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COWIE THISTLE REACH THE AFC CUP FINAL
Cowie Thistle 4 Sportsman's Club 1 STONEHAVEN side Cowie Thistle, marched on to the final of Aberdeen Amateur football's most prestigious trophy, the AFC Cup, with a ruthless 4-1 demolition of the highly fancied Sportsman's Club in the semi-final at Balgownie on Saturday.
Thistle will look to win the trophy they last won eight years ago, when they face Bon-Accord City in the final tonight (Friday) at Hilllhead.
Cowie put on an exhibition of free-flowing, cavalier football, especially in a wonderful first half.
Thistle were initially inspired by Marathon Man Iain Grant, who forced a save from the Sportsman's keeper with a free-kick, then grazed the bar with a sublime volley on the rise.
However, it was left to the legendary Wesley Leith to break the deadlock with a thunderous volley in 20 minutes, which gave Thistle a deserved lead.
Thistle clicked into top gear, and driven on by the all action Martin Maclean, they soon claimed a second. Maclean threaded a pass through the eye of a needle for Leith to make it 2-0.
Leith then waltzed through a bewildered backline to dispatch a rasping drive into the far corner to complete a quite majestic hat-trick.
This was the cue for Thistle to carve their shellshocked opponents open at will, and but for another inspired save, Leith would have made it four before the interval.
The second half saw the stunned Sportsman's rally, but with Thistle marshalled emphatically by Gary Taylor, Govan and Marine at the back, there was no way through.
In 70 minutes, with Thistle in cruise-control, they made it 4-0 when the newly-wed Cahill drove a screaming drive into the top corner from the edge of the box, after excellent work Craig Hart.
They should have made it 5-0 ten minutes later, when Grant ran from his own box and put the ball on a plate for Govan, only for the big man to somehow blaze over from four yards with only the keeper to beat.
Sportsman's scored a last minute consolation with a wickedly deflected effort.
Thistle now march on to the final with history beckoning the class of 2010. On this evidence, they have every chance of success.
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Weather for Stonehaven
Thursday 09 February 2012
Today
Light rain
Temperature: 3 C to 5 C
Wind Speed: 12 mph
Wind direction: South west
Tomorrow
Cloudy
Temperature: 3 C to 4 C
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