Drumchapel United triumph over FC Edinburgh in huge Scottish Cup upset
By Christopher Houston
Drumchapel United took down FC Edinburgh in front of a crowd of 600 fans at Lochburn Park on Saturday in the Scottish Cup third round.
The Citizens, who are currently sitting 3rd in the Cinch Football League One, travelled down from Edinburgh to Lochburn Park, home of Maryhill FC, to take on Drumchapel United, who are currently 11th in West of Scotland Football Leauge, which is the 7th tier of Scottish Football League system.
The visitors were the clear favorites in the tie to progress to the fourth round of the Scottish Cup as they started the game on the front foot attempting to break down the defiant defending of the less fancied home side. Black’s side looked a formidable unit at the back and looked to seize every opportunity they could get by breaking fast on counterattacks.
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However, the game took a bizarre turn as the home side found themselves ahead just two minutes after the second half started as winger Alex Docherty latched onto a loose ball inside the box after the ball was put into the box from a corner, the ball trudged over the line past a helpless looking Robbie Mutch in net.
From then on the back line of Drumchapel grew stronger as the game progressed with goalkeeper Blair Lochhead being called to action throughout the second half helping his side see the rest of the game out and record a fantastic and historic result which was met with adulation and joy from the fans, players and staff at the full-time whistle.
John Black, co-manager and chairman of United, was understandably elated at full-time, expressing his thoughts on the magnitude of the occasion for the whole community of the club:
“It’s just an amazing feeling and we are all a little emotional,” the manager told The Scotsman. “We are new to this, and have had barriers to come through, but we had the community out for us today.
We have 41 teams, from two-year-olds to over-70s, and 120 coaches. To share this with so many of them, it seemed every family was out.”
Getting to the Scottish Cup fourth round for a team that were formed back in 2001 as amateurs is a huge accomplishment, Scottish Football fans across the nation were put on notice of United’s result on Saturday.
“Everyone will know who we are now, all in our area, they can see us on Sportscene results, our biggest day – without a shadow of a doubt – just delivered” said club secretary William Chisholm.
With the addition of the 12 Cinch Premiership teams added to the pot for the fourth round draw, a chance to host any of the 12 would see Drumchapel reap some well-earned financial benefits as they would more than likely have to play at Firhill Stadium if they were to host the likes of Celtic, Rangers, Hibernian or Hearts.
As a community, getting to play either Celtic or Rangers, the two most dominant clubs in Glasgow as well as all of Scottish Football would be the next biggest game in the club’s history for years to come.
Drumchapel United now eagerly await the draw for the fourth round of the Scottish Cup which begins at 7:45 PM tonight, live on the BBC Scotland channel as they look to continue their fairytale run.