On Tuesday night we are delighted to welcome the Donside U13s girls side to Pittodrie as they parade their Scottish Cup trophy on the pitch at half time. The team, led by manager Neil Daniel, will take to the field during the interval to show off the trophy fresh from defeating Musselburgh Windsor in a dramatic final at Oriam in Edinburgh.

Donside JFC is a Scottish FA Quality Mark Community Club, the Women’s section has a pathway of U7, U9, U11 and U13 and for the first time ever are looking to start an U16s team for the 2019 season. The coaching staff are encouraging players of all abilities to get in touch and guarantee a welcoming positive environment for players to be trained by SFA qualified coaches.

The Scottish Cup win epitomises the good work that has been done in the North Region for girls and women’s football. Participation has doubled in the last four years with over 1,500 female footballers participating at club level, schools and centres and the SFA are looking to keep expanding.

Jo Murphy, Girls and Women’s Club Development Officer for the North Region praised the achievements of the club and looked back at a successful year for the area as a whole.

“Notable successes this year include Donside U13 fantastic Scottish Cup victory which, for a rural club, is an outstanding achievement.  Young players in the region are also gaining recognition at international level with four U15, four U16 and two U17 players earning caps for Scotland in 2018 who we are all very proud of.”

It was a long and dramatic journey to Scottish Cup glory for Donside and they kicked off their road to the final by thumping Colony Park 10-1 before more convincing wins over East Kilbride, Ayr United and Hearts Development.

The second half of the campaign produced tighter affairs with a 3-2 win against Central Girls and they were on their travels for the Semi-Final at Toryglen against Kilmarnock Whites. In another close encounter the north-east side prevailed 4-3 to set up a clash with Musselburgh in Edinburgh. 

Throughout their run to the final the team were sent good luck wishes via video from Scotland captain, Rachel Corsie and that culminated in the former Aberdeen ladies player popping into the dressing room prior to the cup final at Oriam, much to the surprise of the team. Rachel’s message of support was able to inspire the team as they took to the pitch.

They were undone however after only 15 seconds when Musselburgh took the lead. Donside hit back immediately and had to react again after going 2-1 behind, but were able to equalise before half time as the sides went in level.

Donside were able to finally get ahead early in the second half before Musselburgh equalised minutes later. The game could have gone either way and the healthy crowd were witnessing a classic final. Then just on the hour mark the winner and it went to Donside thanks to Becky Bremner’s second of the afternoon. Donside were able to see the game out in the last 30 minutes to claim the club’s first ever Scottish Cup triumph.

All in all, the team racked up an incredible 49 goals on their path to victory conceding ten. Along with Neil the coaching staff included David Silcocks, Derek Taylor and Katie Cobban and they will be in attendance along with the girls and their families at Pittodrie on Tuesday night.

The Scotland team are preparing for their first ever Women’s World Cup next summer and with Aberdeen FC launching a women’s team in the new year there’s plenty of reason to be optimistic for female footballers up and down the country.

Congratulations once again to the Donside girls on your magnificent achievement and everyone at AFC looks forward to seeing you show off the trophy at half time.