Queen of South 2
Clydebank 1
League (Division 1)

Match Report

Clydebank slumped to their second successive away defeat and they have no one to blame but themselves.

For they created enough chances to win 10 games, but could only make one count, a Blair Millar header 10 minutes from half-time. On the other hand, Queens made the most of their opportunities hitting two first-half goals after defensive mistakes by the Bankies.

As early as the second minute, Gerry McLauchlan made a terrible hash of a pass-back, and former Ayr United striker, Gerry Phillips, had no problem in trundling the ball past Jim Gallacher.

Then midway through the half a sweeping Queens move left the Bankies' defence in tatters and Jimmy Coughlin had the easiest of jobs to slide the ball home.

So Clydebank were left in the strange position of having had most of the play; 99 per cent of the chances, but none of the goals.

They did manage to get the ball in the net once, in between the two home goals, but Tom McGorm saw his brilliant solo effort chalked off for what appeared to be offside, although who it was against was anybody's guess.

However, when Blair Millar leapt to head a Mark Treanor free kick past Alan Ball, it looked as if the floodgates would open and Bankies would come back into the match. it was not to be.

Queen of the South held out until the interval and although in the second half the game reverted to its original pattern of Bankies having all the pressure. Late in the game the homesters began to push forward and look for the goal which would kill off the Clydebank challenge.

Phillips came close with a header which struck the crossbar. There was no more scoring.

In the end Queens were delighted to come away with two points after being on the rack for so long. Bankies, on the other hand, will be slightly bemused at how they could have so much of the game and still lose.

All the ingredients for a good performance were there tenacity, fine passing, bags of confidence-but none of these qualities were in evidence in front of goal.

On numerous occasions, forwards, midfielders and even defenders got into good positions, made plenty of space to shoot, and then proceeded to miss.

There should be no excuses from Clydebank. They weren't up against a particularly tight defence in fact, Queens gave them far too much room at times - and the ball ran for them.

The fact is Bankies, now with only one point from their last three matches, were woeful in front of the veteran Ball and his defence, most of whom aren't too far behind him in age.

Queens saw little of Jim Gallacher - but when they did, they made sure they were on target at least.

Mind you, if you were a neutral at Palmerston on Saturday, it was a good game to watch. The match was played at breakneck speed most of the time, there was plenty of goalmouth action and a lot of "needle" to keep the 1,200 fans on their toes for 90 minutes.

Queen of the South were a stuffy, physical outfit with more than their fair share of, shall we say, "experienced" players. Alan Ball, Dick Malone, Crawford Boyd, George McVittie and Kevin McCann are all on or approaching the wrong side of 30. Yet they all played an invaluable part in their side's first home success since promotion.

Bankies are, of course, a very young side, and this may have worked against them. For many of their number in their youthful enthusiasm ran around all afternoon like chickens with their heads cut off, while the Dumfries old-heads were content to save their legs and let the ball do the work.

Special mention on this score must go to George McVittie. The balding outside right, who spent a long career in England with Carlisle United, Oldham and West Bromwich Albion, was lost if the ball was played more than 10 yards ahead of him. But give him it at his feet and he showed the younger men around him how to pass and cross with skill and accuracy. His cross laid on the second goal for McCann, just one contribution to a match in which he was far and away the star.

For the visitors, Mark Treanor, Jim Fallon, Gerry McCabe and Tom McGorm all shone, with the latter, perhaps the pick the bunch. He would have been very disappointed at seeing his "goal" chalked off, for it was a superb piece of individual skill which saw him beat three men before ramming the ball home. It was a frustrating day all round for Bankies. Yet a game like this had been coming for a few weeks. They couldn't have gone on for ever missing so many chances without their opposition making the most of their own.


No doubt, as I have said, there is plenty of skill and dig in the Kilbowie ranks. But Sammy Henderson has to come up with a solution to the problem of putting the ball in the back of the net - and soon.