The 2002 Scottish Challenge Cup final, also known as the Bell's Cup final for sponsorship reasons,Bell's Cup, scottishfootballleague.com. Scottish Football League. 2 November 2005. Retrieved 10 June 2013. was an association football match between Brechin City and Queen of the South on 20 October 2002 at Broadwood Stadium in Cumbernauld. It was the 12th final of the Scottish Challenge Cup since it was first organised in 1990 to celebrate the centenary of the Scottish Football League.

Both teams progressed through four knock-out rounds to reach the final. The match was Brechin City's first national cup final in its 96-year history whilst it was Queen of the South's second appearance in the final of the tournament having lost in 1997. The tournament was contested by clubs below the Scottish Premier League; Queen of the South from the First Division and Brechin City from the Second Division.

Queen of the South dominated most of the game with John O'Neill scoring the first goal in the 33rd minute. Two minutes into the second half, Derek Lyle scored a header to take a 2–0 lead. Brechin City had few chances to score and Queen of the South held on to win the tournament and a national cup competition for the first time.

Route to the final

The competition is a knock-out tournament and in 2002 was contested by the 30 teams that played in the First, Second and Third Divisions of the Scottish Football League. Teams were paired at random and the winner of each match progressed to the next round and the loser was eliminated. The first round was contested by 28 of the teams and two received random byes into the second round.Clyde Receive 'Bells' Bye To 2nd Round, clydefc.co.uk. Clyde F.C. 11 July 2002. Retrieved 22 July 2013.

Brechin City Round Opposition Score First round Elgin City (a) 4–1 Second round St Johnstone (h) 3–2 Quarter-final Falkirk (h) 1–1 (5–3 pens.) Semi-final Queen's Park (a) 4–3 Brechin City entered the first round and were drawn to play Elgin City of the Third Division at Borough Briggs.Elgin City v Brechin City – Scottish League Challenge Cup 6/8/2002, espnfc.com. ESPN FC. Retrieved 9 June 2013. Elgin took the lead in the 31st minute with a goal from David Ross but was short-lived; Chris Templeman equalised the score to 1–1 ten minutes later and Marc Millar scored early in the second half to give Brechin a 2–1 lead. Two minutes later, Templeman scored his second goal of the game and Charlie King concluded the win with a goal in the 90th minute to make it 4–1 and progress to the next round.Elgin 1–4 Brechin, news.bbc.co.uk. BBC Sport. 6 August 2002. Retrieved 9 June 2013. Brechin played First Division club St Johnstone in the second round at home at Glebe Park.Brechin City v St Johnstone – Scottish League Challenge Cup 14/8/2002, espnfc.com. ESPN FC. Retrieved 10 June 2013. Grant Murray scored first for St Johnstone after seven minutes to take a 1–0 lead. Roddy Grant equalised for Brechin against his former club on 35 minutes before Peter MacDonald scored for St Johnstone to regain a 2–1 lead two minutes before half time. Brechin scored two goals in the second half; an own goal by Darren Dods and a second goal from Grant to produce a "shock" 3–2 win and advance to the quarter-finals.Brechin City 3–2 St Johnstone, news.bbc.co.uk. BBC Sport. 14 August 2002. Retrieved 10 June 2013.

In the quarter-finals, Brechin faced another home game against a First Division club, this time against Falkirk.Brechin City v Falkirk – Scottish League Challenge Cup 20/8/2002, espnfc.com. ESPN FC. Retrieved 10 June 2013. The score was 0–0 for most of the game before Falkirk took the lead with only three minutes left to play with a goal from Craig McPherson. However, Brechin scored one minute before the end through Kevin Fotheringham to force extra time. The score remained equal after extra time so the winner was decided by a penalty shoot-out; Brechin winning 5–3.Brechin 1–1 Falkirk (5–3 on pen), news.bbc.co.uk. BBC Sport. 20 August 2002. Retrieved 10 June 2013. With four clubs left in the tournament, Brechin were drawn against Third Division club Queen's Park at Hampden Park.Queen's Park v Brechin City – Scottish League Challenge Cup 27/8/2002, espnfc.com. ESPN FC. Retrieved 10 June 2013. Queen's Park scored first through James Allan after 26 minutes but Brechin equalised before half time with a goal from Marc Millar. The rest of the game's five goals came during a nine-minute period in the second half; Brechin took a two-goal lead courtesy of Chris Jackson and Kevin Fotheringham to make the score 3–1 before goals from John Gemmell and Jonny Whelan for Queen's Park and Roddy Grant for Brechin made the scoreline 4–3 in favour of Brechin.Queen's Park 3–4 Brechin, news.bbc.co.uk. BBC Sport. 27 August 2002. Retrieved 10 June 2013. Both teams had chances to score again before the end but the score stayed the same ensuring Brechin qualified for the first national cup final in the club's history.Bell's final tolls for City , brechinadvertiser.co.uk. Brechin Advertiser. 28 August 2002. Retrieved 10 June 2013.

Queen of the South Round Opposition Score First round Peterhead (a) 2–0 Second round Greenock Morton (h) 1–0 Quarter-final Dumbarton (h) 2–0 Semi-final St Mirren (a) 5–3 Queen of the South also entered the first round and were drawn to play Third Division club Peterhead away from home at Balmoor Stadium.Peterhead v Queen of the South – Scottish League Challenge Cup 6/8/2002, espnfc.com. ESPN FC. Retrieved 12 June 2013. Queen of the South dominated the majority of the game and scored two late goals in the second half from John O'Neill and Peter Weatherson to progress to the next round as 2–0 winners.Peterhead 0–2 Queen of the South, news.bbc.co.uk. BBC Sport. 6 August 2002. Retrieved 12 June 2013. In the second round Queen of the South played another Third Division club, Greenock Morton, at home at Palmerston Park.Queen of the South v Greenock Morton – Scottish League Challenge Cup 13/8/2002, espnfc.com. ESPN FC. Retrieved 12 June 2013. The game was marred with incidents with Dean Keenan, Colin Reilly and Alex Williams all being sent off for Greenock Morton.Queen of the South 1–0 Morton, news.bbc.co.uk. BBC Sport. 12 August 2002. Retrieved 12 June 2013. Sean O'Connor scored the winning goal for Queen of the South with only seven minutes left to play but shortly before the end sustained an injury from a tackle by Reilly which resulted in his sending off.Morton launch O'Connor inquiry, news.bbc.co.uk. BBC Sport. 15 August 2002. Retrieved 12 June 2013. Queen of the South won the game 1–0 and advanced to the quarter-finals.

In the quarter-finals, Queen of the South played Second Division club Dumbarton, also at Palmerston Park. John O'Neill scored his second goal of the tournament to give Queen of the South the lead after 25 minutes.Queen of the South v Dumbarton – Scottish League Challenge Cup 20/8/2002, espnfc.com. ESPN FC. Retrieved 12 June 2013. Dumbarton had opportunities to score an equaliser for the remainder of the game but were denied by the home team's goalkeeper, Colin Scott. Despite Dumbarton's efforts, Queen of the South sealed the victory with a goal from Derek Lyle in the final minute of the match to win 2–0 and progress to the semi-finals.QoS 2–0 Dumbarton, news.bbc.co.uk. BBC Sport. 20 August 2002. Retrieved 12 June 2013. With four teams left in the tournament, Queen of the South travelled to Love Street to face fellow First Division club St Mirren.St Mirren v Queen of the South – Scottish League Challenge Cup 27/8/2002, espnfc.com. ESPN FC. Retrieved 12 June 2013. Paul Shields scored first for Queen of the South in the seventh minute but was cancelled out five minutes later with a goal from Brian McGinty to make it 1–1 before Derek Lyle put Queen of the South back in front shortly before half time. Early in the second half, both teams scored again; Martin Cameron for St Mirren and Steve Bowey for Queen of the South to make the scoreline 3–2 to the away team. With ten minutes left to play, Gerhard Fellner equalised for St Mirren to make it 3–3 but late goals in the final two minutes from a Peter Weatherson free kick and Shields' second goal of the game won the match 5–3 and sent Queen of the South into the final for the second time in its history.St Mirren 3–5 Queen of the South, news.bbc.co.uk. BBC Sport. 27 August 2002. Retrieved 12 June 2013.

Pre-match

Venue The 2002 final was hosted at Broadwood Stadium in Cumbernauld which had been Clyde's home since it was opened in 1994. The stadium hosted the final on three previous occasions; twice in the past two seasons and for the first time in 1996. The venue had a capacity of 8,000 and 4,500 tickets were allocated to Queen of the South who had a larger fan base and average home support than Brechin City, who were allocated around 2,500 tickets.Book Your Final Seat , brechinadvertiser.co.uk. Brechin Advertiser. 19 September 2002. Retrieved 15 June 2013. Dumfries-based Queen of the South travelled approximately Dumfries, Dumfries and Galloway, UK to Cumbernauld, North Lanarkshire, UK, maps.google.co.uk. Google Maps. Retrieved 14 June 2013. to the venue whereas Brechin City travelled around .Brechin, Angus, UK to Cumbernauld, North Lanarkshire, UK, maps.google.co.uk. Google Maps. Retrieved 14 June 2013.

Analysis In order to reach the final, both Brechin City and Queen of the South played two matches at home and two away. Brechin scored twelve goals and conceded seven compared with Queen of the South's ten goals scored and only three conceded. Queen of the South kept a clean sheet in the first three roundsScottish League Challenge Cup 2002/03, soccerbase.com, Retrieved 15 June 2013. and were favourites to win the match being the higher ranked club as a competitor in the First Division, one tier above Brechin who were in the Second Division. At the time of the final Queen of the South were in bad league form, ranking second-last in the First Division with only two wins and eight points from 10 games.Queen of the South 2002–2003 : Scottish Division One Table on 19.10.2002 , statto.com, Retrieved 15 June 2013. Brechin were in slightly better form, ranking 6th in the Second Division with four wins and 13 points from nine games before the cup final.Brechin City 2002–2003 : Scottish Division Two Table on 19.10.2002 , statto.com, Retrieved 15 June 2013.

Brechin and Queen of the South were both aiming to win their second trophy in less than six months, having been crowned champions of the Third and Second Divisions respectively the previous season. Despite recent league success, Brechin had never reached the final of a national cup competition in its 96-year history whilst Queen of the South were making only their second appearance in a cup final since losing the 1997 final to Falkirk in the same competition.

Match

First half