Clydebank 2
Buckie Th 0
Scottish Cup (3rd Round)

Match Report

A packed Holm Park saw the Bankies reach the last thirty-two of the Scottish Cup for the second time in the last four years as they saw off the challenge of Highland League champions Buckie Thistle by two goals to nil this afternoon. This victory sees the club in the hat for the fourth round amongst all the Premier League teams and the excitement for the draw on Monday is going to be huge.

Undoubtedly, the Bankies were helped by the two red cards the Highlanders received, but Gordon Moffat’s tactics were on the nose in the second half as the players played the extra man, then two extra men expertly and could have scored more than the two that finally decided the tie.

Up until the first red card after thirty-seven minutes there was really nothing in it. Both sides had periods of dominance in a scrappy first half. Buckie had executed their game plan quite successfully, by pressing high when they could and taking as much tempo out of the Bankies passing game making it difficult for the home team to find space in the opposition third of the pitch.

There was only one significant period of action, and that was from two corner kicks that the Bankies earned after around quarter of an hour had gone. The first one saw Ridgers comfortably touch the ball over the bar from a David Syme header.

And from that second corner the ball was half cleared to Liam McGonigle, whose brave diving header looped up and came off the face of the cross bar.

It was McGonigle who was involved in the red card offence as the Bankies looked to break quickly. There is absolutely no doubt that Munro’s attempted tackle was a lunge, but after repeated views of my footage, contact appeared to be minimal. Nowadays referees are always going to reach for their red cards in this kind of situation, and Shepherd didn’t think twice as he ordered Munro from the field.

There was obviously going to be tactical restructuring from both sides at the break and it was clear that Buckie had decided to retreat from their first half plan to one of containment and hitting on the break.

This played straight into the Bankies hands, as our ability to move the ball around when given time and space makes us too hot to handle. Buckie were rarely in the game, and with the Bankies protecting a run of five clean sheets in a row, Connor Keaney’s goal was almost guaranteed a sixth.

It took until the 68th minute before the Thistle goal was breached, but before then, Jimmy Grant had come close after he worked a 1-2 with Ciaran Mulcahy only for his final shot to whizz just past the far post.

Then Mulcahy put the ball in the net from a Lee Gallacher cross, only for the game to brought back due to the winger being in an offside position before he crossed the ball.

When the goal came it was a cracker on every level. From Syme’s pass to substitute Tiwi Daramola who caused a lot of problems when he came on for Liam McGonigle. From Daramola’s pace and cross to the back post which was headed down by Jimmy Grant for Lee Gallacher.

And you cannot speak highly enough of the awareness and sheer class of Lee Gallacher as he produced an utterly brilliant flick for Nicky Little whose first time left footed shot which was every bit as good as the ball thundered into the net.

The roof nearly came off Holm Park and within five minutes Buckie were down to nine men and had conceded a completely baffling penalty kick. With this, the game was as good as over as Nicky Little struck his 14th goal of the season and to within two of Ken Eadie’s all-time scoring record.

The penalty was awarded when substitute Keir Samson raced towards the goal for the ball with defender Dale Wood. As Wood tried to protect the ball for his goalkeeper to collect, it looked more likely that Samson may have fouled the defender to get ahead of him. As the ball reached the keeper Samson went down. There appeared to be no foul, no dive or anything contentious, but referee Shepherd proceeded to give the Bankies a penalty and sent off the unfortunate Wood.

Once Little converted the spot kick there was no way back for Buckie. Daramola and Little trying to get his hat-trick both missed chances that would have given the scoreline a little extra gloss, but that would have been hard on the visitors who have a miserable four hour plus bus ride up the road.

Nicky Low was given the sponsors man of the match award, but I, and those around me were most impressed by Chris McGowan. He was superb in the anchor position in the midfield. A lot of his work was not particularly glamorous, but he completely controlled the centre of the pitch in the second half. McGowan certainly gives us another option in an area of the field where we probably have the least amount of cover.

Adam Hodge also deserves a quick mention for his five-minute cameo which was also his100th appearance for the Bankies. Hodge has been unlucky with injuries at times this season and he is the one player who can count himself unfortunate not to be in the starting eleven.

What can you say about this team? A nineteen-game unbeaten start to the season which is only one away from the all-time record set by Gordon Moffat’s team in 2021. We have a deputy keeper in Connor Keaney who is only one game away from equalling the all-time consecutive record of clean sheets (numbering 7) currently held by Roddy McKenzie in 1975.

The next round of the Scottish Cup is not until the end of January, and we need to put that out of our minds and concentrating on maintaining the league position and pursuing other cup interests. That starts next week when St Rochs come to Holm Park in the West of Scotland Cup. Hopefully, a few of the fair-weather supporters who came along today will make Holm Park a regular destination.

Match report written by Stuart McBay