Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.
Dundee FC

Dundee Challenge Cup win in 2009 was family affair for Craig Forsyth

Jocky Scott tore a strip off his players at half-time but the Dens Parkers fought back from two down to bank the silverware.
Graeme Strachan
Gary Harkins, Sean Higgins, Jocky Scott and Craig Forsyth with the trophy. Image: DC Thomson.
Gary Harkins, Sean Higgins, Jocky Scott and Craig Forsyth with the trophy. Image: DC Thomson.

Craig Forsyth completed a family double when Dundee came from two down to win the Challenge Cup in November 2009.

He scored the winner against Inverness Caledonian Thistle at McDiarmid Park and followed his father who won the same trophy with Dundee in 1990.

The competition began life as the B&Q Centenary Cup.

Cup?

It was actually a crystal vase.

It was originally a one-off tournament to celebrate the league’s anniversary.

Five goal thriller when Dundee won in 1990

Stewart Forsyth was part of the first team to win the trophy when a Billy Dodds hat-trick gave Dundee a 3-2 success against Ayr United at Fir Park.

A full house watched the five goal thriller.

And the league had the firm evidence needed that the competition could become an annual event in the lower leagues.

Forsyth junior was only a year old at the time.

The Dundee players celebrate the Centenary Cup win in 1990. Image: SNS.

“I knew he won the Centenary Cup, but, because it’s changed its name, it was only a wee while ago I realised it was this competition,” he said.

“And, to be fair to me, my dad and I do talk about football a lot, but it’s usually a discussion about the last game or the next one and he doesn’t spend too much time looking back at his career.

“I’d love to get a winner’s medal.

“Someone has just told me they think it would be the first time a father and son had done that in this cup.

“I don’t know if that’s true, but it would be nice and the main thing is to come out with the trophy.”

Who did Dundee defeat to get to the Challenge Cup final?

Jocky Scott was manager when Dundee reached the final in 2009.

The omens were good from the start.

Dundee received a bye in the first round just like they did in 1990.

Wins against Stirling Albion and Annan Athletic gave the Dees a final berth.

Scott, possessor of perhaps the most famous moustache in Scottish football, was not the only one sporting a set of whiskers in the Dundee dressing room.

Eric Paton, Jocky Scott and Richie Hart before the game. Image: Dave Martin.

The Dundee squad was taking part in the Movember charity campaign.

“It was Gary Harkins’ idea and everyone has given it a go, although a few of the younger lads have found it a struggle,” said Dundee captain Eric Paton.

“The team photo will certainly be interesting but it is for a good cause and it has caused a lot of laughter among the boys.”

Dundee fans took over three stands at 2009 Challenge Cup final

The Challenge Cup was sponsored by BBC Alba in 2009.

Armchair supporters were looking out the Gaelic dictionary to understand the commentary when the channel showed live coverage of the final.

Dundee were given large backing from 6,000 supporters in the 8,000 crowd.

The decibel level went up when Dundee appeared.

Jocky Scott picked an attacking side with Leigh Griffiths and Sean Higgins up front with support provided by Gary Harkins driving forward from midfield.

This was Inverness’s first crack at the trophy.

Jim Lauchlan is challenged by Adam Rooney. Image: SNS.

Jonny Hayes replaced Dougie Imrie in midfield for Terry Butcher’s men.

It quickly looked like a masterstroke from Butcher.

Inverness almost scored from their first attack.

Hayes delivered a dangerous cross across the goalmouth.

Richie Foran arrived at the back post but could only find the side netting.

Hayes was causing havoc in the Dundee defence.

Rab Douglas was helpless in Dundee goal

Inverness came within the width of the woodwork from taking the lead.

Danni Sanchez battered the bar with a shot on 17 minutes.

It was no great surprise when Inverness took the lead in the 20th minute.

Hayes broke up the right wing again.

His cross was headed home by Adam Rooney.

He gave Rab Douglas no chance.

Rab Douglas was helpless when Adam Rooney opened the scoring. Image: SNS.

Inverness made it 2-0 on 33 minutes.

Nauris Bulvitis was there to stab the ball beyond Douglas from a corner.

It was all Inverness.

Dundee were thankful to Douglas for keeping the score down.

Nauris Bulvitis celebrates after scoring against Dundee. Image: SNS.

Dundee fans booed their side off the pitch.

Harsh?

They looked down and out.

How did Dundee go from zeroes to heroes?

Something drastic had to be done to turn the tide.

Scott provided it.

He tore a strip off his players in the dressing room.

The language may have been industrial but it had the desired effect.

Dundee pulled a goal back just after the break. Image: SNS.

Dundee pulled one back just three minutes after the break.

Gary Harkins picked up the ball and found Richie Hart on the right.

Hart whipped in a dangerous cross which Bulvitis headed past his own goalkeeper.

The scores were level five minutes later.

The roofs on three of the stands nearly came off when Ryan Esson could only parry a Forsyth left foot shot and Harkins made no mistake from six yards.

Gary Harkins levels at 2-2 in the second half. Image: DC Thomson.

Scott’s men had their tails up.

Dundee completed a remarkable comeback with seven minutes remaining.

Forsyth blasted home from eight yards after being found by a Harkins cutback.

Craig Forsyth (no moustache) soars with delight after scoring the winner. Image: SNS.

Try as they might in the four additional minutes, Inverness could not recover and Dougie Imrie was sent off for a reckless challenge on Pat Clarke.

Eric Paton lifted a trophy that had looked out of their grasp at half time.

The Dundee players celebrated on the pitch with the Challenge Cup.

McDiarmid Park was bouncing.

Jocky Scott gave all the credit to his players

So what did Jocky Scott say to his players at the break?

He did not dare repeat any of it!

Jocky Scott was a happier man at the final whistle. Image: SNS.

“The turnaround was down to the players, though,” he said.

“When we were 2-0 down at half-time, I was worried we would suffer a big defeat, but this has turned out to be a huge victory for us.

“We scored three great goals.

“They were well-worked and great finishes, absolutely different class.

“It showed the character of the players that all the things they didn’t do in the first they did in the second.

“We ended up winning the cup because of that.”

The Dundee side celebrating on the pitch with the cup. Image: SNS.

Terry Butcher said the break came at the wrong time for Inverness.

“We were 2-0 up, on top and playing well,” he said.

“We wanted the game to keep going.”

Forsyth’s thoughts turned to his father

The man of the hour was Craig Forsyth after his winner.

Forsyth wrote his name in Dundee folklore in 2009. Image: SNS.

The 20-year-old midfielder said: “It is great to get a medal in what was my first final.

“We gave ourselves a mountain to climb and the manager gave us hell at half-time but it was some comeback.

“Seeing the fans celebrating at the end was an unbelievable sight.

“We are all just absolutely thrilled.

“Hopefully, my dad is proud of me.

“Maybe he is even prouder than when he won it himself all those years ago.”

Conversation