Vale of Clyde 0
Clydebank 2
Sectional League Cup (Group 9)

Match Report

Nicky Little’s double strike ensured the Bankies progressed to the last 16 of the Sectional League Cup after a rather unconvincing display at Fullarton Park against Vale of Clyde. So much so, that Kieran McAnespie made all three substitutions at the interval after a lacklustre showing in the opening 45 minutes. The win means the Bankies will travel to Newlandsfield Park in a fortnight’s time to face big scoring Pollok who have netted 20 times in just three matches.

Holidays are still affecting the team selection with Lynass the only returning player, though he could only find a place on the bench. To make matters worse, Jordan Kennedy pulled up in the warm up and with a bit of juggling, Nicky Little was promoted to the starting eleven. This meant that the back four was on very unfamiliar lines with none of the starters likely to be first picks when the league campaign gets under way.

For the opening five minutes it looked like the Bankies were going to run riot, as they laid siege to the home goal. Kicking down the hill, Nicky Little sprung the offside trap and sent a tantalising cross along the six yard box, but neither Shelvey nor Rae could get a foot to it.

On the back of this Alan Vezza controlled a long McLean throw in with his back to goal around six yards out. Vezza made a neat side step, but spun the ball across the goal and off target.

Then the game died. Clydebank could not put a cohesive move together and failed to trouble the Vale of Clyde defence at all. Fortunately, the home side were no better and rarely threatened the Bankies goal. An off target effort from Turner for the Vale and a weak shot by Rae were the only notable, and I mean that loosely, pieces of action in the next half hour.

After thirty five minutes the games sprung to life when the Bankies were awarded a penalty. A Jordan Shelvey volley was blocked at point blank range by the arms of Morrison. It was an incredibly harsh decision compounded with an even harsher yellow card for something Morrison just couldn’t get out the way of. Nicky Little, obviously feeling guilty at the decision, sent his spot kick weakly to Scott’s left hand side, and the keeper did a fine job keeping the ball out.

The interval couldn’t come quickly enough for the disjointed Bankies, and there was no mistaking how McAnespie felt about it. Off went Rae, McLean and Cowie to be replaced by Munro, Lynass and Bailey in a bold move.

The Bankies did not improve massively but were now mostly taking the game to Vale of Clyde. Jordan Shelvey had a decent shot saved before the opening goal finally arrived from Nicky Little. Alan Vezza picked out the free scoring forward with a lovely defence splitting pass. Little then calmly stepped inside a defender before sending a well place effort past Scott in the home goal.

Vale of Clyde tried to up their game but as had been the case for most of the match, they didn’t have the guile to get past the Bankies defence. The result was finally put beyond doubt in the 70th minute. It was Conor Lynass who supplied the through ball to Jordan Shelvey who slipped it across the goal for Nicky Little to finish it off.

The Bankies settled down after this and were looking more like themselves as the heart and legs ran out for the Vale. They didn’t help their own cause when McCue was given a straight red card with eight minutes remaining when he went through Michael Bailey in an attempt to get the ball after the Bankies defender had given away a free kick. A bit of a melee ensued with the ref handing out two further yellow cards.

Nicky Little was to be denied a hat trick in the closing stages. Firstly, when Scott made a fine save from his near post header, and secondly due to the greed of Jordan Shelvey. The two forwards were through on the goalkeeper. Rather than give Little a tap in, Shelvey decided to go for it himself but made a bit of a meal of it hitting it off the keepers legs.

The most important thing is the Bankies are through to the next round, but the displays have deteriorated with each game. This was nowhere near the Bankies strongest line up however, and with the league campaign beginning on Saturday we will have a clearer picture on McAnespie’s thinking for the tougher tasks ahead.

Match report written by Stuart McBay