Cup football at its very best as underdogs have their day

Even head to Leith and a new lightness of step might be identified as the Hibernian-supporting locals go about their day, buoyed by the knowledge that a home quarter-final tie with Celtic lies just around the corner.

Alex Smith was one of the last to leave the Falkirk Community – that word again – Stadium on Wednesday evening, following a night which he described as being one of the best of his career. If the Scottish Communities League Cup needs anything else to commend it, then how about helping make a 71-year-old feel young again? Smith was spotted on the touchline in those last frantic few minutes on Wednesday, as Falkirk, having briefly succumbed to a Rangers recovery, fought their way back in front again.

No-one could remember seeing the assistant manager so animated. Having won trophies at both Aberdeen and St Mirren, Smith knows what a cup win can do for a community. The Scottish Cup win of 1987 is still a major talking point in Paisley. Aberdeen, for all their big-club pretensions, have only added one more trophy – 1995’s League Cup – to the honours table since Smith led the Pittodrie side to Scottish Cup glory in 1990.

However, Falkirk’s pulsating 3-2 victory over Rangers put Smith in mind of a night in 1980 when he was in charge of Stirling Albion, and Celtic were beaten 1-0 at the old Annfield. It caused the same cup-shock tremors although, in Stirling’s case, their lead was over-turned in the second leg at Parkhead, during a time when the much tinkered-with competition was contested over two legs. While some complain about a present format where teams are seeded in the first three rounds, it does at least mean the underdogs are given an opportunity to have their day, while ties being played to a conclusion on the night reduces the chance of the big guns rectifying matters in a replay or second leg (as Celtic did against Stirling, winning 6-1 after extra time).

There was no such escape route on offer on Wednesday night for Rangers, beaten fairly and squarely over 90 – and a bit – minutes. This is the beauty of a cup competition where a winner must be identified on the night – be it after 90 minutes, extra time or following the lottery of penalties. Anything can happen and yet it seems teams will persist in taking gambles which they can ill-afford to lose. However many name changes and format-alterations the League Cup undergoes it still remains one of only two trophies teams such as Hearts and Aberdeen can realistically hope to win. Indeed, it is possible to argue that they should be resting important players in league matches prior to these crucial midweek cup clashes.

The right attitude from clubs might also see fans reconsider their priorities. The low attendances that have been noted this week are much to do with the cost of attending two games in a week, but supporters can have their imagination fired by the cup in a way that the uninspired monotony of the SPL can never do.

There’s nothing like a cup shock to re-invigorate the soul of a football lover, and this week has treated us to three particularly absorbing narratives.

These results might not, for obvious reasons, have stirred the souls of those in Govan and Gorgie. But even fans of Rangers and Hearts would agree that you interfere with a winning team at your own peril.

Ally McCoist learned a lesson as Falkirk took advantage of the Rangers manager’s belief that he could get away with altering his team to a significant extent. However, the Rangers manager was made to look cautious when compared to Paulo Sergio.

The Hearts manager has discovered the Tynecastle side are not Manchester City, and therefore are not capable of playing almost completely different teams in successive fixtures. By keeping Ryan Stevenson on the sidelines Sergio also missed a trick. The striker has a special relationship with Ayr United fans and would surely have strained every sinew in order to give a good account of himself back in such a personally meaningful setting. What did Sergio do? He left the player out completely.

And then there’s Aberdeen. It’s difficult to know whether Craig Brown sent out a shadow side against East Fife on Tuesday since no one, including the Aberdeen manager, seems to know what the best Aberdeen team is at present. But surely now the penny has dropped. This isn’t a tournament you can afford to take lightly – and nor should you wish to.

It’s good that some did, since it increased the likelihood of shocks occurring. But Rangers might have cause to rue their bit-part performance on an autumn night in September. McCoist himself suggested earlier this week that Rangers’ success in the league last season could be attributed to the swell in confidence following victory in the League Cup final.

Now Celtic have the chance to lift the first trophy of the season, and benefit from the stimulus. But so, crucially, do East Fife, Ayr United and Falkirk. This slender, delicious slice of hope is something they have over their supposedly better-off opponents from a memorable midweek.