Buckie Thistle manager Lewis Mackinnon delighted with last-gasp Scottish Cup win after frustration at opponents Carluke Rovers’ time-wasting tactics
Buckie Thistle’s manager compared Saturday’s Scottish Cup opponents to English Premier League giants Arsenal - but not necessarily as a compliment.
Jags defeated South Lanarkshire side Carluke Rovers 2-1 at Victoria Park thanks to Darryl McHardy’s overhead kick winner in stoppage time.
Buckie boss Lewis Mackinnon said seven minutes were added on for Carluke’s time-wasting tactics, and their ultra-defensive methods proved to be very frustrating for the home side.
In a reference to ten-man Arsenal’s rearguard action in trying to defeat Manchester City in a televised match a week earlier, Mackinnon said he felt Carluke were trying to replicate that defensive display.
“It was a tough game. They set up really, really defensively. I have never come across a team as defensive as that at our level.
“Lo and behold we gave them a goal from one of our corners so that gave them something to hold on to and it became a tough afternoon.
“But we kept probing and probing, we hit the bar and post, the goalie made saves and we were missing chances but I always felt the goals would come.
“There were seven minutes of time added on - to say they were wasting time would be an understatement.
“They were doing the dark arts, so to speak. They obviously watched Arsenal the week before so it came back to bite them a little bit in that respect.”
Two supersubs turned the match Buckie’s way, with McHardy setting up fellow replacement Josh Peters for a headed equaliser on 73 minutes, before netting the winner himself with an acrobatic stoppage time volley.
“We had quality on the bench to come on and help that, and by the end of the day we got there.
“Darryl came on and he had one assist and one goal, so it was good impact from a couple of experienced players to get us over the line.
“I was absolutely delighted to avoid extra time. You don’t really want extra minutes when you can avoid it, especially with some big games coming up.”
Sunday’s second round draw paired Buckie with a trip to Sauchie Juniors, who thumped Strathspey Thistle 6-0 on Saturday.
Mackinnon says he will do his research on Sauchie, and contact one of his Inverness friends, beaten Strathspey boss Ryan Esson for inside information on the Clackmannanshire side.
“We will do our homework like we did with Carluke. We had them watched twice and we will do the same with Sauchie. I’m sure I can give Ryan a shout to get a bit of a lowdown on them.”
Jags landed the plum draw of last season’s competition when they earned a fourth round trip to eventual winners Celtic, and they can dream of another money-spinning day if they keep their run going.
The Celtic game was the biggest match in Jags’ long history and Mackinnon said it was spoken about during preparations for the start of this season’s adventure in the cup.
“We mentioned it for a variety of reasons. You speak about what can come off of it when you do well in the first few rounds, and how important it is to get through when you’ve got that carrot of a big game further down the line.
“But it’s also the importance of showing how Carluke were massive underdogs, and they wanted to do a shock and make the headlines like we did. That was all part of the team talk.”
