Clydebank 0
Falkirk 2
League (Division 1)

Match Report

Come the season's end when Clydebank look back on their fitful promotion campaign, they may have more than a little reason to regret their three meetings with Falkirk.

For the modest Brockville side have taken five out of a possible six points from Bankies, three of them at Kilbowie Park.

And Bankies fans won't have much cause to remember the Falkirk encounters.

The first two games, a 1-1 draw at Clydebank and a 3-0 win for the Bairns on their own ground, were hardly inspiring.

But Saturday's match... well, saying it was bad is being kind.

I can't recall seeing a worse game all season and I certainly have never seen Clydebank play quite so badly.

Falkirk, scarcely talented but always the aggressors, weren't much better, but they were presented with two simple chances to win the game midway through the second half.

First Jim Gallacher and then Gerry McCabe made costly mistakes to which John Haggart's men said "thank you very much" and stuck away the vital goals.

Gallacher's mistake was the kind every keeper dreads. A low cross, easy meat for an experienced goalkeeper, slid under his diving body leaving Smith to tap home from close in. Five minutes later, McCabe, usually the team's best passer, was woefully short with a pass-back and Ward rounded Gallacher to score.

In those five minutes Bankies saw yet another two League points slip away.

The fans had been pretty lenient, almost apathetic, about Clydebank's failings in recent weeks, but this time they made their feelings known.

Many of the 700 crowd left early. The rest booed almost constantly during the last 25 minutes.

I don't condone supporters getting on the team's back, but in this case they had every right.

In a tough, uncompromising game, badly refereed by Mr. McLeish, Falkirk had Herd, Nicol and McIntosh booked, but it was Clydebank who showed more of their frustrations.

They showed all signs of a team in trouble arguing with each other, tackling wildly, even in one player's case letting the crowd's barracking get to him by gesturing to them.

Yes, it was a bad day. Even if efforts by McCabe and Blair Millar had gone in rather than hit the post; even if Millar had put away a chance from point blank range after Coyne cut the ball back past keeper Watson, it would still have been a bad day.

Bankies have a day off tomorrow as Queen's Park play Forfar in the quarter-finals of the Scottish Cup - and that gives them a chance to rest and reflect on the events of the last few depressing weeks.

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How the other side saw it
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A number of Falkirk players felt the sharp end of manager John Hagarty's tongue at half-time after an indifferent opening 45 minutes against the Bankies.

And the interval jolt certainly did the trick as the Bairns turned in an inspired second-half display to snatch the points from the promotion chasing Kilbowie side.

"Three or four of the players just didn't turn up in the first half", said the Falkirk boss, "and I sorted them out at the interval. In the second half the whole team played very well and in the end deserved to win."

The Falkirk boss paid tribute to the partnership of Gordon Smith and Tom Ward, who will remember their respective goals for different reasons. Smith's counter - which took him into double figures for the season was his first since October 24, while young Ward notched his first goal for the senior team. "Two wonderful goals", commented Hagarty.

Falkirk turned in a polished display and the Brockville side now find themselves on the fringe of the promotion race after this victory. Although Clydebank, chasing promotion themselves, showed some silky touches in midfield and up front, Falkirk were solid at the back and showed more fight throughout than the home side.

After a first half which saw both sides battling for possession and command in midfield, Falkirk had the better of the play after the break and hit the Bankies with a deadly double blow in the five-minute spell.

The opener came when goalkeeper Gallacher let a Herd cross bounce off his chest. The ball fell to Falkirk's top scorer Gordon Smith, and the striker cracked the ball into the net.

Five minutes later, a poor passback from Sharkey was intercepted by Tom WARD, and the youngster rounded Gallacher before shooting home from a narrow angle.