Clydebank 5
Cumnock 2
League (WoSFL Premier)

Match Report

It seems like a bit of a cheek to have any kind of complaint when you have just watched your team win 5-2 against decent opposition – a result that most supporters would have taken in a second before a ball was kicked. But, it feels like a little bit of a missed opportunity when the Bankies were four up at the interval with Cumnock down to ten men.

The needless red card for Creag Little and his prior error which led to a penalty meant that any chance the Bankies had of running up a big score was dashed. It was almost a carbon copy of the game against Largs just over two years ago (read here) where Clydebank raced into a four goal first half lead against ten men only for Matt McLean unnecessarily getting himself sent off. The momentum was lost and the game ended up 4-1.

There’s no getting away from it, but the Bankies were utterly superb in the first half. They played an almost perfect game against Cumnock who were reduced to ten men after just 2 minutes, when Gregg Ferry brought down Thomas Collins at the edge of the box which the ref deemed to be a “last man” situation.

If Cumnock thought that was a bad start to the game, then the next four minutes piled misery upon misery. From the resultant free kick Nicky Low smashed the ball into Barclay’s bottom left corner. It was a well struck shot, but looked to be a bit of a shambles of a defensive wall as the keeper didn’t even move his hefty frame one iota to get near the ball.

Before you knew it, the Bankies were two up. Ciaran Mulcahy provided the pass to Thomas Collins on the left flank. The Bankies forward cut inside his defender, drew the keeper and neatly lifted the ball over him to double the lead.

Cumnock, shocked by this start, forced a couple of corners in response but it was fleeting as the Bankies showed how to play with the extra man. All too often, ten man teams are galvanised by their loss and close ranks making it difficult for the opposition.

Not in this case however. Clydebank could easily have went into the interval five, six or maybe more goals ahead, but they had to settle for four. The passing was precise and Cumnock were pushed and pulled all over the pitch.

Matt Niven was incorrectly given offside when he headed home from a Lee Gallacher free kick, Nicky Little missed from a Mulcahy pull back, and Mulcahy himself missed a couple of headers from good positions.

The two goals that the Bankies did score were both of the highest quality, and you could write a whole report about them alone. They were both scored by Nicky Little, and they were reflexive strikes that nobody at this level and possibly above could do any better.

The first came from a cleared header, which Little returned on the volley from 25 plus yards, which left keeper Barclay as a mere spectator as the ball flew spectacularly over his head and into the net.

Little’s second and the Bankies fourth was even better, and from almost the same position. This time the ball took a ricochet and sat up for the striker and he has done this so many times now that it is simply no fluke. The ball soared diagonally over the despairing dive of Barclay right into the postage stamp for his second world class goal in just under five minutes.

At the break, there were certainly thoughts that the Bankies could do their goal difference a huge favour if they could even come some of the way towards repeating their first half exploits.

However, two individual mistakes from Creag Little put any notion of a big score away for another day. Within two minutes of the restart a misplaced header from the defender exposed keeper Hughes and he had no option but to bring down McGaughey in the box before he rounded him and scored. McKernon took the penalty kick and slotted it into the bottom right hand corner.

This goal gave the visitors a big lift, and they were further aided when Little was sent off after 54 minutes. He committed the cardinal sin of backing off from a high ball and letting it bounce in front of him. This created an unnecessary situation, and he appeared to lead with his elbow when he finally did attempt to challenge for the ball. The ref agreed with this assessment and showed the defender a second yellow card.

Little has been out of sorts this season, and these kinds of mistakes could have been costly in a different situation. As it was, the Bankies bench seemed to footer about trying to get a substitution sorted and in the meantime the exposed and now disorganised defence gave away another penalty when Niven clattered into a Cumnock forward.

McKernon once again stroked the ball into the same corner from the penalty spot, with Hughes coming very close to stopping it.

The Bankies finally got Darroch on the pitch, and they fortunately increased the margin of goals back up to three just a few minutes later when Niven got his goal when he headed home a Gallacher corner.

Moffat made further substitutions to stabilise the midfield, and this largely done the trick as Cumnock didn’t really look like they could get back into the game. The Bankies were mostly back in control of proceedings but the opening fifteen minutes of the second half pricked their balloon, and they never got anywhere near the levels of the opening 45.

With just ten players on each side, there was quite a lot of space for both sides to exploit, but neither team looked like adding to their respective totals, though Cumnock hit the outside of the post from a free kick with the very last kick of the ball.

When all is said and done, this is still a very good result, and we have seen in recent weeks what the Bankies can do when they put it all together. Once again, my man of the match was Nicky Low. His range of passing was outstanding, and the way he dictates the midfield is what I fully expected to see from him when he signed.

Other candidates include Nicky Little. You simply can’t ignore those goals, and he is spending more of his time in the last third where he is easily one of the best forwards in the league. Elsewhere, Collins and Mulcahy continue to develop an understanding which is sadly going to be broken up when Ciaran leaves for sunnier climes shortly.

It’s Scottish Cup time again next week, as the Bankies descend on Fort William. The Bankies are fully expected to seal passage to the next round, but we all know where complacency leads, so it is vital the players are professional and keep up the standards they have shown in recent times.

Match report written by Stuart McBay