St Mirren 4
Clydebank 2
League Cup (Group 3)

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St Mirren 

4 - 2

Clydebank

League Cup (Group 3)
Saturday, August 19th, 1972
Love St. Att. 3,389
3:00 PM Kick-off

Goalscorers
David Millar (34)
Jim Storrie (57)
Ally McLeod (61)
Iain Munro (72) 		Alan Munro  (7)
Bobby Love  (20)

Team Managers
Thomas Bryceland Jack Steedman

Starting Eleven
1 Jim Gilmour
2 Sandy Clelland
3 John Jamieson
4 David Millar
5 Gordon McQueen
6 Billy Johnston
7 Bobby McKean
8 Jim Blair
9 Jim Storrie
10 Ally McLeod
11 Iain Munro 		Mike McDonald 1
Norrie Hall 2
Danny Gray 3
Gregor Abel 4
Pat Delaney 5
Dougie Hay 6
Ian Currie 7
Bobby Love 8
Mike Larnach 9
Alan Munro 10
Jimmy Caskie 11

Bench
12 Gus McLeod Andy Roxburgh 12

Substitutions
Gus McLeod -> Jim Blair None.

Cautions
Jim Blair (30)
John Jamieson 		Bobby Love (30)

Red Cards
None. None.

Match Officials

J Callaghan (Referee)
RW Harrison & H Holmes (Assistants)




Match Report

Clydebank Press


After the previous Wednesday's win over First Division Ayr United at Kilbowie the Bankies must have travelled to Paisley for this match with more than their fair share of confidence. And when they went two goals up on the Buddies this confidence must have reached dizzy heights.

But at twenty minutes to five on Saturday afternoon this confidence had been shattered, demolished, eradicated, etc., etc. For an amazing fight-back by St Mirren saw them equalise the score and then pull two goals ahead - the position at the final whistle.

The question most Bankies supporters must have been asking was: What went wrong with our team? Did they, after taking that two goal lead, decide to rest on their laurels or was it the hardiness and non-defeatist attitude of the Buddies? A combination of both if you ask me.

It is inevitable even with the most professional of sides that when they take the lead in a match at least one player will become complacent. At Love Street the entire Clydebank side seemed to do this, with one possible exception, Mike McDonald,

The tall goalkeeper again played his heart out and if it had not been for some terrific saves from him I dread to think what the score could have been He received very little support from the rest of the side. The defence which, during the previous League Cup matches had proved so tough and reliable, had a nightmare game. They seemed completely out of touch and at the latter end of the game the St Mirren forwards had an almost free passage to goal.

If you had said to me that the Bankies didn't look at all fit I don't think I would have argued. The forward line started off looking dangerous enough but as the game progressed they too, seemed to fall away. Although not trying to make excuses, I would say this could partly be laid down to the tough tackling of the St Mirren defence

I put tackling in inverted commas because of the forceful style of the play. To put it another way, if an English referee had been in charge of the match his pencil would have been worked overtime and his wee black book filled to capacity.

As it was, only three names went into the book - Bobby Love of Clydebank, and Saints' pair, Jim Blair and Jamieson.

The booking of Love and Blair could have been avoided. Both were involved in a jostling match in the Clydebank box after Norrie Hall went down injured and it was all over before it even started, with the players best of pals again.

Jamieson's caution was a different kettle of fish altogether. He had twice been warned about indifferent tackles and when he brought down Ian Currie with another crude tackle his name was taken.

One or two other players were lucky not to be in trouble with the referee — from both sides. Two incidents in particular come to mind. The first was when Mike Larnach broke away from Saints' centre-half Gordon McQueen. The centre started striding towards the goal when McQueen, making no attempt to go for the ball, swung out his boot and upended young Larnach.

Another player fortunate to escape scot-free was Mike McDonald. He became involved in a silly feud with Blair long after the ball had been cleared from the box and lashed out with a wild back-heel at the St Mirren forward. Accepting that Blair was not entirely blameless, it was a stupid thing for McDonald to do and completely out of character.

Luckily the referee and linesman's attention was elsewhere at the time. It is bad enough for a team to have an outfield player sent off but it would be disastrous for the goalkeeper to have been sent off.

But all thoughts of nasty things like bookings were far from the Bankies' minds in the seventh minute when Alan Munro put them ahead. Hall sent a beautiful pass forward to the "blond bomber" which caught out the home defence and Munro coolly walked the ball past the goalkeeper before stroking it home with the calm and composure of an old hand

Twelve minutes later Clydebank were two up, thanks to an almost unbelievable bit of luck. Love lofted the ball from fully 40 yards out towards the home goal, in the hope that one of his forwards would be there to take advantage of the pass.

There wasn't, and the ball bounced harmlessly — or so it seemed - towards goalkeeper Gilmour. But to everyone's astonishment the goalie fumbled the ball and dropped it over the line.

Gilmour put on a face-saving act that the ball had not crossed the line but even his own team-mates were not taken in by it, never mind the referee.

Four minutes later St Mirren were given an opportunity to pull back a goal when they were awarded a penalty after McDonald was reduced to pulling down Blair in the box after the inside-right had broken clear.

Munro was entrusted with the spot-kick but his effort was brilliantly saved by McDonald, who dived upwards and to his left to turn the ball round the post.

The home crowd were incensed in the 25th minute when the referee did not give a penalty alter outside-right McKean was tackled from behind by Danny Gray inside the box and brought down.

McDonald was quickly off his line in the 30th minute when McLeod broke away. The goalie, coming off his line, put the forward off enough for him to shoot wide, The Buddies didn't have long to wait, however, for a goal — two minutes to be exact.

A 30-yard shot from Millar struck a defender before sailing over the top of a bewildered McDonald and settling in the back of the net.

Saints really began to turn on the pressure now and the Bankies' rearguard was showing some signs, of weakening under the intense pressure. Just before the half-time whistle McDonald had to look lively to save a terrific shot from McLeod.

Mike Larnach came as near as he will ever come to scoring with the second half three minutes old. The move started down the right wing before Ian Currie sent the ball into the middle where the centre brought it down beautifully. From the narrowest of angles he slipped it past Gilmour... only to see it slide inches wide.

As it turned out, St Mirren scored next, through ex-Rotherham player Jim Storrie. Some very neat work by Johnston (a Clydebank boy) set the ball up for McLeod, who slid it forward to Storrie, who calmly strode into the box before picking his spot with a low shot.

That signalled the total collapse of the Clydebank side and, within four minutes, Saints had taken the lead. McLeod, who had come so near and yet so far previously during the match, finally got his name on the score-sheet with some neat play. He beat three men on the edge of the box before turning round to beat them all again with a neat body-swerve and then cracked the ball home just inside the post.

The home crowd gave Jimmy Caskie a ripple of applause in the 64th minute for his well-hit free-kick from just outside the box. This was nothing to the reception he got, however, one minute later when he missed a penalty. Larnach had been sandwiched between two defenders in the box and brought down.

Caskie incredibly sent the penalty past the post. No doubt usual penalty taker Jim Fallon, injured and sitting watching in the stand, could have given him a few words of advice.

The final nail in the Clydebank coffin was hammered in 18 minutes from the final whistle, when Munro took a pass from McKean first time on the edge of the box with his left foot and sent a good shot behind McDonald.




Squad Statistics (as at August 19th, 1972)

1972-73 All Time
League Cups All
Mike McDonald (GK) 0 - 3 - 130 -
Norrie Hall 0 - 3 - 592
Gregor Abel 0 - 3 - 3 -
Danny Gray 0 - 3 - 1341
Pat Delaney 0 - 3 - 3 -
Dougie Hay 0 - 3 - 18611
Bobby Love 0 - 311665
Jimmy Caskie 0 - 2 - 16659
Alan Munro 0 - 3117670
Ian Currie 0 - 3 - 357
Mike Larnach 0 - 2121







Recent Results

League results since Clydebank's last match
None.

League Table (as at August 19th, 1972)

Pld W D L +/- Pts

No games played.