It was delight in Drumchapel for The Buffs fans who made the journey as they were treated to a brilliant performance from Kevin Kelly’s side, who came back from 2-0 down to score eight goals in the game and went on to destroy The Drum despite the hosts’ early lead. It’s the first time The Buffs scored 8 or more in a match since July of 2019, when they defeated Ardeer Thistle in a pre-season game 9-0.
It was The Buffs who had the first chance of the game when a long throw from Jack Maccalman put The Drum under pressure in their own box. The throw-in was directed right on top of Drumchapel goalkeeper Cameron, who tried to claim the ball but failed, which gave Ryan Wilson a chance to open the scoring at the back post. Wilson headed powerfully at goal, but the goalkeeper showed good reactions to keep the forward’s close-range effort out.
Despite The Buffs’ positive start to the game, it would be Drumchapel who took control when they broke the deadlock around the 7th minute. The ball was launched forward and eventually found Carlo Monti on the right wing, who dribbled towards the byline before setting the ball back to right back, Billy Owens. Owens had too much space and swung a first-time cross into the back post, where David Hopkirk was fairly unchallenged and headed into the near post to give his side the lead.
The warning signs were there to be seen for The Buffs’ defence, who failed to learn from the goal they conceded just 3 minutes prior, as The Drum would go on to double their lead from a carbon copy move to the one that earned them their first. This time, the ball was switched from left to right for Carlo Monti, who held the ball up before setting the ball back to Owens, who would, once again, curl a first-time cross into a pretty identical area as he sent his first cross. Instead of Hopkirk, it was Bradley Rodden who was arriving at the back post and headed into the back of the net.
Other than the two pieces of poor defending, The Buffs had actually put on a decent opening 15 minutes and looked dangerous going forward, especially from set-pieces. The Buffs should’ve pulled one back soon after going two down when a Mark Lamont corner found Ryan at the back post. Ryan sent his header back across the goal and looked destined to score; however, Owens, who already had 2 assists in the game, managed to head the ball off the line and off the crossbar to deny the Buffs.
The game slowed down in terms of chances for around 15 minutes of the half and found itself in a more settled tempo; however, it was sparked back into life when The Buffs halved the deficit in the 32nd minute through Lawrence Hendry. Lamont sent a corner deep to the back post, where it was headed goalwards by Jack Maccalman. The goalkeeper made a great save with his fingertips to keep Jack’s header out, but, fortunately for The Buffs, the rebound fell to Hendry, who set himself before half volleying through several Drum defenders, scoring his first goal of the season.
The Buffs would be back level in the game only 4 minutes later, thanks to a great Buffs counter-attack. Murray MacKintosh picked the ball up in his half with Ryan Wilson and Bryan Boylan making runs to either side of him. The midfielder drove through the middle of the park before sliding the ball through to Ryan Wilson on his right, who took a touch before driving a low effort across Cameron, in the Drumchapel net, from just inside the box. Cameron got a strong hand to Wilson’s shot and pushed it away from goal, but, for the second time in quick succession, the Buffs were on hand to finish the rebound as Boylan passed the ball into the empty net to tie the game up at 2-2.
The Drum had a chance to re-take the lead just before half-time, with a quick break from a Buffs long throw. The ball was cleared out to Rodden on the right wing, who found himself 1v1 with Logan Burgess. Rodden dribbled forward before cutting inside and hitting an effort towards the far post, which was saved well by Buffs number 1, Glenn Cameron. Drumchapel picked up the second ball on the left wing and crossed into the box, where Lewis McTaggart had a free header, which he skied well over the bar.
The Buffs had the momentum in the game heading into the interval and made sure to carry this on into the second half, in which they looked dangerous right from the start. Chris Bell received the ball on the left wing and slid a pass up the line to Wilson, who held the ball up and passed back to MacKintosh around 25 yards from the goal. Murray drove a pass into the feet of Campbell McLean, who took up a great position in the box and controlled the pass before hitting a shot with his left foot, which was well saved by the Drum goalkeeper to his top right.
It wouldn’t be long into the second 45 before The Buffs would take the lead for the first time in the game following a committed first-half performance. Drumchapel launched a ball forward, which was won by Hendry, whose header found Murray in the middle of the park. Murray ran with the ball through midfield before opening the Drum defence up with a tidy ball that sent Wilson running through on goal. Wilson got on the end of the pass and took a touch to the side, which allowed him to just place the ball past the goalkeeper and into the bottom right corner to make the score 2-3.
It was all one-way traffic headed towards Drumchapel’s goal by this point, and The Buffs would take an even stronger grip on the game when Lawrence Hendry grabbed his second goal of the night. It was another corner crossed into the back post from Lamont, whereas this time it was Fraser Malcolm who won the first contact and headed back into a good area for the Buffs. Hendry was head and shoulders above the rest as he leapt and nodded the ball into the back of the net to double the Buffs’ lead and really open the Drumchapel floodgates.
The Buffs were forced into a change around the hour mark with Ryan Wilson left the field with a slight knock, giving Dylan Duncan the chance to come on and impress. Impress is exactly what the forward would go on to do with a goal within 5 minutes of entering the game. Jack’s long throw, which caused havoc all night, was swiped at by the goalkeeper who failed to clear, allowing Duncan to bundle the ball between the posts from near the edge of the 6-yard box.
Substitute Ryan Thompson did have a chance to pull one back for the hosts as he found himself through on goal following a poor clearance by Jack Maccalman, but Thompson dragged his effort wide of the near post from a very dangerous position. The chance didn’t faze the Buffs, however, as they got straight back to attacking the Drumchapel back line with some energetic pressing in advanced areas. The Drumchapel goalkeeper tried to play a quick pass into midfield, which was cut out by Lamont, who then passed the ball out to his left to Olly Smith. Olly set himself for the shot and hammered the ball into the bottom right corner, leaving Cameron no chance to save.
The goals didn’t stop there for The Buffs, who went on to score their seventh of the game just 1 minute after adding a sixth. The Buffs broke forward with pace before Murray MacKintosh hit an effort from long range, which was deflected just onto the foot of the left post. Unfortunately for The Drum, the ball rebounded perfectly into the feet of Dylan Duncan, with the forward finishing to earn himself a brace off the bench.
The scoring would finally come to an end as the Buffs made it a shocking 2-8, scoring their third goal in four minutes. It was Boylan who would complete his brace this time as he drove into the box from the right wing, beating his man with ease before striking at goal. The goalkeeper got a hand to Boylan’s effort but was only able to push the ball into the side netting to round off one of the finest results in the Buffs’ recent history.
All the credit has to go to the Buffs’ coaching staff and players who adapted to a new system and obviously benefited massively from the change in shape and personnel. The win takes The Buffs into seventh place, for now and puts an end to the Drum’s unbeaten start to the season, which, before last night, they were yet to concede a goal in.
