How the 2011/12 Scottish League Cup was won

The Scottish League Cup Final has only ever been played three times on the same date of Sunday 18th March, and Kilmarnock played in each of them.

In 2001, Henrik Larsson inspired Celtic to a 3-0 victory at the national stadium while we had a day to forget in 2007 as John Collins’ young Hibernian side were 5-1 winners.

But in 2012, we finally lifted the cup with a late Dieter van Tornhout goal securing a 1-0 victory over Celtic.

While the memories of our triumph on the field will always raise a smile, part of this anniversary will always involve sending our thoughts and best wishes to the family of Liam Kelly.

Club Historian John Livingston brings us the key facts and figures of our run to claiming the cup.

3^rd Round Tuesday, 20 September, 2011

Ben Hutchinson celebrates his goal against Queen of the South

Kilmarnock 5 (Harkins 2, Heffernan 42, 59, 70, Hutchinson 74) Queen of the South 0  Attendance: 3,091

Killie: Bell, Fowler, Panikvar (Hay 45), Sissoko, Kroca, Pascali, Shiels, Kelly (Hutchinson 67), Heffernan, Fisher (Galan 60), Harkins. Subs not used: Dayton, Jaakkola.

QOS: Robinson, C. Reid, A. Reid, Simmons, Campbell, Higgins, Johnston (Carmichael 60), McKenna, Smith, Clark, McLaughlin (Brighton 69). Subs not used: McGuffie, Holt, McKenzie.

Referee: S. O’Reilly. Note: Smith (QOS) sent off 34 minutes.

4^th Round Tuesday, 25 October, 2011

Gary Harkins doubles Killie’s lead at home.

Kilmarnock 2 (Sissoko 73, Harkins 81) East Fife 0 Attendance: 4,029

Killie: Jaakkola, Pursehouse, McKeown (Hay 45), Sissoko, Buijs, Pascali, Fowler (Dayton 83), Kelly (Silva 57), Heffernan, Shiels, Harkins. Subs not used: Kroca, Letheren

East Fife: Ridgers, Durie, Park, Ovenstone, Whyte, Muir, Linn, Smith (McQuade 83), Ogleby, Wallace, Sloan (Johnstone 54). Subs not used: Cook, Hislop, Brown.

Referee: M. Tumilty. Note: Ogleby (East Fife) sent off 45 minutes.

Semi-Final – Hampden Park Saturday, 28 January, 2012

The Kilmarnock fans show their appreciation to the team.

Ayr United 0 Kilmarnock 1 (Shiels 109) a.e.t. Attendance: 25,057

Ayr: Cuthbert, Tiffoney, Malone, J. Robertson, Smith, Geggan, Trouten (Tomsett 113), McKernon (Dodd 75), Moffat, Wardlaw (Roberts 60), McGowan. Subs not used: R. Robertson, McWilliams.

Killie: Bell, Fowler, Gordon, Nelson, Hay (Buijs 105), Pascali, Dayton (Silva 79), Kelly, Heffernan, Shiels, Harkins (Racchi 89). Subs not used: Kroca, Letheren.

Referee: S. McLean.

Final – Hampden Park Sunday, 18 March, 2012

The Kilmarnock players celebrate with the Scottish Communities League Cup trophy.

Celtic 0 Kilmarnock 1 (Van Tornhout 83) attendance: 49,572

Celtic: Forster, Matthews, Mulgrew, Rogne (Ki Sung Yeung 56), K. Wilson, Wanyama, Ledley (Commons 86), Brown, Hooper (Samaras 80), Stokes, Forrest. Subs not used: Cha Du-Ri, Zaluska.

Killie: Bell, Fowler, Gordon, Nelson, Buijs (Johnson 20), Sissoko (Kroca 86), Hay, Kelly, Heffernan, Shiels, Harkins (Van Tornhout 73). Subs not used: Dayton, Letheren.

Referee: W. Collum.

Kilmarnock trio, from left, James Fowler, Garry Hay and Manuel Pascali carry the League Cup trophy around Rugby Park.

APPEARANCES AND GOALS

A total of 26 players were named and all but one (Kyle Letheren) was used by Kilmarnock over the four games played.

Names in italics marked with an asterisk *are players who left the club before the Final was played.

James Fowler, Gary Harkins, Paul Heffernan, Liam Kelly and Dean Shiels were all in the starting line-up in each of the four games. Garry Hay also played in all four games, being a substitute in the first two games, and starting in the other two.

Paul Heffernan and Dean Shiels were the only two players to have played from the start to the finish in all four games.

Four Appearances

Kilmarnock duo Paul Heffernan and Dean Shiels (right) celebrate after victory at Hampden.

James Fowler, Gary Harkins (two goals), Paul Heffernan (three goals), Liam Kelly, Dean Shiels (one goal), Garry Hay (two as a substitute)

Three Appearances

Kilmarnock keeper Cammy Bell celebrates with the Scottish Communities League Cup trophy.

Cameron Bell, Manuel Pascali, Mohamadou Sissoko (one goal), Danny Buijs (one as a substitute)

Two Appearances

Ben Gordon (far right) celebrates Dieter Van Tornhout’s goal.

Ben Gordon, Michael Nelson, James Dayton (one as a substitute), Zdenek Kroca (one as a substitute), David Silva (both as a substitute)

One Appearance

Kilmarnock’s Lee Johnson celebrates as his side take the lead

Gary Fisher, Anssi Jaakkola, Rory McKeown, *Leon Panikvar, Alex Pursehouse, *Jorge Galan (one as a substitute), *Ben Hutchinson (one as a substitute, one goal), Lee Johnson (one as a substitute), Danny Racchi (one as a substitute), Dieter Van Tornhout (one as a substitute, one goal)

Named in Squad

Kyle Letheren