Clydebank 1
Kirk Rob Roy 2
League (West Region Premiership)

Match Report

Clydebank sunk to a season low as they were easily beaten at home by bottom of the table Rob Roy by two goals to one. It was one of the worst performances from a Clydebank side in many a year and it was compounded by the fact that the visitors played with ten men for almost an hour after losing Carroll to a second bookable offence. This match has left supporters wondering where we go from here as there appears to be no light at the end of the tunnel as the club have now lost five consecutive league matches.

There were a number of changes to the line up which you often see with struggling teams as the management seek the formula to change the team’s fortunes. Out went Smith, Black and Munro with Bailey missing through suspension. Keeper Waters was also absent with Morrison deputising. New signings Holmes and Hewitt both started with the former taking up a more central role than his debut from the previous week.

On a sodden day, the match was a crime against football for the first twenty five minutes. There was not one shot on goal from either side who both looked evidently out of form and confidence.

However, Rob Roy looked to have a little bit about them and they had the ball in the net soon after. It came about from a careless Rowan pass that was intercepted on the left wing deep inside his own half. The ball was immediately crossed to the back post where MacPherson slid it home from close range only to see the linesman to cut his joy short with an offside flag.

As we approached the half hour Little hit the crossbar, but it was a deflected cross and did not constitute Clydebank’s first shot of the day. Minutes later Clydebank received a major boost when Carroll was given a yellow and a red in quick succession. The first for a foul and the second could only be for something he said.

Clydebank did not look anywhere near capable of taking advantage of the extra man, and even though Matt McLean hit a twenty five yard shot narrowly wide, it was Rob Roy who took a not entirely surprising lead on the stroke of half time. Scott Forrester was the goalscorer as he powered home a header unmarked from a corner kick.

It would be churlish to disregard the fact that Clydebank were more of a threat in the second period, and a few very good chances were missed, probably through the malaise that just about every player seems stricken by at the moment.

It started after fifty minutes when Holmes – who had a decent second half – hit a powerful shot that Kerr could only parry to McClair. He should have buried the rebound but only managed to hit the side netting.

A minute later, a clever corner was rolled to Rowan just twelve yards out, but he ballooned the ball over the bar from a very scorable position. Holmes, was next to try his luck again just before the hour. This boy has a shot in him and he was unlucky to see his twenty five yard effort crash off the cross bar.

There was no denying in general play Clydebank were struggling to put anything coherent together as Rob Roy sat in to protect their lead. However, the Bankies managed to carve out an opening after 69 minutes. Hewitt, who looked well off the pace for most of the match, managed to engineer a knock on to Nicky Little who ran through on goal. However, the Bankies forward made a real hash of the chance when he tried to shoot with his left foot and sclaffed the ball wide. This was followed up by another rasping effort from Holmes, but this time Kerr was equal to the task in the away goal.

Clydebank finally got a lucky break just as the game looked like it was going to drift away. The ball was played up to Nicky Little and he looked like he lost his balance as he tried to bring it under control while being pressurised by a defender. The ref decided this was a penalty kick and would definitely be filed under the soft category. Little took the spot kick himself and made no mistake.

There was to be no comeback however as the sides only remained on level terms for four minutes. The ball was carelessly given away deep inside the Bankies own half by McLean. It was instantly rolled along the edge of the penalty area where Currie-McLean took one touch and rifled an unstoppable shot past Morrison.

Clydebank wilted after this body blow and the game did indeed fizzle out to its natural conclusion with a much needed win for Rob Roy who doubled their points tally for the whole season. A sorry Bankies side can have no complaints or excuses after a sorry performance.

As things stand it looks like Gordon Moffat is going to have to start from scratch with this squad. The first thing he needs to do is secure the club’s position in this league and that will require at least four more wins. It doesn’t sound like much but under current form it looks like a bit of a challenge. It will then be a matter of how many of this current squad he wants to retain which won’t be a very high number. The only positives from this match were young Ben Cameron who looked assured a right back and hopefully he can progress from the academy to challenge in the main squad. Also, Craig Holmes showed some glimpses of a player who may be able to contribute to the side. Next match sees the Bankies travel to Largs and hope springs eternal that this will be the day to break this wretched run of defeats.

Match report written by Stuart McBay