2008 Scottish Cup final

Route to the final

Match

Team news

Queen of the South started with the same team which had beaten Aberdeen in the semi-final with Stephen Dobbie and Sean O'Connor up-front as part of a 4-4-2 formation. The midfield was composed of Paul Burns, Neil MacFarlane, Steve Tosh and Jamie McQuilken. The defence was made up of Ryan McCann (the quarter-final hero with a goal against Dundee from 84 yards meriting an application to the Guinness Book of Records as the longest distance goal from an outfield player) Jim Thomson, Andy Aitken and Robert Harris. Jamie MacDonald started in goal. Sean O'Connor was the only player not from Scotland in the team. The only player to drop out of the squad from the semi-final victory was former Rangers youth Brian Gilmour, with Scott Robertson taking his place on the bench.

Rangers also used a 4–4–2 formation, making four changes from the side who were beaten 2–0 in Aberdeen, with Kris Boyd and Jean-Claude Darcheville up-front. Rangers were without Nacho Novo who was suspended and without Chris Burke and Steven Naismith who were both injured, DaMarcus Beasley had recently returned from injury and was a surprise inclusion and started in midfield with Kevin Thomson, Barry Ferguson and Lee McCulloch. Steven Whittaker, Carlos Cuéllar, David Weir and Saša Papac made up the defence. Neil Alexander was making only his 12th start in goal for rangers. Carlos Cuéllar, Saša Papac, DaMarcus Beasley and Jean-Claude Darcheville were the non-Scots to start, meaning that 17 out of the 22 players that started the match were from Scotland, this was 5 more than the previous year.

Match summary

Both teams started the second half unchanged. Four minutes after the restart, O'Connor broke clear of Cuellar in the Rangers box and then cut the ball back for Tosh to score using his pelvis. Queens were back in the match. Rangers briefly threatened to restore their advantage, but a Boyd header was held by MacDonald. Papac then fouled McCann 10 yards from the Rangers box. Thomson rose to firmly head home from the Bob Harris free-kick. After 53 minutes the sides were tied at 2–2. Rangers could have restored their lead when Jean-Claude Darcheville passed to Beasley and he then passed to the feet of Ferguson but the skipper shot straight at the keeper. Boyd scored after he rose highest from Beasley's corner to head the ball over the goalkeeper and into the net with 18 minutes to go. Queens never seemed likely to score after that despite making three changes.

Post match comments

Tosh commented in The Scotsman after the cup final, "We showed what we're capable of in the second half, and when I went into the Rangers dressing room they knew they had been in a game. But I'm still bitterly disappointed." Tosh added, "I thought the free-kick that led to their first goal was very soft and that lots of decisions that were given against us were very easy to give. Sean O'Connor got pushed in the back in the box at the back post and it was as blatant as the nose on my face but that would have been a decision against Rangers in a cup final at the Rangers end and that's just not going to happen."

"The gaffer (Gordon Chisholm) didn't lose his head (at half-time)," said Queens midfielder Jamie McQuilken, "he just said that we never showed up in the first half. He was spot on, but he reminded us of how we got to the final and inspired us to play like that in the second half."

McQuilken added, "We're so disappointed. You don't win anything by giving Rangers a two-goal lead and we don't think we'll ever get a better chance to beat Rangers. After we scored we got an extra spring in our step and they looked worried and tired. They were arguing amongst themselves and I thought 'we've got a right good chance here'. We needed to score in the first five minutes after our second goal when we were on top. But credit to Rangers, you don't get to UEFA Cup finals for nothing."

Chisholm said, "To be honest, I thought we didn't turn up in the first half and that was disappointing. I would say that is the poorest we have played in a long time. In the second half we did much better and it was more like us. There are no excuses but I think four weeks is a hell of a long time to have a break and for the first 45 minutes we looked rusty and we looked as though we didn't have any belief."

Match details

Thomson Beasley

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Statistics

Source: Guardian report

Scottish Cup record

• John Fleck became the youngest player to play in a Scottish Cup final – 16 years, 274 days – after coming on as a substitute in the 85th minute.

Media coverage

The 2008 Scottish Cup Final between Rangers and Queen of the South was broadcast live in Scotland on BBC One Scotland and in the rest of the UK on Sky Sports Xtra. BBC One Scotland also broadcast highlights later on that night at 23:35 BST.

In North America it was broadcast live on pay-per-view Setanta Premium. In Kenya it was shown live on G Sports 1. In the Czech Republic it was shown live on Sport 1. In Italy it was shown live on Sky Sport 1 and Sky Super Calcio. In Russia it was broadcast live on 7tv. In Bosnia it was shown live on OBN BiH.

The final was also broadcast live on radio by BBC Radio Scotland, BBC Radio nan Gàidheal and BBC Radio 5 Live.

References

References

1. (2009-12-17). "Scottish Cup Fixtures". [[BBC Sport]].
2. [http://www.qosfc.com/AboutQueens/ClubHistory/tabid/164/Default.aspx Club History] {{webarchive. link. (2011-07-15)
3. (2008-04-20). "St Johnstone 1–1 Rangers". BBC Sport.
4. [https://www.theguardian.com/football/2007/mar/21/theknowledge.sport Why no one won the Scottish Cup in 1909], [[The Guardian]]
5. (2008-03-16). "Dundee Utd 2–2 Rangers". BBC Sport.
6. (2008-05-14). "Zenit St Petersburg 2–0 Rangers". BBC Sport.
7. [[Scottish Premier League. SPL]] teams received a bye to the third round.
8. http://sport.scotsman.com/scottish-cup/Goalscorer-Tosh-rants-at-referee.4118550.jp Goalscorer Tosh rants at referee and UEFA Cup
9. (24 May 2008). "Queen of the South 2-3 Rangers". BBC Sport.