Kilwinning Rgrs 2
Clydebank 2
League (Super Division One)

Match Report

Clydebank finally climbed to the summit of the league table courtesy of a 2-2 draw at Kilwinning, but this was a match that should have been won by a comfortable margin. Chances galore were missed in the second half in particular with Dallas, MacKinnon and McPherson being culpable.

It all started so well for the Bankies, as well. Constant pressure was rewarded after only 6 minutes when Ross Campbell ghosted in at the back post to side foot Martin McComish’s in-swinging cross into the back of the net.

For a while it looked like it was going to be a cricket score as the Bankies laid siege to the home goal, but a game can turn in a moment and if ever an example was needed then it was here. Darian MacKinnon burst into the Buffs penalty box and squared the ball to Dallas. Looking like a certain goal, the Bankies front man sclaffed the ball into the keeper’s arms. And costly it was too, as Kilwinning broke directly up the pitch, and the sweeping move resulted in Mitchell slamming the ball past Gonet.

There is an old footballing adage about not taking your chances, and here it was in the flesh. The turnaround was complete on the half-hour when the ref adjudged Gary Lynn’s challenge on Lewis to be a penalty kick. Mitchell duly stepped up and doubled his and the Buffs tally for the day.

For the remaining sixty minutes the original pattern of the match returned with wave after wave of Clydebank attacks. The question was could the Bankies find the firepower to turn the match back in their favour. The answer, sadly, was no. They did manage to get back on level terms however when Dallas neatly finished off a MacKinnon pass with the outside of his foot that gave Wilson no chance.

The chances that were missed after the equalising goal had to be seen to be believed. Hailstones nodded on the ball to MacKinnon, who from 10 yards out absolutely lashed the ball over the bar when he should have uprooted the goal posts. In fairness to the midfielder, he was very unfortunate to see another fine curling effort come back off the bar.

McPherson was the other culprit as he showed a real lack of composure when presented with a gilt edged opportunity. A fine move involving Hailstones and MacKinnon saw the ball rolled across the box to the unmarked youngster. He had all the time in the world to take a touch, but his off balance first time shot ballooned over the bar.

This was perhaps the Bankies best performance of the season, so to not come away with the three points was very disappointing. The one point gained has given the club a slender lead in the league table, however only two points in the three away games must be seen as a failure as six were almost certainly there for the taking. It means that despite being top of the pile, the other challengers don’t have to achieve very much to overtake the Bankies, so the pressure is now on to pick up a few wins in the coming weeks.

Match report written by Stuart McBay