The 1993 Scottish Challenge Cup Final, also known as the B&Q Cup Final for sponsorship reasons, was an

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

match between

Falkirk Falkirk ( gd, An Eaglais Bhreac, sco, Fawkirk) is a large town in the Central Lowlands of Scotland, historically within the county of Stirlingshire. It lies in the Forth Valley, northwest of Edinburgh and northeast of Glasgow. Falkirk had a ...

and St Mirren on 12 December 1993 at Fir Park in Motherwell. It was the fourth final of the

Scottish Challenge Cup The Scottish Professional Football League Challenge Cup,Scottish Football League The Scottish Football League (SFL) was a league featuring professional and semi-professional football clubs mostly from Scotland.One club, Berwick Rangers, is based in the town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, which is located approximately 4 km south ...

. The match was Falkirk's first national cup final in 36 years since winning the Scottish Cup Final in

1957 1957 ( MCMLVII) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1957th year of the Common Era (CE) and ''Anno Domini'' (AD) designations, the 957th year of the 2nd millennium, the 57th year of the 20th century, and the 8th y ...

; whilst it was St Mirren's first in only six years since lifting the Scottish Cup in

1987 File:1987 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The MS Herald of Free Enterprise capsizes after leaving the Port of Zeebrugge in Belgium, killing 193; Northwest Airlines Flight 255 crashes after takeoff from Detroit Metropolitan Airport, k ...

. The tournament was contested by clubs below the Scottish Premier Division, with both finalists from the First Division. The match was goalless after 45 minutes, but Falkirk took the lead two minutes into the second half with a goal from

Neil Duffy Cornelius "Neil" Duffy (born 5 June 1967) is a Scottish football coach and former professional footballer who played in defence and midfield for Dundee United, Falkirk, Dundee, Ayr United and Dumbarton. He was appointed assistant manager of Troo ...

and only one minute later were 2–0 up with a goal from

Richard Cadette Richard Raymond Cadette (born 21 March 1965) is an English former professional footballer who played as a forward, most notably for Falkirk, Brentford and Southend United. After his retirement he moved into management with Tooting & Mitcham ...

. The final goal of the game came from John Hughes, which was enough for Falkirk to win the match 3–0 and the tournament for the first time.Bell's Cup
''scottishfootballleague.com''.

Scottish Football League The Scottish Football League (SFL) was a league featuring professional and semi-professional football clubs mostly from Scotland.One club, Berwick Rangers, is based in the town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, which is located approximately 4 km south ...

. 2 November 2005. Retrieved 21 April 2013.

Route to the final

Falkirk

Falkirk faced neighbours Alloa Athletic at home in the first round with the home team producing a 2–1 victory.Scottish Challenge Cup
statto.com. Retrieved 2011-06-16. The second round draw saw Cowdenbeath travel to

Brockville Park Brockville Park was a football stadium located on Hope Street in Falkirk, Scotland, north-west of the town centre. It was the home of Falkirk F.C. from 1885 until the end of 2002–03 Scottish football season.

, in another home game for Falkirk with the team winning 3–0 to progress to the quarter-final. The reward for reaching the quarter-final was a third home game of the tournament against rivals Dunfermline Athletic with The Bairns emerging 4–1 winners. The semi-final opposition was Livingston, and a fourth consecutive home game at Brockville with Falkirk winning 3–2 to book a place in the Scottish Challenge Cup Final for the first time.

St Mirren

St Mirren faced a trip to Clyde in the first round which saw the team emerge 1–0 winners. The second round was another game on the road against Renfrewshire rivals Morton with The Saints producing a 4–2 victory to progress to the quarter-finals. A third away game of the tournament saw St Mirren travel to Airdrieonians, winning 1–0. The reward for reaching the semi-final was another away game with the opponents in the form of Ayr United at Somerset Park. St Mirren won 2–1 to book a place in the final. St Mirren reached the Scottish Challenge Cup Final for the first time.

Pre-match

Analysis

Falkirk played all of their games preceding the final at their home of

, in the process scoring twelve goals and conceding four. On the other hand, St Mirren played all four of their games on the road with no matches played at their home of Love Street. Despite playing all of their games away from home, St Mirren scored eight goals and conceded only three, whilst keeping two clean sheets compared with Falkirk's one. This was the first appearance for both Falkirk and St Mirren in the Scottish Challenge Cup Final since its inauguration in 1990.

Match

Teams

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Scottish Challenge Cup Final 1993

1993 File:1993 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Oslo I Accord is signed in an attempt to resolve the Israeli–Palestinian conflict; The Russian White House is shelled during the 1993 Russian constitutional crisis; Czechoslovakia is peace ...

Challenge Cup Final The Challenge Cup of Rugby league was instituted in the 1896–97 Northern Rugby Football Union season, 1896–97 and the final was contested between Batley Bulldogs, Batley and St Helens R.F.C., St. Helens at Headingley Rugby Stadium, Headingley, ...

Falkirk F.C. matches St Mirren F.C. matches December 1993 sports events in the United Kingdom