Pollok 1
Clydebank 1 (4-2 on pens)
Sectional League Cup (2nd Round)

Match Report

Clydebank exited the Sectional League cup after losing to Pollok in a penalty shoot out by by four goals to two. In a night of penalty kicks the two sides could not be separated over the 90 minutes thanks to a spot kick each converted by Nicky Little for the Bankies and a late equaliser from Andrew Dallas.

While it was unfortunate to go out of the competition, it was heartening to see a much stronger performance from the players, who nullified a disappointing Pollok side. Although the homesters had the bulk of the possession they barely created a chance of note and were really only a threat at set pieces. Clydebank on the other hand will be ruing a couple of great chances late on, particularly a spectacular save from Longmuir that kept the scores level.

McAnespie was back in the hot seat and made some telling changes. Out went McLean, Black and Munro, and in came Kennedy Lynass and Hepburn. This meant Nicky Little fulfilled a deeper role with Hepburn afforded the supporting strikers role. The result was a much more cohesive shape to the team particularly from a defensive stand point with Kennedy joining up the dots in the back four.

Pollok, as expected, started well but didn’t really threaten the Bankies goal too much. A free header in the box that went over the bar tamely from Forde was about their best effort.

Del Hepburn’s pace is a worry for most defences and it was the key the opened the door for the Bankies after ten minutes. He outstripped the home defence and was brought down in the act of shooting. It was possibly a touch soft but the ref had no hesitation in pointing to spot. Nicky Little made it goal number 75 for the club by sending the kick high into the goalkeeper’s left hand corner.

Little could have made it 2-0 just minutes later when the ball broke kindly for him in the box, but his attempted volley was charged down. At the other end, the Bankies defence showed they have still to iron out some issues when Darroch and Kennedy got in each others way allowing Dallas to get a shot in that deflected away for a corner.

Further efforts were exchanged soon after when a Pollok set piece evaded everyone, and it looked like Morton only had to touch the ball for a goal, but he somehow missed it completely. Clydebank replied with a wicked Lynass corner kick that hit Boyle and went narrowly wide. For some strange reason the ref gave a goal kick with the nearby Nicky Little none too happy.

The game got a bit ragged towards the break with three players being shown the yellow card but Clydebank finished the stronger with McClair almost taking advantage of a slack back pass but his angled shot was well held by Longmuir.

Pollok began the second period as they did the first with a lot of energy but little end product. The Clydebank defence were not giving anything away. An angled cross from Shaun Fraser that had no takers at the far post was about the pick of the openings created.

The Bankies grew into the game and the genuine goal-scoring chances came at the Pollok end. Bailey delivered a fine cross from the right wing on the hour and Shelvey’s header was well saved by Longmuir.

Five minutes later and Lynass should really have extended the lead. Munro, on for Hepburn, played a sublime infield pass to Lynass. The forward held off the challenge of Gallacher, but drilled his shot off the legs of Longmuir from only ten yards out.

This stung Pollok into action, but again the danger was from a set piece. A corner was met by the head of the giant Boyle, but Waters made a fine finger tip save under the bar.

The Bankies looked good value with only ten minutes remaining but then disaster struck. There was a bit of an old fashioned stramash in the Bankies penalty box that ended up with Shelvey on the ground. As the striker tried to get up, the ball pinged about and it unluckily came off his arm. The ref pointed to the spot and Dallas hit an almost identical spot kick as Little’s earlier effort to level the score.

Clydebank could have won it near the end with a great move with McClair playing Substitute Millar into the left hand channel. The striker crossed to the near post for Shelvey whose first time shot was superbly saved by Longmuir. The last piece of action was the red carding of Boyle for a bad foul on Munro as the young striker looked ready to finish off a wonderful piece of free flowing football. Munro took the free kick himself from the edge of the box but blasted it well over the bar.

So penalty kicks it was to be with Pollok to go first. Esplin and Millar both scored the first kicks, then Duff duffed his as Darroch put the Bankies into the lead. Henry then drew Pollok level and McClair hit the bar for the Bankies to make it 2-2 after 3 kicks each. Dallas scored his second of the night whilst Munro’s poor effort was stopped by Longmuir. Pollok only needed to net to progress to the next round and Fraser obliged to give the home side a rather undeserved 4-2 win.

Clydebank again followed up a poor performance with a much better one. This is really the first time the back four has been at its strongest with maybe the exception of Paterson, and the inclusion of Kennedy did seem to draw it together. I’m not sure I want Nicky Little to be occupying such a deep midfield role, but it was certainly an improvement on the weekend. This is a dilemma that will need to be sorted soon. We again showed we can be a danger from an attacking point of view and I’m sure we will score goals. As was said after the Beith game we need to follow up an improved performance with another one. We can’t afford to drop the levels again and the Troon game gives the ideal platform to get the first league win on the board.

Match report written by Stuart McBay