THE streets of Cumnock fell unusually silent on Friday night as thousands of local residents decamped to Cumbernauld in the hope of seeing Cumnock Juniors lift the Scottish Junior Cup for only the third time in the club's history.
Boisterous enthusiasm mixed with a large dose of nerves was the heady cocktail most Nock fans sampled before kick-off at Broadwood Stadium, in the knowledge that while their status a division above opponents Rutherglen Glencairn made them most people's pre-match favourites, football's annals are littered with tales of when the pre-match underdogs upset the odds.
The game itself was about as far from a classic as could be imagined - most likely down to a combination of big occasion pressure and the game being both sides' last of a long, 10-month campaign.
But when the the clock ticked into the second minute of stoppage time, Jordan Moore's header rebounded off the woodwork and bounced across the face of goal and Findlay Frye bundled in the only goal of the night, that mattered not a jot to Frye, his team-mates, the coaching staff in the dugout or the supporters in the stands.
The final whistle sparked a joyous pitch invasion from the Cumnock fans – many of whom weren't alive to see the club's previous Junior Cup triumphs in 1979 and 1989 – and, eventually, scenes of joy as skipper Kyle McAusland lifted the trophy above his head to end a night that will go down in Townhead Park history.
Our photographer Charlie Gilmour was there to capture all of the action on and off the pitch for the Chronicle.
For more images, see our special souvenir edition of the Chronicle, on sale from Wednesday, June 7.
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