Clydebank 1
Montrose 3
League (Division 2)

Match Report

This was the first game in well over a month that Clydebank had lost yet they had all the chances to return a more positive result. They drew first blood after only 20 minutes play and pinned the Montrose team right back in defence for most of the first half but in the second half they hardly seemed to exist.

Much of the credit for their splendid display early in the match must go to little Gerry O'Brien who played midfield like a veteran. He pumped and fed balls on to the other home forwards who repeatedly saw excellent shots either hit the woodwork or land neatly in 'keeper Page's arms.

Montrose, on the other hand, were the bigger stronger team who appeared, at the start of the match, to be sluggishly slow.

As it turned out later Clydebank did have the advantage in speed and the visitors had no option but to slow down the game to their own pace - no mean feat in view of the speed of the Clydebank forwards, who, when given their heads, moved with the ease of a group of Newmarket thoroughbreds.

One thing was certain, dear old Santa wasn't giving away any pre-Christmas presentation goals. Every one of the four balls netted was worked for. It says a lot for the Montrose players that they pulled up on Clydebank's early lead, whilst there was no doubt about them being the underdogs, and then went on to win by a two-goal margin.

Bankies goal was a veritable Christmas cracker, O'Brien started the move, carrying the ball down the left wing and sweeping everything in front of him. The ball went on to Jimmy Caskie who beat a Montrose back to whip the ball over to Alan Munro who netted from very close in.

But the jubilation was short lived. Four minutes later the teams were all even again after Montrose outside-left Stein followed up a well-planned break to send the ball past Mick McDonald from five yards out.

All did not seem lost to 'Bankies. They piled in the shots, but seasonal luck just wasn't with them and none of these feats of soccer glorification found their way into the Montrose goal.

Montrose proved that they were capable of playing good football in the 38th minute when a sharp one-two put Clydebank flat on their backs.

With the ball rolling dangerously around the Clydebank goalmouth, and Mick McDonald nowhere to be seen, centre-forward Kemp ran in for what seemed a certain goal. But he hadn't counted on Jim Fallon who tried desperately to clear, unfortunately to no avail.

At half-time Montrose left the field with what turned out to be morally a very healthy one-goal lead.

To give Gerry O'Brien and Jimmy Caskie their due, they are triers. And with Munro and Love alongside, when they are playing at their best, they form an almost indestructible forward line. What a pity they didn't bring out their best form when it was most needed in the second half.

Montrose controlled the game. They slowed it down almost to walking pace and did as they pleased with the home team. Some of the things they did were not very nice.

Although Mick McDonald was anything but stretched to his capacity in goal the Clydebank backs were having a very sticky time of it. It is at times like this that left back Danny Gray shows his worth, He is just a wee lad but during the past few months he seems to have put on a lot of weight and every pound he gains brings a wealth of courage.

Although some of the Montrose forwards were twice his size he didn't flinch once going into a tackle and certainly didn't hold back on anything. He is, perhaps, the walking proof of the Steedman's youth policy paying off.

The goal that put paid to any chance Clydebank might have had of coming away with a draw came in the 79th minute. Livingstone, the Montrose inside left, broke down the left wing, caught McDonald completely off guard and planted a well-placed shot in the back of the net.

It might sound chronic, but Clydebank didn't play as badly as the score would reflect. Faced with a lesser team than Montrose they would certainly have walked the match.

Match report written by Unknown (Clydebank Press)