Match Report
A match report that begins with five goals, four penalties, one missed and one awarded under odd circumstances, alongside a red card and a stoppage-time winner, would usually suggest a great game of football. And you know what? It was.
The Bankies recovered from their pummelling against Celtic’s B team a week or so ago to record a vital three points thanks to Ciaran Mulcahy’s last-gasp headed winner in a gripping game that looked to be heading for a draw, due in the main to the heroics of Troon goalkeeper Martin McDonald.
As the ball hit the net in the third minute of added time, the keeper and his whole defence sank disconsolately to their knees as the Bankies players and fans went wild with joy.
This was easily the Bankies’ best performance of the season since the first pre-season match against Musselburgh, and in all honesty we should have been long out of sight before Mulcahy’s goal. Yes, Troon were handicapped by the red card shown to Stephen Bronsky just before the break, but even before then Clydebank were dominant.
Troon had clearly come to Holm Park to frustrate, and maybe that was borne out by the fact that their start to the season has been a little ropey. It is a shame, as they have some interesting forward players in their ranks.
I was loath to say that the finishing could have been better given the keeper’s performance, but there were occasions when we could have been more ruthless. The first glaring opportunity came after six minutes when Jamie Mills made an unbelievable mess of a clearance and the ball ran straight into the path of Nicky Low around eight yards from goal. The keeper was out quickly, but Low’s shot passed him and Mills redeemed himself by clearing off the line.
The first of McDonald’s top-drawer saves came just five minutes later from a powerful McLaughlin drive, which the Troon stopper saved superbly one-handed at his near post. He would go on to make two further stops from Samson before the visitors unexpectedly took the lead just after the half-hour.
It was a double nightmare for Dom Docherty after his, let’s be charitable, misplaced pass was intercepted, allowing Troon to break down the left. They worked the ball to the bye-line, where Mills’ powerful cross struck the Bankies midfielder on the lower arm for a penalty kick. Veitch sent Leishman the wrong way to put the Seasiders one up.
Thankfully, we didn’t have to wait long for the Bankies’ response. A ball over the top released Keir Samson, and the chasing Stephen Bronsky was always playing catch-up. He had a few attempts at grabbing Samson outside the box, but the Bankies forward cleverly stayed on his feet until he crossed the line and down he went. The ref awarded both a spot kick and a red card.
Nicky Low, with not the hardest-hit penalty you’ve ever seen, struck it perfectly off the inside of the post, with McDonald not a million miles away from it.
With the extra man, the Bankies turned the screw before the break and, after the keeper punched another near thing off the line, the Bankies went ahead in first-half stoppage time.
This time Docherty completed his pass to Nicky Low on the right wing. As he always does, Low delivered a perfect cross for Neil McLaughlin to volley into the net, as he also always does.
Gordon Moffat sent out his players for the second half with the message to kill the game against the ten men as soon as possible, and for the first fifteen minutes the Troon goal was under siege. A quite incredible sequence of shots at goal, even more incredibly, brought no goals.
Low smashed a beauty off the underside of the bar. A flowing move ended with Docherty’s shot brilliantly saved by McDonald. Cairns’ shot from the edge of the box whistled inches past the post, and those were just amongst the closest efforts.
And, typical of the way Clydebank’s season has begun, we conceded in the craziest of circumstances. The ball had long gone from the Bankies penalty area when, out of the corner of my eye, I caught Rossiter apparently pushing a Troon player to the ground. This was right in front of the linesman, and he alerted the ref, who brought the play back and awarded a penalty.
Veitch again faced Leishman, and this time he opted to crack the ball down the middle. Leishman dived to his right but couldn’t quite keep the ball out with his feet.
Clydebank suffered for five or ten minutes after this due to the shock, but the all-out assault on the Troon goal resumed before long. McDonald was inspired as he tipped a point-blank effort from Samson over the bar. Substitute Josh Jack’s free-kick was also stopped by the keeper, and his best was still to come.
The ref had warned about the pushing and shoving from set pieces, and when ex-Bankie Calum Gow bowled Matt Niven over, he pointed to the spot. The usually reliable Nicky Little took the fourth penalty of the day, but this time the keeper won the battle as he dived to his right to push the ball away.
It was just as the game looked to be heading for an unlikely draw that Ciaran Mulcahy rose at the near post to loop a super header from Jimmy Grant’s cross over the despairing dive of McDonald, who was finally beaten.
It was a dramatic ending to the game, but the value of the three points cannot be overstated. We really needed that win. This might be tongue in cheek, but I would love to see Mulcahy, McLaughlin and Samson all start a game at the same time.
It has shades of the Coyle, Eadie and Bryce partnership from the late 1980s. They scored a barrowload of goals, and it was unbelievably exciting to watch. Unfortunately, with such an attacking ethos, we quite often left the back door open, which probably cost us promotion. It will probably never happen, but I can dream.
We now have a wee break from the league with the unknown of Hibs B visiting us on Tuesday in the KDM Evolution Trophy. That’s the Challenge Cup in old money, which we last competed in back in 2001. Next Saturday is a trip to Stoneyburn in the South Challenge Cup.
Hopefully, this draws a line under the Celtic game, and we can move on to be more like the side we know we can be.
Match report written by Stuart McBay
