A Scottish amateur football team suffered a humiliating defeat of 51-0 in a cup tie on Saturday, after starting the game with only eight players. St Machar Thistle AFC, who play in the Aberdeenshire Amateur Football Association Division 2 East, faced AC Mill Inn Academy in the first round of the Scottish Amateur Cup.
How it happened
St Machar Thistle AFC, who formed two months ago, had family, work and study commitments that limited their options. They thought they had 10 men but were told two trialists weren’t eligible shortly before the game started.
“Any other team I think they’d walk,” said manager Cameron Ashwood. “We just sat down and said, ‘let’s try enjoy ourselves here’.
“They were loving it. There were smiles all around and that’s all I can ask for before we get to where we want to be.”
The scoreline
The scoreline was 25-0 at half-time and 51-0 at full-time. The team’s captain Eoin Devlin, who is usually an outfield player, had to start the game in goal.
“I went around the boys to ask who was going to do it,” Ashwood said of his goalkeeping issue.
“It wasn’t a case of me having to pick him, he put his hand straight up and said he’d go in goal. It was very brave of him.”
The reaction
The team’s manager said he was not ashamed of the result and that it was a lesson for them.
“Results like this do happen, there’s no need to shame away from it. Every club will have moments like this when you’re starting out.
“We’re not ashamed of it one bit. We are owning it.”
He also said that the majority of the feedback he received was positive and that he expected his players to be back in training this week.
“I’m letting some lads play football, get out the house for a bit to talk with people, interact, it makes it all worth it,” he said.
