Clydebank 2
Ashfield 0
Sectional League Cup (Group 6)

Match Report

McAnespie's Bankies made it nine wins in a row with an expected victory over an uninspiring Ashfield side. God, it was hard work though. That's three matches now, all against lower league opposition, and so far nothing to write home about performance wise. The winning run goes back to the middle of April when there were some inspired displays on the charge towards promotion. The start of this season has seen the results continue in the right direction, but the games have all been lacklustre.

I've still to see the Bankies put the opposition under any kind of pressure that would encourage me to think that we can trouble Super Premier League sides. All three of the teams we have played have been competitive, and we have not looked markedly better than any of them. Josh Lumsden made two excellent saves when it was still 0-0 and we might have been in a bit of trouble had we gone behind, as we haven't been tested being a goal down yet. As it was, Phil Johnston scored not long after with a great strike. Then, a few minutes later, a long punt up he park was well taken by the impressive Jordan Shelvey to make the game safe.

The positives to take from the match are the defence which looks fairly sound, with multiple options in all the positions. Ross Forsyth was my man of the match. He was cool under pressure, used the ball well coming forward and looks as good a defender as we have ever had in the Juniors. Jordan Shelvey also continues to impress. He took his goal very well, and hopefully he is able to take this form into the league campaign. I also like the style of the management on the sidelines. McAnespie is very pro-active with the players, and is always looking to influence things on the field. This is a huge change from the last management team, and one I'm hugely in favour of.

On the other side of the coin, the concern continues to be the middle to front positions where there is a lack of creative spark which has caused us to get bogged down against teams we should really be dominating. Until we face stronger opposition it is hard to gauge whether I'm being overly pessimistic or not.

The Bankies just need a point from the final group match against Yoker to progress to the knock-out round. Yoker always raise their game for this one, so this will probably be the sternest test yet.

Match report written by Stuart McBay