Scottish Cup – Round1

And so, to Huntly Park, on a very pleasant late September morning for the rescheduled first round tie between the Giffnock 07’s and their opposition; South Side Star.

The 15 – 1 score line tells no lies – this was a one-side affair with Giffnock enjoying a glut of goals in both-halves and not a great deal to trouble the home goalkeeper. To their credit South Side tried to play some football – but lacked the playmakers to allow them to get a foothold in the game – and the disparity in quality was clear to see right from the off.

By the time this correspondent arrived Giffnock were already 3 up with two goals from Harrison and one from Max,  Charlie added another in the 14^th minute to make it 4. At this point the game was still there for the taking and South Side were battling hard to stop Giffnock from taking advantage of their lions-share of possession. A scrappy spell for both teams ended in the 25^th minute when some good link-up play down the left saw a Giffnock corner rewarded with a goal from Harrison.

Playing from the back and with some crisp passing Giffnock started to assert themselves and scored 3 more before the half was out; with goals from Joseph, a top corner free-kick from Kieran and near-post strike from Max. It could have been more with Adam’s long range effort hitting the bar just before the ref blew for half-time.

In a sign of the growing strength of Giffnock’s squad four substitutions were made at half-time with Johnny, Matan, Ricardo and Ryan all coming on  and Giffnock picking up exactly where they left off when the game got underway for the second half; on the front foot and reigning down upon South Side’s goal. The goal-fest got underway again from an unlikely source when defensive powerhouse Leon dinked in a cheeky header on the near-post after a well taken corner in from Harrison. This made in 9 – and despite South Side pulling a goal back in the 54^th minute, and a goalline clearance from Jack B shortly after, the final tally of 15 was made up by goals from Joseph, Harrison, Riccardo, Ethan and Ryan.

Special mention to Joseph who scored his first hattrick in Giffnock colours, and to Ryan who scored against his old team in the last minute after coming close on several occasions, no less than he deserved  with some speedy runs into the box and bringing a forth a clutch of good shooting chances

The ever-dedicated Coaching team were delighted at full-time as they oversaw a dominant display from a well-motivated group of players and Giffnock move into the next round of the Cup; a fixture against Dumbarton Riverside. Which, if away, could be another outing to the Clyde Riveria for the increasing numbers of Giffnock supporters – drawn as they are to the buzz this young team is creating.