July 26th 2014: vs. Airdrie in the Petrofac Cup

In an effort to get into the swing of ARFC fandom, Alex and I decided to make the short trip to Airdrie to see the North Lanarkshire derby contested in the first round of the Petrofac Cup. Airdrie appear to be the most despised of Rovers' rivals so this was a no-brainer. After getting off the train at the wrong stop and generally getting a bit lost, our rain-soaked journey led us past an amusingly nationalist shed to New Broomfield stadium.

Excelsior Stadium (which is what it's actually called) is big and relatively new, built to comply with SPL regulations. We went for a quick pint in the stadium bar and stood sheepishly in the corner with a few other Rovers fans. We didn't get a sense of any real animosity between the fans, but living in Glasgow we know all too well how lively derbies can get.

The game didn't get off to a great start, with an Airdrie goal after about 5 minutes. They were in control for the majority of the half until Ally Love scored 5 minutes before the break to level the game. An excellent strike, and an opportunity to sing a few bars of "Love Will Tear You Apart" which was most enjoyable. The Rovers fans were in fine voice throughout the match and particular mention must go to the Young Team sat by us who brought a drum for added atmosphere. "What do we think of Airdrie?" "Shite!" "Who do we think are shite?" "Airdrie!" "Thank You" "That's Alright".

Airdrie scored from a great move midway through the second half to make it 2-1, and it looked like the end for Rovers. However, they battled hard and fought back once again to level the game with a John Gemmell strike in the 87th minute. Despite being in the lower league, Rovers looked every bit Airdrie's equal over the course of the 90 minutes and an even scoreline was a fair reflection.

Extra time provided some good football but no goals, with Rovers looking slightly stronger. As the teams prepared for penalties, we were more than satisfied that we had got our £15 money's worth (a bit steep for a lower league cup game and, of course, more than we paid for our ARFC season tickets...)

The shoot-out gave us our first Rovers hero - take a bow Neil Parry who saved Airdrie's first 2 penalties making life that much easier for his penalty-taking teammates. It was left to player-manager Darren Young to convert the winning penalty and send the Rovers fans into delirium. Over the course of the whole game I was impressed with their resilience and ability to go the distance, plus coming from behind twice showed great character.

On leaving the ground there was little friction between the 2 sets of fans which was good to see. As we passed the nationalist shed for the second time we reflected on how lucky we were that our first game as Rovers fans was a derby win against a higher-league opposition. But moreso, it was an encouraging performance and if we can maintain this level of football then we'll be very well placed for a promotion push.