Scottish FA Youth Cup Final
Dundee 0-2 Kilmarnock
Wednesday, 30 April 2025
Hampden Park, Glasgow

Scorers

Dundee 0

Kilmarnock 2 (Barlow 14’, Cooper 77’

Team news

Dundee made four changes to their starting line-up from last time out against Inverness Caledonian Thistle. Chase Scott, Wallace Baird, Luca Perrie & Michael Hunter came into the fold, while Christopher Rooney, Sonny Paterson, Jack Barr dropped to the bench alongside Johnny Watson and Ryan Bland who were new additions to the squad since the previous fixture.

Only three players from Kilmarnock’s starting XI kept their place in the team since their last fixture against St Mirren. Logan Burgess, Mitchell Spence & Grant Marchant were joined in their cup final starting eleven alongside the incoming Dylan Brown, Euan Bowie, Duncan Barlow, Archie Traynor, Ben Brannan, Reuben Cooper, Jack Allan and Cole Burke.

As it happened

It was a bright evening at Hampden and as very typically seen in cup finals, the game started as a cagey affair between both sides. Chances were at a minimum in the opening stages, with the only real opportunity coming from a long distance piledriver out of Kilmarnock’s defence, however it was easily gathered by Warren Lyall in between the Dundee sticks.

Killie began to gain momentum, and after a nice interchange of play through midfield, a quick ball down the left found the feet of Cole Burke who jinxed down the side of the Dundee defence to drill a low cross in but was quickly intercepted out for a corner.

Killie capatalised on the momentum and fired themselves ahead on fourteen minutes. A whipped in corner landed in Dundee’s 6-yard box and was tapped home by the outstretched leg of Duncan Barlow, much to the elation of Killie’s loyal contingent in attendance.

Following the Kilmarnock goal, the Dee began to regain spells of possession but struggled to cause major damage. Charley Oosenbrugh’s lofted ball over the top looked like it could move into the stride of Luca Perrie, but Kilmarnock’s number 1 Dylan Brown rushed out rapidly to avenge the danger.

It wasn’t long before Killie shifted it up a notch when playmaker Cole Burke jinxed by several in the Dundee backline to cut inside and aim a low strike towards the Dundee goal forcing a good save out for a corner by Lyall in between the sticks.

Burke looked in a fine mood and found himself with an opportunity at the edge of the 18-yard box from the resulting corner. His high attempt towards the top left corner looked bound for the net but was tipped over the bar.

Dundee picked up their first corner in the 37th minute, with the in swinging cross landing on the head of Leo Howett whose aerial effort sailed wide of the post.

Moments before half-time, Ethan Crombie played a delightful ball over Kilmarnock’s left side in search of that all-important equaliser at a crucial time in the game, but the opportunity was snuffed out as Killie headed into the break one goal to the good.

Chris Burke’s side emerged from the dressing room with a great hunger to extend their lead, and moments after the restart, an ambitious strike from range by Euan Bowie looked on its way to delivering on the hope of the Ayrshire side, with just the outside of the post denying the Killie defender.

The Ayrshire side continued to probe and came inches close to doubling their lead on the 57th minute mark, when a Grant Marchant cross was met by a strong header which nearly crept in off the ground towards the top corner, but Lyall came up trumps once again with a fine save over the bar to keep his side in the game.

Burke was finding great joy down the left flank for Kilmarnock and came close once more after a run from deep into the box, but his left-footed attempt turned to nothing much to the number 11’s despair.

Both teams had their fair share of possession throughout the early to middle period in the second half without causing a threat to either goal.

This was until we entered the final 15 minutes when Scott Douglas’ men went on the hunt of an equaliser through Hewitt’s fantastic long-range effort, however, the danger was dealt with easily by Brown in between the Killie sticks. Moments later Killie went up to the other end and extended their lead to 2-0 in the 77th minute, when Reuben Cooper cut inside off the right flank and drove a wonderful strike home inside the ‘keepers near post.

The blue & white side from Ayrshire dictated the ball efficiently in the closing stages of the game at Hampden Park and they thought they had made it 3-0 just before the full-time whistle when a diving header hit the back of the net, only to be denied by the linesman’s offside flag.

A late chopped off goal didn’t make any difference to the final outcome, as Kilmarnock ran out 2-0 winners to claim the Scottish FA Youth Cup 24/25 trophy.

Match Report by Declan Hughes

Line-ups

Dundee: Lyall, Leiper (Bland 79’), Scott, Perrie, Baird, Oosenburgh, Crombie, Mitchell (Paterson 79’), Perrie, Howett (Bruce 79’), Hunter (Rooney 74’)

Unused substitutes: Watson, Gray, Barr

Kilmarnock: Brown, Burgess, Bowie (Gilmour 85’), Spence, Barlow, Traynor, Brannan, Cooper (Law 85’), Allan (Kamsi Duruh 85’), Marchant (Davis 85’), Burke

Unused substitutes: Mullen, Eaglesham, McKeown