The young bucks overcame the old heads as the Glenelg under-30s prevailed against the Glenelg over-30s in the Alasdair Davidson Memorial Cup 2019 held earlier this month.
In what was a keenly contested encounter, the teams finished the game level after a six-goal thriller with the match having to be decided by a penalty shootout.
Angus Davidson opened the scoring for the over-30s by converting his brother James Davidson’s corner, but Kieran Harvey restored parity with a header from freekick to make it 1-1. James Davidson then reversed the roles by heading home from a corner to put the veterans 2-1 up but the young guns responded courtesy of a Corran Campbell strike from a freekick.
Campbell then repeated the trick with a 25-yard freekick effort which gave the youngster the lead, however, the over-30s struck back thanks to Davie Kennedy’s long-range lobbed effort which took the games to penalties with the teams locked at 3-3.
In a dramatic conclusion to the cup, under-30s goalkeeper Cam MacDonald collided with the post during the over-30s’ second penalty. MacDonald who is fine following the incident was replaced in goal by Kieran Harvey who went on to make the vital intervention as he thwarted the over-30s with a save to clinch a 5-4 win for the under-30s.
James Davidson, son of Alasdair Davidson spoke to the Free Press about the origins of the memorial cup match. He said: “Dad ran the Glenelg shop for 20 years and was very community-minded. He was keen on many sports, particularly football. He played for Balmacara and Glenelg as a left-half and I’m told he took no prisoners. He remained a fervent supporter of Glenelg FC after he stopped playing and hardly missed a game, home or away.
“He gave lifts to many of the local youngsters as well as Angus and me once we started playing. He was a regular linesman and possibly invented the role of 4th official as he was more than happy to advise the referee.
“Whilst our Dad was in hospital just prior to his death in 2011 Angus and I discussed donating a cup that would hopefully be played for annually in Glenelg. We’ve played an over-30s team v an under-30s team for the cup six times now with the only gap years being when the pitch was unavailable.”
Glenelg Football Club legend Charlie MacDonald said: “Alasdair was a real stalwart in the village and supported so much going on and played football for us in late 1950’s early 60’s. His sons Angus and James carried the tradition on, as have his grandsons on occasion and they all come to this occasion!”
James Davidson put on record his thanks to all the supporters who turned out in great numbers as ever. And gave a special mention to Charlie MacDonald for lining the pitch and organising the kit, Cameron MacDonald and Kieran Harvey for organising the under-30s’ squad, Erica MacDonald for organising the soup and burgers and the Glenelg Inn for the catering in the evening.
Following the memorial cup, Glenelg FC held its end of season awards at the Glenelg Inn. It proved to be a night to remember for Kieran Harvey who won the accolades for player of the year, young player of the year, and the goal of the season.