West Region Cup – Round1

It was all smiles for Giffnock in the sparkling Drumchapel sunshine as they hit Drum’ for 13 – including 2 hat-tricks and 3 penalties – on their way to the 2^nd round of the West Region Cup. After a close first period Giffnock got into their groove in the 2^nd half and ended the game with a slew of goals as Drumchapel resistance faded away.

Conditions could not have been better as the low winter sun cast its warming rays over the assembled crowds gathered at the Donald Dewer Sports complex for this much-anticipated first round tie. Giffnock, in their own inimitable style, were slow to get up to speed but some stringent encouragement from the coaching team on the touchline brought some more focus from the ‘nock. The boys were making heavy work of it and were struggling to find the fluidity and rhythm to allow them to get grip on the match. Drumchapel pressure was countered by some solid defending from Gabriel – and despite some good chances for the home team the flow of the match soon began to tip in Giffnock’s favour. It was Jake that made the breakthrough in the 27^th minute after a nice headed flick-on from Adam – 5 minutes later J-squad (Joseph, Jack and Jake) linked up beautifully down the right to double the lead – and then right o the stroke of half-time Adam showed some lovey skills to wrong-foot the Drum defender to drive the ball home low and true to make it 3.

Harrisons inclusion at half-time added to the attacking threat and it was barely a minute after the restart that early Giffnock pressure lead to Drum scoring an OG. From thereon in it was very much one-way traffic as Giffnock hit their stride and Drumchapel started to lose shape – a sweet back-heal from Kieran, to Joseph down the right who crossed the ball in perfectly for Adam to hit home indicative of the high quality link up play and clinical finishing on display. As the half wore on and the goal tally mounted the home team’s discipline fell away a bit, frustration leading fouls – and the three penalties Drum conceded late on were all converted with Adam, Jake and Leon all slotting home.

No doubt tougher competition awaits in later rounds – but with the sun blazing and Giffnock sporting their lucky white away strips – it was as good a start to their West Regions Cup campaign as they could have wished for and the post-match smiles were thoroughly deserved.