THE GOLDEN OLDIES: At the end of a week when 42-year-old Craig Gordon helped Scotland qualify for World Cup, ON THE ROAD finds that age is just a number at the Over-35s cup final in Kirkintilloch

Easterhouse FA 0 East Kilbride YM 3

The profound sorcery of Scottish football can produce a situation where the goalkeeper in the over-35s Scottish Amateur Cup final is almost a decade younger than the goalie who helped Scotland to the World Cup finals last week.

Chris Treacey, who kept a clean sheet for East Kilbride at Kirkintilloch Community Sports Hub on Friday night, is 33. There is a dispensation in the over-35 format that the goalkeeper can be under-age.

Craig Gordon, who is now packing for a trip across the Atlantic, will be 43 before the year is out. Incidentally, Grant Hanley could come back from the greatest show on Earth and register for over-35 football a year from now.

I kept looking for Steve Clarke on a scouting mission as I inspected the crowd in Kirkie while a fine match was playing out. But faces were disguised by mufflers, scarves and hoods on a night when polar bears would have chosen to sit by the fire with the telly on to see if they could spot themselves in a David Attenborough documentary.

The quality of the match can be explained by several factors. Easterhouse and East Kilbride are the best of the approximately 100 sides that play throughout the country in this category. They now have combined to win the last four Scottish Cups, lifting two apiece.

Secondly, the players are accomplished. Many have played senior or, at least, Junior. Thirdly, technique is hardly impacted by age, albeit there is an effect on closing down, providing the perfect storm of good players having more space to operate.

This was conspicuous in East Kilbride’s third goal which was the product of slick passing and clever movement that traversed the entire pitch. I would have applauded but my hands were being measured for the building blocks of an Alaskan shelter.

There was a nod to the hardy annuals of amateur football when an Easterhouse player was sent off for what could be politely be called a meeting of heads near the end of the match. But this Kirkie Kiss was not representative of the previous hour and a half.

The presence of Davie Winters, 43, flicking and sliding balls into the feet of his East Kilbride comrades, was a simple delight. His team mate, Paul Woods, a mere 39, was a deserved man of the match. Once of Stranraer and the East Kilbride senior team, he glided across the surface with the poise of one who has played at a higher level.

Winters also stood out, with his lean frame and a face so chiselled he could have clipped some of the ice hanging from my nose like a man-made stalactite.

Mercifully for him, he restricted himself to a fine performance and to memories of an excellent career that encompassed a season in Vietnam and more clubs than a tribe of Stone Age men. A quick count totted up 17 clubs since his debut for Dundee United last century. The most intriguing connection was his season with Can Tho in 2010. The team is now defunct, but Winters strides on.

‘When the opportunity arose to go to Vietnam, I thought: “This is once in a lifetime stuff and I’m going to take it’’,’ he said in the wake of winning the cup. ‘It was a wonderful experience, a different way of living. It also suited the way I played. The temperature meant the game wasn’t quick until the final third, so it played to my strengths.’

This cleverness around the box was on display in a different climate on Friday when Winters was introduced after East Kilbride scored their first goal. ‘The gaffer thought I would bring a bit of control to the play,’ he said. He did.

This is the second time he has won the over-35 Scottish Cup with East Kilbride. The first one, three seasons ago, was when his brother Robbie, famous for his spells with Dundee United and Aberdeen, also played in the side. Robbie is now 51 and has called a halt to a playing career that also encompassed at least 17 clubs.

He features in Davie’s best football memory. ‘That was when I came on for Dundee United at the start of my career and I was playing right-mid against Robbie, who was left-mid. I was walking off to the side of the pitch and I saw my mum in tears and my dad, who is no longer with us, looking so pleased. What a moment.’

The victory on Friday was yet another fitba’ blessing. Davie, who stepped in to coach Darvel to a Scottish Junior Cup win and then managed Benburb last season, is back on the pitch.

‘The best days of your life are being in dressing rooms and that’s even better when you are winning cups,’ he said.

‘I love football so much I can’t keep away from it, whether it is coaching, playing fives or over 35s. I will keep going until my legs fail me.’

The cup win ensured East Kilbride had clinched the double, winning the league on goal difference with Easterhouse in second place.

Successful manager Andy Dykes, 47, who helped set up the over-35 side some 10 years ago, stopped playing five years ago.

He knows the ability of players in the league. ‘Massimo Donati, who scored in the Champions League for Celtic, played at this level,’ he said.

‘But Robbie and Davie playing for this team…unbelievable, frightening.’

His players pay £10 a match and he has a light touch in his coaching duties. ‘Most of these guys played at a level higher than me,’ he said. ‘They can manage the game and sort things out.’

This did not stop him urging his side on from the touchline. ‘The beauty of this team is that there are a lot of guys from East Kilbride who played together as kids and then went on to play at a very good level at different clubs. They are now back together again, playing the game they love with their mates.’

This band of brothers cavorted at the end in front of executives from the Scottish Amateur FA, who are pleased at the growth in the over 35 format in the face of squeezes on the wider game at this level.

Thomas McKeown, national secretary, pointed out that expansion of the pyramid and the options open to children to play other sports had impacted amateur football.

But he was optimistic about the future. ‘Yes, amateur football has been squeezed,’ he said. ‘But there will always be amateur football in Scotland. It will be different from 20 or 30 years ago, but it will be there.’

The innovations of the game at this level could be seen in the work of Gary Nimmo, chief technical officer, who was in charge of the governance of the game and of match streaming. The final was featured widely on social media.

The match was a testament to a strong competitive spirit and enduring talent. It was also a snapshot of Scottish football in a week where the national side came out of the World Cup wilderness.

The 2018 Kirkintilloch Rob Roy side sprinted on to the artificial surface and peppered goals with shots before the match. They have the fitba’ itch at seven years old. They could glance to the side and see players possibly older than their fathers preparing for a cup final.

There was something warming about that on a chilly night.