Dumbarton 2
Clydebank 0
Scottish Cup (2nd Preliminary Round)

Match Report

Bankies' high hopes of future 'cup' glory was shattered here on Saturday in tricky conditions when newly signed Roy McCormick, the big Dumbarton centre-forward, just bought from Yoker Athletic, scored an early goal in the 17th minute of the game.

Bankies were not really put out by this and continued to command the game, but they just could not find the net. Dumbarton played a purely defensive role for most of the game but when Hugh McMahon got their second goal in 35 minutes they came out of their shell and began to bombard the Bankies goal.

Ground conditions were terrible. Although the ground looked alright it was very slippery indeed and one felt that the players would have been better off with ice skates on their feet.

Dumbarton took command in the second half and Bankies' keeper Sandy McLachlan, a Dumbarton lad himself, was kept very busy. Full marks must go to the Clydebank defence who, although they had some lucky escapes, managed to keep McCormick and Co at bay. The Dumbarton forwards had some incredible misses by the time the final whistle blew but they were always a constant threat.

The Clydebank forwards were absolutely played out of the game by a strong Sons defence, and they could do nothing to penetrate it.

The only glimmer of hope for Bankies seemed to come from the left wing where Willie McCallum and Tony Moy did their utmost to break through and many a time were only a hairsbreadth away from scoring.

The game was highly entertaining and the crowd of nearly 5,000 showed great appreciation at the efforts of both teams.

Bankies' number 8 man, Eddie Jenkins, showed some really fine touches and was the only man in the team who could start a good move but, alas, his efforts were defeated by the same good Dumbarton defence work. Eddie was all over the place looking for the ball and, on many occasions, redeemed the Bankies defence.

The attendance at the match was by far the biggest of all the cup ties played that day.

Now that they are out of the cup Bankies must concentrate on the league and try and pull themselves up from the bottom.

They face tough opposition to- morrow in league leaders Greenock Morton at Kilbowie Park. Bankies will find it hard to hold this promotion-chasing side from across the water who look definitely set for a place in the first division next season.

Match report written by Mark Cook (Clydebank Press)

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What a thriller Dumbarton and Clydebank staged before Boghead's largest crowd of the season in their Scottish Cup preliminary tie last Saturday! Neither side could have put more into this match if they had known then that the prize was a tie in the first round proper against Partick Thistle at Firhill. Winners though they were, the Sons had to withstand some spirited attacking from the Bankies, and one of the crucial factors in their 2-0 victory was the triumphant return to the side of centre-half and captain Ronnie Curran.

There was no doubt that the two-goal lead Dumbarton had by half-time did little justice to Clydebank's efforts up until then. They had been more prominent in attack, and only hesitancy in front of goal on their part, and the brilliant goalkeeping of Andy Crawford, kept them from scoring. After the interval, however, the Sons, took a firmer grip on the game and looked pretty safe, though goals could have come any time before the end of this thriller.

Right until the dying minutes of the match the atmosphere was electric as the Bankies slung over their last flag- kicks. The Sons defence, though just as effective, was a bit more haphazard than usual, and this added to the excitement, for the Bankies were allowed to get close before someone popped up to clear.

There weren't as many fouls as might have been expected from the frantic pace of the game, though every tackle must have hurt on the flint-hard surface. The referee nipped the only sign of trouble in the bud by booking Harra early in the second half.

At times Clydebank must have wondered how many Hugh McMahons there were on the field. The Sons inside-left bounded over every yard of the pitch in this game, popping up in the Dumbarton goalmouth to help out the defence, and re-appearing seconds later at the other end to meet one of Rodger's accurate crosses from the wing.

The busiest Sons men in the early stages were 'keeper Crawford and his defence colleagues, Crawford in tremendous form, as he demonstrated after a few minutes with a double save as Jenkins shot and Rankine followed up from the rebound.

The biggest threat to the Bankies around this time came from McCormack, who broke through in possession and gave McGill a tough time before the danger was cleared. Then another brilliant performance from Crawford - he dived in time to block a drive from Moy and had to leap across the goalmouth again to stop the ball as it bounced towards the line.

Jenkins followed this up with a good move, beating three men before passing to McCallum, but the winger hit the side netting from eighteen yards. He was on the same spot minutes later to receive a good pass, but footered about until he was tackled. Kirk was hurt in a clash but carried on after treatment.

After all this pressure from Clydebank, it was something of a shock when Dumbarton took the lead after twenty minutes, but the goal followed the best move of the matchm-man exercise in teamwork and precision which started back in Dumbarton's own half. They cut through the Bankies defence with swift, accurate, cross-field passing before McMahon gathered the ball about thirty yards out and passed it through to McCormack. The centre-forward had seen his chance coming and darted forward to receive the ball and prod it past McLachlan from a few yards out. After this the pattern resumed, with the ball flying menacingly about the Dumbarton goalmouth, but always the Bankies hesitated and always one of the Sons would rush in to whip the ball from their toes. The two biggest obstacles to Clydebank were Crawford and Curran, but the Bankies couldn't afford to take their minds off the Sons attack for any length of time.

They got a warning of this when McMahon and Kirk both missed good chances after Rodger had crossed into the goalmouth. Later, on one of the few occasions when the ball was in midfield for any length of time Lynas, and Nelson both went for it and bumped their heads together.

After Russell had beaten two men and got the ball into the penalty area. Jardine brought it down with his chest and raised howls of appeal for a penalty from Clydebank fans. The referee was quite correct in refusing it. Another breakaway by Dumbarton ended with McCormack shooting narrowly over the bar, but after thirty-six minutes the Sons got goal number two when McMahon's non-stop chasing paid off and brought him to the right place at the right time. Rodger sent over a high cross that McLachlan failed to hold, and McMahon jumped up to nod the ball into the net,

There was plenty of pressure from Clydebank after half-time, but the Sons looked more dangerous. Nelson shot past with a first-timer, then McLachlan saved from McMahon. The 'keeper went on to redeem himself for his first-half shakiness, but McMahon almost beat him when he broke through the middle and hit the ball past the post with the 'keeper out of his goal trying to intercept. This was a glorious chance squandered.

The second half was eight minutes old when Rankine hit the deck after a tackle by Harra, and the Sons left-half was booked. There was no let-up in pace and a header from Lynas was blocked, then Nelson raced into the box in possession and Clydebank were lucky to clear the danger, There were claims for a penalty by Dumbarton after another incident involving Nelson in the Bankies goalmouth, then Clydebank hit back and Collumbine raced through to test Crawford with a hard drive. Dumbarton, really worthy of their two-goal lead now, pulled out the stops in another hectic assault on the Bankies' goal with twenty minutes to go, and McLachlan pulled off a fine save from Kirk

Clydebank weren't out of it yet by any means. They were still pressing for a goal in the closing minutes and although Dumbarton's victory looked pretty safe, the excitement and tension were spun out until the final whistle.

Match Report by Unknown (Lennox Herald)