The Press and Journal (Inverness, Highlands, and Islands)
Gothenburg Greats are inspiration in cup final triumph for Westdyke
Westdyke Community Club are Scottish Cup champions for the first time in the club’s history.
The Westdyke Under-13s team, who play in the A League of the Aberdeen and District Juvenile FA, beat Airdrie Pumas 2-1 in extra-time in Airdrie on Sunday.
Coach David Dunn was thrilled to see his 2010 squad lift the cup, but insists the win is one for everyone at the club.
He said: “What a day for us.
“It’s such a difficult competition. We started with 426 teams at this age group, so to go and win it is incredible.
“To get to a final is a huge achievement in its own right but to go and win it is massive for everyone involved, not just the team but the entire club.
“It’s the first time Westdyke Community Club has won the Scottish Cup since it started 27 years ago, so this is absolutely huge.
“For the boys it’s great but it’s for everybody as it is a real team effort behind the scenes.
“We’re coaches, but this isn’t for us – it’s for the kids. It’s their achievement but, my goodness, the boys were absolutely outstanding.
“It’s a lifelong memory for them.”
Westdyke were cheered on by family, friends and clubmates as they came from behind.
The team also received video messages wishing them good luck from Gothenburg Greats Gordon Strachan and Neil Simpson, to current players Jonny Hayes, Graeme Shinnie and Joe Lewis as well as others from Pittodrie and further afield.
Dunn said: “We had a terrific video wishing us well from the Aberdeen team coach for the final to try to make the game as special as we could.
“We had a supporters’ bus of our own team’s parents and the other 2010 team also came down.
“We split into two 11-a-side teams as we moved to the competitive structure, so there’s Westdyke CC, which is us, and Westdyke Thistle.”
Westdyke rallied from 1-0 down at half-time to force extra-time before winning the cup in the dying seconds of the additional 30 minutes.
Dunn said: “We were 1-0 down after a very difficult first half.
“We didn’t settle and
Airdrie Pumas did. They came at us and got their goal after a ricochet between two of our defenders allowed their striker to nip in and score.
“We changed formation at half-time to try to get ourselves back into the game.”
He added: “We play 35 minutes each way so we had to go for it and the boys stepped it up a notch.
“They were brilliant in the second half and got the equaliser through Lucas Stephen to take the game to extra-time.
“Louie Scott then scored with the final kick at the end of extra-time.”
They still have five league fixtures to play.
Dunn said: “We’ve been a victim of our own success in some ways.
“The Scottish Cup takes precedence over the league games so, as we’ve progressed, the league games have backed up.
“We’re back in action at Balmoral Stadium against Cove Rangers for a very tough game.
“We play again at Lawsondale on Thursday, then again on Sunday, so the games keep coming.
“Normally we train Wednesdays and Fridays but it is very light, where we work on set-pieces.”