Airdrie boss Rhys McCabe hailed his five-star team’s professionalism as they dumped derby rivals Albion Rovers 5-0 to lift the 2023 NL Cup at Broadwood.
Cammy Ballantyne got Airdrie off the mark early on against their near-neighbours in the final, before doubles from Gabby McGill and Nikolay Todorov put the result beyond doubt.
That added to a 4-0 win over Motherwell under-18s on Saturday to set up their final place, while Rovers had come from behind to beat hosts Cumbernauld Colts 2-1.
A delighted McCabe said: “It was nothing about the result, in my opinion. We’ve only been back a short period, so it was about getting the minutes into the legs and treating it properly and professionally.
“It was about coming in and keeping the standards high, and I think the lads did that really well over the course of the two days with the two different teams.
“Pre-season has been tough; the older you get, the tougher it is, but we’ve tried to make it as enjoyable as possible.
“We know it’s not a time of the season that we really enjoy, but we’re enjoying it.
“There are another couple of weeks to go so we know it’s going to be hard work, getting prepared for the season.”
The Diamonds took the lead in seven minutes when Ballantyne went on a run through the centre and finished crisply into the bottom left corner.
Five minutes later Ballantyne was fouled inside the box by a trialist defender, with McGill smashing the penalty past keeper Ross Connelly.
Justin Devenny fired over from a good position, before a Rovers trialist striker sent a header past the right post.
But Airdrie effectively secured the trophy in 29 minutes when Callum Fordyce picked out McGill and he headed past Connelly for 3-0.
Todorov sent a shot narrowly wide, before Connelly slid out with a foot to deny McGill his hat-trick.
But Todorov bagged Airdrie’s fourth goal in 60 minutes, heading a McGill cross into the net.
And Todorov got the fifth in 78 minutes, reacting fastest to smash the ball into the net after Connelly had blocked his earlier effort.
Rovers boss Sandy Clark wasn’t pleased with the result but said the tournament was a good exercise for his side ahead of their Lowland League campaign.
He said: “The exercise was to get everybody time on the pitch, that was the priority, and from that aspect we’ve achieved it.
“I’ve had a lot of trialists in, as everybody knows, I’ve asked a lot of them to play today after playing a part yesterday.
“They are a lot younger and a lot less experienced that their opposition today, so that probably reflects on the scoreline, but the exercise was very much worthwhile.
“It was better on Saturday [as Rovers reached the final with a 2-1 win over hosts Cumbernauld Colts] but you find out more about people in adversity, and it was a challenge and I’ve learned a few bits, and gained a lot of fitness, which is the priority.”
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