Clydebank 0
Ayr Utd 1
League (Division 1)

Match Report

Bankies slumped to their fourth successive game without a win, and have no-one to blame but themselves.

Chance after chance went abegging in front of young Scott McKay's goal, and Jim Fallon and company lived dangerously at the back with their inefficiency eventually leading to the only goal of the game.

Tony Gervaise's tragic slip on the edge of his own box presented United with a clear-cut chance to take the lead, and they didn't look a gift horse in the mouth.

Just to rub salt in Clydebank's self-inflicted wounds, the man whose clever chip sailed over Jim Gallacher for the winner was former Kilbowie favourite Mike Larnach.

He had all the time and space he needed to leave Gallacher stranded yards out of his goal... and to keep Bankies in the ever-deepening gloom which has enveloped them during the past few weeks.

From then on there was an air of despondency about Kilbowie Park which seemed to transfer itself to the players. Bankies were awful. There's no two ways about it.

Gone was the spark of inspiration which took them to that great run of results just a few weeks ago. Gone was the buoyancy which was so obvious as they shared the league leadership with St. Johnstone.

Their luck had run out. Good fortune had followed Bankies for quite some time, and had helped them to several important wins but there were no lucky breaks on Saturday.

The goal they lost made that quite clear. After 54 minutes of utter tedium played in atrocious conditions, Jim rolled the ball to full-back Gervaise to start off yet another attack.

It didn't get very far. After a couple of steps, Gervaise fell flat on his face and Larnach pounced to pick up the loose ball. Before Bankies could recover, Gallacher was picking the ball out of the net.

United keeper McKay had to endure no such exertions. He kept Bankies at bay with a string of excellent saves, no mean feat on a glue-pot surface and with the ball more like a bar of wet soap.
But as early as the first minute, he had to rely on one of the smallest men on the field, Brian Ahern, to come to the rescue with a flying header after Budgie McGhie's effort had beaten him.

However, after this bright start Bankies settled back into a predictable pattern of mediocrity.

By half-time, the 463 cold, wet souls who braved the elements were pretty fed up with the whole thing, and who could blame them.

The second half was to bring no more joy... unless you were supporting Ayr. The introduction of Campbell McKeown and Eddie Sinclair to replace Martin Hughes and Gerry Ronald did little to improve Clydebank's chances of getting back into the game, and United could have increased their lead but for some poor finishing and, on one occasion, a goal-line clearance from Fallon.

Up front for Bankies Tommy Coyne and Bobby Williamson were sadly out of touch. Williamson has been off the boil for the past few weeks, and it could be that he has become a victim of his own early success.

The fans and, it seems, the team are too reliant on his ability to win a game with a surging run or a lightning turn. When he fails to produce the goods, the pressure builds on him. He's young, relatively in-experienced, and needs a rest, in my opinion. A break from the grind of the First Division may renew his verve for football.

Failing that, I would suggest a change of position for Williamson. A more with-drawn role, behind a couple of strikers, would give him the chance to run at defenders, rather than picking the ball up with his back to goal.

His roving ability, strength, speed and skill, might be just the thing to spark a revival in a team sadly lacking in ideas and inspiration.