Kirkcaldy triumph in AFYFC cup with shootout

Kirkcaldy FC were the victors after a penalty shootout in a very closely contested Association of Fife YFC Cup Final against Cupar Colts U17s at Warout Park.

It was Cupar Colts who started on the front foot, and a defence-splitting pass from Evan Clunie sent Brandon Seath through on goal. But his close-range efforts were denied by an excellent double save by Kirkcaldy keeper Callum Smith.

With 18 minutes on the clock, Cupar were knocking at the door again, this time Brandon Seath floated in a high delivery which evaded the goalkeeper and deflected behind, resulting in the first corner of the match.

Four minutes later, Cupar kept up their early pressure. Brandon Seath was involved in the action again as he was played through by another perfectly weighted pass from Evan Clunie. However, the finish narrowly missed the goal.

In the following 20 minutes after that, Kirkcaldy came back into the game and saw a lot more of the ball. The best chance of the first half fell to Ethan Bonner on 44 minutes, as he broke into the box and gracefully rounded the goalkeeper. Thanks to some heroic defending on the goal line, the score somehow stayed 0-0.

Cupar started the second half similarly to the first, and yet again Seath was involved in a great piece of link-up play with Lucas Dickson. The eventual drilled cross was dealt with well by the Kirkcaldy defence.

After 59 minutes, Kirkcaldy’s Aaron Dall ran through on goal. With the defence hot on his heels, his powerful effort was narrowly wide of the post and hit the side netting.

Only a few minutes later, Kirkcaldy were awarded a penalty. Following a handball shout which was originally ignored by the referee, an initial free kick was given for a separate foul outside the box. After a quick consultation with the assistant referee on the near side, a penalty was given.

The penalty was well saved by goalkeeper Noah McSorley; however, Haig Hutchinson made no mistake with the rebound and fired his side into the lead. It was 1-0 to Kirkcaldy.

Fifteen minutes later, Kirkcaldy came forward again. Dall broke through, but his well-struck effort was just wide of the mark.

With seven minutes to go, Cupar Colts were level. A fantastic, lofted pass was latched onto by Albie Milne who smashed a powerful effort into the back of the net.

In the time that followed, both sides ramped up the quality. There was a fast pace to the game which was signified by a piece of individual brilliance by Seath. He picked up the ball out wide and showed great control to break into the box, beating his man, but saw his strike rattle the post with only minutes left to play.

In the final minute of the game, Cupar went down to ten men. The full-time whistle was blown shortly after which meant we were heading to penalties.

Early in the shootout, Kirkcaldy’s goalkeeper stayed calm under pressure and made a fantastic save to his right-hand side which gave his side an early advantage.

The deciding penalty was tucked away by Kai Russell, who dispatched the spot kick that won the game for Kirkcaldy. The shootout was won 5-3 and sparked jubilation amongst the Kirkcaldy players who were now AFYFC cup champions.

Cupar Colts Player of the Match: Brandon Seath

He was key to a lot of good attacking play from Cupar, showing a lot of quality to beat his man many times and threatened the Kirkcaldy goal on a few occasions with well-struck efforts.

Kirkcaldy FC Player of the Match: Aaron Dall

Posed a threat to Cupar on the break several times in the second half, and nearly scored with a few of his shots inside the box.