2010 Scottish League Cup final

Route to the final

St Mirren

St Mirren faced Third Division East Stirlingshire at Ochilview Park in their first match, a comfortable 6–3 victory was secured with five goals from Billy Mehmet and one from Stephen O'Donnell. Mehmet scored one from close range, one from a chip and a third from a header to complete his hat-trick in 17 minutes. The half time score was 3–4 with Memhet scoring all of St Mirren's goals and Stephen McGuire and an Andy Rodgers brace netting for East Stirlingshire. Memhet and O'Donnell completed the scoring in the second half. St Mirren then travelled to Somerset Park to play Ayr United, Michael Higdon scored the opener after 25 minutes with a header from a David Barron cross. Dean Keenan was sent off for United in 89 minutes and Billy Memhet scored 66 seconds later to ensure the win. The further trip to Ayrshire awaited St Mirren in the third round at Rugby Park, the match ended 1-2 to the away team with goals from Stephen McGinn and a 93-minute Andy Dorman strike. The quarter-final opponents were Motherwell at St Mirren Park. The match ended 3–0 with goals from Michael Higdon, Jack Ross and a Stephen Craigan own goal. Memhet added his eighth goal of the League Cup campaign with the only goal in a 1-0 semi-final win over Hearts at Fir Park.

Rangers

As Rangers had been competing in Europe, they entered the competition in the third round. Rangers began their campaign against Dumfries team Queen of the South from the First Division, it was the first meeting between the two teams since the 2008 Scottish Cup Final. Steven Naismith opened the scoring with a tap in from a Kris Boyd cross. Substitute Nacho Novo made it 2-0 to Rangers but former Rangers youth player Robert Harris scored a consolation in 91 minutes.{{cite news|url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/scot_cups/8268055.stm

Match

Team news

St Mirren were without defender Chris Innes due to a torn abductor muscle. Also missing were Rory Loy, who was ineligible under the terms of his loan deal from Rangers, and Tom Brighton. Brighton was ruled out for the rest of the 2009–10 season due to a knee injury.

Rangers defender Madjid Bougherra missed his second successive League Cup final through a hamstring injury. Also missing was Kirk Broadfoot due to a hamstring strain. On 20 March Rangers manager Walter Smith stated that Neil Alexander, usually Rangers' reserve goalkeeper, was to continue in goal for the final, having played in the previous rounds. Midfielder Steven Davis was a late fitness concern with a sickness bug.

Match Summary

The Buddies dominated the first half, Steven Thomson and David Barron coming close to breaking the deadlock. Kevin Thomson was sent off for a dangerous tackle on his namesake Steven and Danny Wilson saw red for a professional foul on Craig Dargo. But Kenny Miller headed a dramatic winner for Rangers' nine men in the 84th minute.

Three days after their demoralising defeat, St Mirren defeated Celtic 4–0 in a Scottish Premier League fixture, with the surprise result going a long way to ensuring their survival in the division and derailing Celtic's challenge for the league title, which instead ultimately went to Rangers. In contrast, on the same night Rangers were eliminated from the Scottish Cup by eventual winners Dundee United, ending the Govan club's hopes of a treble.

Match details

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Statistics

Source

Media coverage

The 2010 Scottish League Cup Final was broadcast live on BBC One Scotland on their Sportscene programme with build-up starting at 14:30 GMT. In Ireland it was broadcast live on Setanta Ireland.

Commentary of the match on radio was from BBC Radio Scotland, BBC Radio nan Gàidheal and BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra.

References

References

1. (2 August 2009). "E Stirlingshire 3-6 St Mirren". BBC Sport.
2. (26 August 2009). "Ayr 0-2 St Mirren". BBC Sport.
3. (22 September 2009). "Kilmarnock 1-2 St Mirren". BBC Sport.
4. (27 October 2009). "St Mirren 3-0 Motherwell". BBC Sport.
5. (2 February 2010). "Hearts 0-1 St Mirren". BBC Sport.
6. (24 May 2008). "Queen of the South 2-3 Rangers". BBC Sport.
7. (27 October 2009). "Dundee 1-3 Rangers". BBC Sport.
8. (3 February 2010). "Rangers 2-0 St Johnstone". BBC Sport.
9. (September 2018). "Innes a final doubt for Buddies". Teamtalk}}{{Dead link.
10. (27 October 2009). "Buddies' Brighton out for season". BBC Sport.
11. (14 March 2010). "Rangers defender Madjid Bougherra to miss cup final". BBC Sport.
12. (September 2018). "Rangers pair ruled out of final". Teamtalk}}{{Dead link.
13. (20 March 2010). "Rangers' Allan McGregor set to be on cup final bench". BBC Sport.
14. (21 March 2010). "Doubt over sick Davis". Scotsman.
15. [https://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/scot_cups/8576203.stm St Mirren 0-1 Rangers], BBC Sport, 21 March 2020
16. [https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/51997477 The night St Mirren stunned Celtic 4-0: 10 years on], BBC Sport, 24 March 2020
17. (8 March 2010). "The Co-operative Insurance Cup Final, 2009 – Appointment of Match Officials". Scottish Football League.