Jordanhill teach Bishopbriggs a lesson with schools cup final victory

Jordanhill were victorious in the final of the Cameronian Cup at Celtic Park as they defeated Bishopbriggs Academy 1-0 in a penalty shoot-out, following an enthralling 3-3 encounter in normal time.

The winning side will feel redeemed having lost the final of the same competition last year to Holyrood, with the anguish of defeat spurring them on to come back from behind in this year’s final to avoid back-to-back disappointments.

It would be Bishopbriggs who took the lead, but it was Jordanhill who had the ball in the net first in the 13th minute when Ruairidh McDonald bundled the ball over the line. However, the referee ruled the goal out for a foul on the Bishopbriggs goalkeeper.

Bishopbriggs launched an attack quickly from the free kick, but Jordanhill captain Luke O’Donnell made a terrific tackle to stop the counter and let his side regroup.

Bishopbriggs would eventually open the scoring around 15 minutes later when striker Ewan McFadyen’s looping cross was brought down by Lewis Kennedy. He was the coolest man in the stadium as he dispatched his strike past Andrew Smith in the Jordanhill net and gave his side the lead going into the half-time interval.

Bishopbriggs doubled their lead shortly after the restart from a corner. The corner looked set to be collected by Kennedy, but the ball just slipped through his hands inside his six-yard box and McDonald would put the ball in the net this time. The goal scorer could safely celebrate on this occasion as the referee pointed to the centre circle.

Jordanhill started the comeback with around 15 minutes left on the clock when Alex Thomson performed an excellent dribble to get around the Bishopbriggs defence and snuck the ball underneath the diving goalkeeper to inject his side with much-needed belief to overturn the scoreline.

The equaliser would come two minutes after their first when Jason MacNiven’s free-kick struck the bar from the edge of the area. The ball was met in the air for the rebound by the goal scorer Thomson, and his effort met the underside of the bar and bounced over the line to draw the sides level.

Jordanhill looked set to grab a winner in the dying embers of the match, but they were to be sucker punched in the most unique fashion with only three minutes remaining. Bishopbriggs Finlay MacLennan stepped up to deliver a corner into the box in front of Celtic Park’s famed ‘standing section’ corner, and the ball flew over everyone to hit the inside of the side netting without touching anything else. MacLennan’s corner directly gave Bishopbriggs their magic moment of the match, as well as the lead and they looked set to walk out of Celtic Park as the victors.

That was until Jordanhill had a corner of their own in added time. The original delivery was dealt with by the Bishopbriggs defence, but captain fantastic Luke O’Donnell struck the ball on the half volley from the edge of the area, and it bounced by Jamie Morrison to take the final to a penalty shoot-out in dramatic fashion.

In a remarkable sequence, only one penalty out of nine was scored in the shootout. The decisive effort was tucked away by MacNiven of Jordanhill who came so close to scoring from a set piece in normal time. The goalkeepers at least left the penalty area with their heads held high. Bishopbriggs’ Morrison saved two of the four he faced while Andrew Smith would provide Jordanhill with their magic moment on the fifth round of spot kicks. He dived to the bottom right to deny goal scorer MacLennan, not only keeping a clean sheet in a penalty shootout but also ensuring that the trophy was coming home with him and his teammates.

Bishopbriggs Academy Player of the Match: Lewis Kennedy

Bishopbriggs came so close to victory and on another day, they would have left Celtic Park with the cup., Kennedy was a constant threat which was proved when he opened the scoring, and his close control saw him act as a cut above the rest of most players on the park.

Jordanhill Player of the Match: Luke O’Donnell

The Jordanhill skipper led his team to cup success with an inspired performance from centre-back, keeping the Bishopbriggs attack at bay whilst popping up with the very last kick of the game to drag the game to penalties when hope had faded. Therefore, he is a worthy recipient of his side’s player of the match award