SUPER-SUB ALAGUI GRABS IRN-BRU’S GOLDEN BALLS AWARD

He may not have taken the match ball home but Dunfermline’s cup hero, Farid El Alagui, has bagged the IRN-BRU Cup Golden Balls Award after scoring the most unconventional hat-trick in the competition so far.

The Pars striker showed no sign of stage fright when he came off the bench to score all three goals in the Fourth Round IRN-BRU Cup tie against Queen’s Park – one of which was at the wrong end of the pitch.

Despite skewing a header into his own net to set-up a hairy finish in his side’s 2 -1 victory at East End Park, the Pars held their nerve to finish the job off and send them into the Quarter Finals of the competition.

The French-Moroccan striker’s ballsy performance on the pitch captured the imagination of supporters who voted for the super-sub to win the Golden Balls Award in a poll held on IRN-BRU’s official Twitter channel (@IrnBruFootball).

The poll went down to the wire with Farid coming out on top with 34 per cent of the votes beating St Mirren’s, Stevie Mallan, with 32 per cent, and ahead of Greg Draper from The New Saints, and Greig Spence from Alloa Athletic, with 17 per cent in the poll.

On getting his hands on the IRN-BRU Cup Golden Balls Award, Farid said: “It’s always good to have a cup run and we were pleased with the win over Queen’s Park as it takes us one step closer to bringing a trophy back to East End Park.

“That was the first own goal I’ve scored in my career and the first time I’ve scored all three goals in a game too. I got a bit of stick from the lads after the game so I hope I can score another hat-trick in the next round but this time at the right end of the park. When you see the teams that are left in the cup I think we’ve got a great chance so hopefully we can manage to do that this season.”

Adrian Troy, Head of Marketing at IRN-BRU, said: “As the football sponsor with balls, IRN-BRU is recognised for doing things differently which is why we’re delighted to present the Golden Balls Award to Farid for giving new meaning to the idea of scoring a hat-trick and writing his name into the competition’s history books.”

Dunferline’s quarter final match against Dundee United at East End Park will be shown live on Premier Sports, kick-off 12.30pm.

For more details on the IRN-BRU Cup, visit www.spfl.co.uk/challenge-cup