BROXBURN ATHLETIC 5 - MARYHILL 1
(Whitbread Inter League Trophy)
MAGNIFICENT BROXBURN. The Athletic secured a special place in Scottish Junior Football history books with this performance. It is difficult to think of superlatives which would do credit to the Broxburn side which took Holin Park, YOKER, by storm.
Broxburn Athletic won the newly formed E.R.S.J.F.A. Division 'A' League championship in 1974 and this qualified them to play in the Whitbread Inter-League Trophy, which meant that they had to play against the League winners from the West Region.
No junior side in Scotland would have lived with the Athletic on this display, which ended the finest week in the club's history. After beating Cambuslang on the prvious Monday, and Tranent at Linlithgow on the Wednesday, they returned to the West and shook the so called "hot bed" of junior football to the core. Pulverised would probably be the best description for what Broxburn did to a Maryhill side which must have wondered what they had done to deserve such a drubbing. But their only crime was being the last hurdle for Broxburn Athletic to overcome in their all-out assault on the new Whitbread Trophy. To be the first winners in such splendid fashion is worth a place in the history books.
Athletic had Frank Donachie as captain for the day because he was about to leave for Australia to team up with former mates Sam Cook and Paddy Bannon with Alexander F.C. in the Victoria State League. No-one could have left his team mates on a better winning note. Right from the kick-off, Broxburn went at their opponents and grabbed their first goal after only four minutes when Mackie beat down an O'Donnell shot and Garvie scored from close in with the Maryhill defence stranded.
They remained in a tangle as Broxburn sensed victory and continued to attack with a stiff breeze at their backs. It took only three more minutes for the second goal to arrive when Tobin swept the ball to the right. Garvie gathered the ball, switched it into the middle where O'Donnell cleverly slotted it past Mackie.
Several minutes later Broxburn went further ahead when O'Donnell held off a Shield challenge through the middle, and left the Maryhill keeper helpless with a low drive which whistled into the corner of the net. But Broxburn were not content to sit back on their three-goal lead. Garvie notched another one in 28 minutes from close in, when he took the ball, slipped past the Maryhill defence and slotted it home.
This was championship stuff from the Broxburn lads. The Athletic hit a fifth goal after 35 minutes when a diagonal pass from Tobin found McMichael in the clear and he pushed the ball past the keeper with contemptuous ease. This spelt disaster for the Maryhill side who didn't know what had hit them. Minutes earlier they had a goal disallowed when Turner netted from an obvious offside position. Maryhill suffered further bad luck when a Burns shot crashed off the crossbar for McCue to boot clear.
During the interval the talking point was whether Broxburn would be able to maintain the blistering pace, which had made a mockery of the Maryhill side. Not surprisingly, they found it difficult to maintain this effort and credit must go to Maryhill, who never gave up trying - even in the knowledge that they faced a hopeless task. But they did gain some reward for their efforts when Turner, who troubled Reynolds and McOwat throughout, headed the ball home.
Nevertheless, there was never any danger to Broxburn who played out the second half as if they knew it was all over bar the shouting. Indeed Broxburn might well have scored a sixth goal when O'Donnell beat Shields and Mackie. He then had the net at his mercy when he was brought down from behind. Referee Hope - who had handled the game well - refused to listen to penalty claims. With only five minutes to go O'Donnell was taken off after a foul by Kay. This was one of his best games for the club and it was sad to see this fine player limp off the field. Bird then came on as substitute.
By this time a despairing Maryhill side had used both substitutes to no avail. With MacDonald playing a canny game up front with Reynolds and McOwat, Donachie and Nelson were left to take care of midfield. And with less of the ball than their opponents, they still managed to distribute some telling passes. The big travelling support from Broxburn were delighted with their team's performance. This was a wonderful climax to the season.