Cambuslang R 1
Clydebank 5
Sectional League Cup (Semi Final)

Match Report

The Bankies cruised into the final of the Sectional League Cup in a surprisingly easy victory over Cambuslang Rangers. For a team that had won all seven of their matches this season, Cambuslang were desperately disappointing and the 5-1 result could have been much worse for them. I don't see any point in focussing on Cambuslang's failings, which were many, but rather take the positive aspects from the Bankies performance which hopefully can be taken forward into the league programme.

Cambuslang started brightly enough, and a couple of dangerous moments gave the Bankies defence something to think about, but by the time the Phil Johnston scored the opening goal after 41 minutes the domination was almost total. The only thing missing was that final pass or cross. The goal was a bit lucky as well with Shelvey's block forcing the keeper into a save that fell nicely to Johnston to tap in. Amazingly, the teams went into the break level when a defensive lapse allowed Simeon to run in on Morrison and finish expertly.

The Bankies quickly retook the lead at the start of the second half when Johnston was floored for a penalty, Shelvey saw his kick saved but managed to slide the rebound into the net. What followed was a procession towards the Cambuslang goal. The amount of misplaced passes and dreadful defending by the home side was incredible, and that led to the third goal. Johnston hit the ball too far in front of himself, at the halfway line but incredibly the home defence parted like the Red Sea and he continued unchallenged to the goal. He put the ball away with ease.

Lafferty was completely unmarked as he scored the fourth with a neat header, and new loan signing from Morton Scott Miller finished it off with a smart shot in the dying minutes.

Everyone contributed well tonight. Chris Dooley had a shaky start, but improved as the game went on. He looks like he might be better coming forward than defending as he got caught out a couple of times. Johnny Allan looked like he was suffering a wee bit as he wasn't quite as involved. Hopefully, its just a bit of tiredness and he is still building up his fitness. Ciaran Lafferty did well from the bench. That's five goals for him and he looks like he is getting used to the physical side of the game at this level. He certainly has an eye for goal and isn't afraid to shoot which is not something we've seen much of in the last ten years or so. The new boy, Scott Miller, looks pacy and scored a very good goal. We now have a few options up front.

After two tough league defeats, this cup is giving the players some relief, and hopefully some belief. You can see McAnespie is trying to instil a professionalism into the side that we haven't seen before. He appears to be a hard taskmaster. He is on the players all the time from the sidelines, not allowing them to switch off for a second. He has brought in a lot of players, and all things considered it has been a decent start to the season. The league is where it matters however, and we need to make some progress here or we could quickly be embroiled in a battle to avoid the play-offs even at this early stage of the season.

Match report written by Stuart McBay