at least if you read the Voice
of Reason's column in the Ayrshire Post - goalscorer Alastair Cole
was next up and he blasted down the middle with his trusty left-foot
to put the pressure back on Millwall. The Lions taker blasted over
the bar and it was KaisAyr's turn to celebrate. This time there was
no referee's whistle to spoil the part and Ayr United's
representatives had won the cup.
Every member of the KaisAyr squad chased after Stuart Bell and piled
up on top of him. The Friday night was party time and what a night it
was.
Many thanks go to Ayr United FC for providing KaisAyr with their
2002/03 home kit to wear in the final, Colin McDonald of The Wallace
Bar for his support of the team and especially to the members of the
KaisAyr squad who have travelled trousands of miles this year as far
as Milan and as close as Killie representing our great team. It's a
fact that we reached the final without playing a home tie in the
tournament that kicked off nine months ago!
Raith 1-6 KaisAyr (1st Round)
Grimsby 0-8 KaisAyr (2nd Round)
Scunthorpe 0 - 3 KaisAyr (Quarter Final)
Arsenal 0 - 7 KaisAyr (Semi Final in Preston)
Team:
1. Stuart Bell
2. Graeme Morton
3. Fraser Owens
4. Paul Roseblade
5. Alan Jess
6. James Kearns
7. Scott Plain
8. Eddie Main
9. George Dunlop
10. Pete Noble
11. Gary McNeill
Subs:
Alastair Cole
Brian McJannet
Stevie Noble
Alan Jess
Andrew Gamble
David McJannet
Miles McColgan
and to the rest of the squad who came along and were just as much
part of the team, Marc Dunlop, Steve Clarke, Allan Leydon, Richie
Henderson, Matt Noble, Kevin Lindsay,Stuart Galloway,
Mags,Murray,Alison and Zak McJannet, Nathan Galloway and Melanie
Gibson. Roy Donnachie who couldnt make it as his fiancee went into
labour at the weekend and also to Jamie Stevenson.
What a weekend!
Championees!!