Clydebank 3
Maryhill 1
Sectional League Cup (Group 6)

Match Report

The Bankies won this match without too much trouble, and was a marked improvement over the Perthshire game. The first half was fairly uninspiring with neither team looking all that great. As the half wore on the Bankies began to get the upper hand and Deas cracked in a fine shot to open the scoring. Shelvey added the second three minutes later when Maryhill keeper dropped a real clanger by letting the ball in through his legs. The game was pretty much over at this point as Maryhill had offered nothing going forward.

The Bankies played a lot better for most of the second half. The first signs of the team gelling became apparent as there were some nice extended passing moves that could have led to several goals, but we had to be content with one more with Ciaran Lafferty scoring with his first touch of the ball. Maryhill nicked a consolation in the last minute thanks to some sloppy marking by the Bankies. It was good to see McAnespie getting upset at that, even though the game was already well won.

So, how are things shaping up. Well, I think Johnny Allen looked good and if he is able to stay fit then McAnespie should sign him up now. Alan Vezza certainly stabilises the middle of the park and we looked a lot more secure. It also freed up Deas, who was able to get forward much more often.

McAnespie has quite a few options at the back and it will be interesting to see what he goes with when the real action starts. I hope he goes with a back four, as I think it suits the players we have better. Paterson and Forsyth have looked best for me, but won't complain too much whatever way we set up.

Where we look a little short is in the middle to front positions. We appear to be missing a bit of pace, and seem a little bit obvious in attack. My concern is that this will be a problem once the league starts against a better class of opposition. One or two players haven't convinced me yet, but it is still early days and the side will evolve over the coming weeks. We've still to see Watt properly who had good reviews pre-season and Lafferty is just coming back from injury.

Overall, we must be relatively happy at this stage. The results so far have been positive and that is the important thing. A lot of new players have come in and it is going to take a bit of time for the side to settle down. Not all of the new recruits are going to work out, but hopefully enough of them will, to give us the basis of a side that can compete in the league.

Match report written by Stuart McBay