Honest Men sent the Dons speeding to shock cup exit
ABERDEEN really don’t want to be involved in a cup shock just a few days after crashing out of Europe.
The Dons face Ayr United at Somerset Park in the second round of the League Cup on Wednesday night.
Manager Derek McInnes will have to test the depth of his squad to cope with three games in less than a week.
Domestic cup success should be the priority for the men from the Granite City.
Until their 1995 defeat by Stenhousemuir, it was probably Ayr who were responsible for the most surprising result in Aberdeen’s history.
The Honest Men were three places off the bottom of Division Two when they went to Pittodrie on Scottish Cup duty in 1964.
Nobody gave the visitors a chance – but they won thanks to two wingers.
The men who made the difference were at the opposite ends of their career.
Kenny Cunningham was 22, while former Rangers legend Johnny Hubbard was heading for his 34th birthday.
The veteran was playing on the right wing, with the younger man on the left flank.
As Kenny recalls, his pace helped set Ayr up for a memorable victory.
He said: “I was a left winger with pace as my biggest asset. For a while I used to train wearing spikes.
“It was suggested to me by a coach that I should consider taking up professional sprinting.
“I thought about it, but decided that I was keener on football.
“Ayr were struggling in the league when we took on Aberdeen. They went into the lead and it looked like we were beaten.
“But I got an equaliser that encouraged us to attack a bit more.
“The goalkeeper couldn’t take a Johnny Hubbard cross and Sam McMillan cut it back tome.
“The shot could have gone anywhere but it went screaming into the net.
“We got the winner right at the end when John Kilgannon scored with a lob.
“The result was a real shock at the time. It was a bit like when Berwick Rangers beat Rangers three years later.
“I remember a lot of people telling me I’d burst their football coupons.”
The cup result was described as the blackest day in Aberdeen’s history, but gave Ayr a bit of a boost in the league.
The following week they beat Albion Rovers 4-3, with Kenny scoring the second of two goals in the 87th minute.
Their cup run, however, came to an abrupt end in the quarter-final when they were thrashed 7-0 by Dunfermline.
Kenny Cunningham was a Junior Cup hero before he joined the professional ranks.
He scored the only goal in the Scottish Junior Cup Final replay at Hampden when Kirkintilloch Roy Roy beat Renfrew in 1962.
The first match was watched by a crowd of 49,000.
Their team included Alex Ferguson’s brother, Martin, and Joe Fascione, who went on to star for Chelsea. “I was then signed by Falkirk,” Kenny said. “I only got a couple of games at the Bairns and then went to England to join Hartlepool.
“The standard wasn’t great there, so I asked away and was picked up by Ayr.
“Although I thought the team was improving after we beat Aberdeen, there was a big clear-out at the end of the season.
“I was freed, which I was a bit surprised at, and went back to Junior football.”
Kenny had more success and won the Cup for a second time with Blantyre Vics.
The former electrician, now 74, is retired and lives in Kilwinning.