Most football fans have probably dreamt of making their senior debut as a substitute in a Cup Final and scoring the winning goal however, Jason Crooks turned that dream into reality at just 18 years of age.
Now five and a half years on from winning the Challenge Cup in dramatic fashion for Ross County, Crooks is hoping to turn another dream into reality by helping his present club, Elgin City, win their first ever promotion since being elected to The Scottish Football League 12 years ago.
Crooks said: “I always look forward to the weekend that the Challenge Cup Final is played as it brings back great memories for me.”
Those memories centre around Sunday, 12th November, 2006 when Ross County won the Challenge Cup 5-4 in the penalty shoot-out after the Cup Final had finished 1-1 after extra-time against Clyde.
The Bully Wee had dominated the opening stages of the game and Roddy Hunter opened the scoring two minutes before the interval.
The Dingwall side hit back with 10 minutes remaining when defender Andy Dowie headed in and no winner could be found in extra-time during which Crooks made his entrance to the senior game as a substitute for Frenchman Amick Ciani.
A penalty shoot-out was called for and teenager Crooks kept his nerve to slot home the winner ironically past David Hutton, who will be in goal for Hamilton Academical against Falkirk this Sunday, after Neil McGregor missed for Clyde.
It was Crooks’ first involvement in a first team environment and his promotion to the Cup Final had been so rapid that his name did not even feature in the Matchday Programme produced for the game.
Crooks said: “It was a great day for me as I was making my debut and my heart was pumping when I came on with five minutes left of extra-time. I was excited enough at that but when my penalty went in, it was a great adrenalin rush.
“I had been at County for a few months so my mum and dad had not seen much of me as they stay in Glasgow. They were also thinking that they wouldn’t see me play much that season because of the travelling involved but they were both there for that game and that was terrific.”
The strikers' move north came about through County’s Director of Football, George Adams, with Crooks explaining: “I had been at Rangers for three seasons when I was younger and George knew me as he had worked there. When my contract ran out there, he got in touch and offered me the chance to head north. It was a good opportunity and, of course, that day made it all worthwhile.”
Ironically, it was to be the only time that Crooks was to hit the net for the Dingwall club as he recalls: “I played a few more first team games but unfortunately, the club were relegated to the Second Division at the end of that season and the Manager, Scott Leitch, left the club.
“Dick Campbell came in as the new Manager and he brought in a clutch of experienced players. I was in his first team squad a lot but did not play much. He offered me the chance to go out on loan but I was only on a short term deal to Christmas 2007 and there did not seem much point in training up at Dingwall only to come down at the weekends and play for a side closer to home so I left when my contract expired.”
The opposite now happens as Crooks now trains closer to his West of Scotland home before heading north to play for Elgin.
Crooks explained his reversal of fortune saying: “I left County as I wanted to get playing again and a couple of the boys that I knew from there, Craig Frizzell and Mark Nicolson, were on loan to Elgin. They put a word in with Robbie Williamson, who was the Manager at the time, and I have been an Elgin player for over four years now.
“I used to train with a number of Junior sides including Ashfield as I have a friend that plays there and I would travel up to Elgin with a couple of other players for their home games. This season, I have joined Albion Rovers for training sessions on a Monday and a Thursday night as it would not have been right to train with them when they were still in the Third Division but their promotion last season changed that.”
Crooks added: “It is good to be training at a SFL club as most people always say that one of the biggest differences between SFL football and the Junior game is fitness so I have trained to a higher level this season.”
After a number of false starts, it looks like this could finally be the season when Elgin clinch a Play-Off place for the first time with Crooks saying: “Without a doubt, this has been the best season I have seen at Elgin. We have been good at home all year and after a poor run away from home, we are looking stronger there now as well.
“We have added a bit more strength to our defensive side of the game and have shown that in away games this season. We have become harder to beat and that has allowed us to win games on the road.”
That strength at the back was tested last week at Clyde when 40-year-old Player/Assistant Manager, Barry Wilson, played in a centre back position after suspension had ruled out David Niven, Jamie Duff and Mark Durnan with club captain Paul Kaczan also missing because of a long standing groin injury.
Crooks said: “Barry was brilliant at the back where he just used all his experience fantastically well. He came off the bench recently in a game at our place, also against Clyde, and curled home a free kick to get us a last minute equaliser.
“It is fantastic to have that experience in our squad as we are a young side.”
As well as experience and strength, the Elgin squad can boast four of the quickest players in the Third Division as Crooks explained: “Daniel Moore, Craig Gunn, Brian Cameron and I are all pretty fast and that is a great attribute to have in your team. We often play a counter attacking system away from home and we have players that fit that system very well.”
Crooks was a goalscorer in the 2-0 win at Broadwood last weekend and it was a welcome goal for him as he explained: “I had not scored since January and had been in and out of the team so it was good to play and even better to score.”
Second placed Stranraer travel north this weekend for a key promotion clash and the new found belief in Elgin was summed up by Crooks who said: “I have seen a massive turnaround at the club recently. Previously, we would have bitten your hand off for fourth place but at the moment, we are not looking down but looking up.
“Alloa are going to win the League and even on the day we beat them 5-0 earlier in the season, you could tell they had the makings of a good squad.
"We are looking to finish as high up the table as we can and that is why this game is a really big one for us. Stranraer are five points clear of us with Queen’s Park four ahead so we can still move up a bit by winning games against them before the end of the season.”
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