The Dundee under 18s went down to a 2-0 defeat against Kilmarnock in the Scottish FA Youth Cup Final at Hampden Park tonight. Duncan Barlow gave Killie an early lead and Reuben Cooper ensured the cup was heading for Ayrshire with a late second goal. The Dee youngsters gave their all against a strong Killie team and should take great pride from their performance tonight and in this cup run.
Kilmarnock started confidently and dominated the early stages. Ben Brannan was first to have a go when he fizzed a low 35 yarder on target, but straight at keeper Warren Lyall who saved with his foot.
Killie continued to attack and took the lead in the 14th minute. A corner was flicked on and central defender Duncan BARLOW nodded home from close range.
The young Dark Blues found it hard to get going against a physically strong and skillful Kilmarnock team. Lyall had to make two fine saves on the half hour mark to keep the Dee in the game. First he turned away a fierce 20 yard shot from Grant Marchant that was heading for the top corner. From the resulting corner Killie worked a neat short move and Lyall again pulled off an excellent save from Cole Burke’s curling effort.
After a tough opening half hour the Dee came back strongly towards the end of the first half. They kept the ball in Kilmarnock’s half for long spells probing for openings, and snapping into tackles to stop Killie breaking away. However, the Ayrshire youngsters always kept their shape and stayed organised, preventing Dundee from fashioning any clear chances.
Early in the second half Killie came close to extending their lead when Euan Bowie hammered a shot from 25 yards off the outside of the post. Lyall again had to save well when Burke’s header from a corner bounced up and was looping towards the top corner.
The Dark Blues had plenty of the ball in the second half but couldn’t break through an impressively tight Kilmarnock defence.
Dundee were still very much in the game, but were left with a mountain to climb when Kilmarnock scored a fortunate second goal. Reuben COOPER had a go from 22 yards and his shot struck the head of the unlucky Charley Oosenbrugh and flew past the stranded Lyall.
The Dark Blues kept plugging away but there was no way back after that. There were six minutes of added time, but it wasn’t enough for the young Dee to pull a goal back. Kilmarnock did get the ball into the net from Archie Traynor’s header but the offside flag saved the Dundee youngsters from what would have been a harsh scoreline.
The young Dees had a fantastic cup run but tonight Kilmarnock were just too strong for them. Dundee were beaten by a good team, and they acquited themselves well in the final. They gave their all, but sadly it wasn’t enough on the night. They can be proud of themselves and their efforts. The club certainly is.
Dundee FC 3-4-2-1
Lyall
Leiper (Bland 79), Cole Perrie, Baird, Oosenbrugh
Leiper, Mitchell (c) (Paterson 82), Crombie, Scott
Hunter (Rooney 74), Howett (Bruce 79)
Luca Perrie
Unused subs: Watson (gk), Barr, Gray.
Booked: Perrie (foul on Burke).
Kilmarnock 3-4-2-1
Brown
Burgess (Davis 86), Barlow, Spence
Brannan (c), Marchant (Eaglesham 86), Traynor, Bowie (Gilmour 69)
Cooper (Law 86), Burke
Allan (Durreh 60)
Unused subs: Mullen (gk), McKeown.
Goals: Barlow (14), Cooper (77).
Booked: none.
Referee: Terry Ormiston. Assistants: Tommi Kerr, Steven G Spence. 4th official: Robert Bowie.
Report: James Christie.
