Cumnock 3
Clydebank 2
League (WoSFL Premier)

Match Report

Cumnock completed the league double over Clydebank with a 3-2 scoreline at Townhead Park in the West of Scotland League this afternoon. The Bankies were comfortably in the lead when a five minute implosion midway through the second half saw the tables turned with two quick goals.

Despite a raft of substitutions, the Bankies never really recovered and went further behind with a breakaway near the end. The ref added on a generous seven minutes of stoppage time allowing Lee Gallacher to pull one back with an outstanding strike and one or two dramatic moments almost saw a point rescued but to no avail.

It was maybe a surprise that Gordon Moffat went with the same eleven as Wednesday night at Auchinleck. This could have been an ideal opportunity to give at least one of Slattery, Mulcahy or McGonigle a start as they return from injury. However you couldn’t grudge the team that played so well at Beechwood another opportunity to impress.

Unfortunately, it didn’t work out as expected as Clydebank were fairly uninspiring for the first twenty five minutes. They were just not in the game at all, and hardly kicked a ball allowing Cumnock to dictate the terms.

The hosts were hardly world beaters themselves and other than a number of corners they only had a couple of long range efforts that were so far over the bar that they would give Finn Russell a run for his money.

Like Wednesday night, in the second half of the first half Bankies really grew into the game and could have easily scored four goals, and will be kicking themselves that they went into the break goalless.

The first effort after 25 minutes was more of a half chance as Weir floated the ball over the bar under pressure, after McKinlay played a short pass to him inside the penalty box.

Just minutes later Josh Weir chased down a long ball over the top. He got a toe to it but the advancing Barclay managed to palm it away, but it fell straight to Nicky Low who lobbed it over the isolated keeper.

Unfortunately, George Sewell had the presence of mind to cover for his goalkeeper and managed to header the lob over the bar for a corner. From the resultant corner Matt Niven Rose to head the ball towards the top corner only to see it cleared off the line for the second time in a minute.

The real miss came from an unlikely source as the Bankies kept up the pressure. A corner from the left was met on the volley by Nicky Low. The midfielders connection was poor but it fortuitously veered to Nicky Little inside the six yard box. From this range he should have burst the net, but he somehow launched the ball over the bar when it was easier to score.

Clydebank were still not done before the half was up. Clydebank robbed Cumnock of the ball high up in their half of the pitch. McKinlay held the ball up well and rolled it into the path of McMahon inside the “D”, but the luck wasn’t there for the big man as his placed side foot shot came back off the upright.

The same player was out of luck again on the stroke of half time when his raging volley grazed the outside of the post with Barclay a mere spectator.

How Clydebank did not go into the break with at least one goal in the bank was a mystery, but they were also hampered by Nicky Little having to leave the field with what looks like a shoulder injury.

The Bankies began the second half in a similar vein and finally managed to go ahead after 52 minutes. Low and Gallacher were involved in the build up finding Josh Weir on the left wing. Weir worked himself into the box and got the ball onto his right foot where he hit a reverse shot, and whilst not the best connection he has ever made, the ball found its way into the bottom corner with Barclay not even attempting a dive.

Minutes later, substitute Higgins got a toe to a near post cross but he could not get a enough power on the ball and Barclay saved easy.

The Bankies were in complete control…. and then it fell apart. Cumnock had barely had a shot at goal of any worth when they were handed the equaliser.

In fairness to Cumnock, it was a good move down the right wing and the cross ball took Jamie Donnelly out of the equation. But when Adam Hodge tried to clear from the six yard box, he struck the now prostrate Donnelly with the ball and it rebounded into the net for a horrendous own goal.

As if this act of self-harm wasn’t bad enough Clydebank contrived to give the home side the lead just three minutes later. Striker Jordan Moore had the ball in possession, but had both central defenders Niven and Little in front of him at the edge of the box.

A goal should not be conceded from this situation. Moore tried some fancy footwork, but neither defender offered a challenge. The striker even momentarily stopped the ball, and the twin centre-backs did nothing but open up a huge gap allowing Moore to take a pot-shot at goal. It was a good strike well out of the reach of Donnelly, but really the defenders have to take some serious responsibility here.

This perked up Cumnock and they looked more dangerous on the break than at any other stage in the match. Clydebank lost their way and like the opening twenty five minutes created next to nothing.

With four minutes left it was just about all over as two Cumnock forwards burst through the Bankies rearguard. It will be interesting to see this one again as Moore looked offside when he received the final forward pass to net, but the linesman had a good view and shouldn’t be making such a blatant error from that position.

The ref added on a huge seven minutes of stoppage time, and it allowed Lee Gallacher to pull one back with one of the goals of the season. He beat a couple of men on the edge of the box with a great spin turn. He then proceeded to lash the ball into the net to give his side a lifeline.

There was great drama as the Bankies almost pulled a point out of the fire, However Barclay made an outstanding save to claw a Higgins header off the line to make sure the points stayed in Cumnock.

So the Bankies couldn’t back-up the great result at Auchinleck during the week, and is pretty much in line with some of the things I’ve mentioned in recent weeks. We can certainly beat anyone on our day, but we can almost certainly lose when it is not our day.

We can point to chances missed today and similarly against Beith two weeks ago. Even when we lost at Darvel it was missed chances that meant we left with nothing. However, when this scenario repeats itself then it is not just about bad luck.

We are not clinical enough in front of goal particularly in big games, and we are just too prone to letting in soft goals. We have had just three clean sheets in the league this season and two of them were against Cambuslang at the bottom of the table.

These factors mean it can only end up one way and that is in inconsistency. Nine defeats in twenty one league matches shows this to be the case.

It is a busy week over the next seven days with league challengers Darvel visiting Holm Park, then the most important game of the season on Saturday as we travel to Provanmill Park to play St Rochs in the West of Scotland Cup.

Match report written by Stuart McBay