Rutherglen Glen 2
Clydebank 1
League (West Region Premiership)

Match Report

The misery for Clydebank supporters extended to yet another week as the Bankies lost for the very first time at New Southcroft Park. The 2-1 reversal to Rutherglen means that Clydebank have lost to all three bottom teams in the league in recent weeks. It is all the more galling as Rutherglen had not won in the league since August and were currently on a 12 match winless streak.

Changes were made again to the side after last week’s cup defeat at home to Hurlford. Michael Bailey was recalled to replace the suspended Ben Cameron and new signings Holmes and Hewitt were relegated to the bench with Black and Vezza preferred.

The first half was a dire affair with Clydebank only marginally the better side against the relegation threatened Glencairn. Despite barely threatening the Bankies goal in the opening 45 minutes, the home side managed to take a 1-0 advantage into the interval from yet another goalkeeping debacle.

Before we get to that, there were a couple of chances that could have been scored at the other end. As early as the fourth minute, the Bankies came close when Nicky Little rattled the ball off the crossbar from a Conor Lynass corner kick.

After quarter of an hour the roles were reversed when a flick on by Little found Lynass drifting into the box at the back post, however a defensive challenge took the sting out of the shot and the ball dribbled wide.

Minutes later, Chris Black had a decent opportunity when a quick free kick was played into his feet in the penalty box. He turned sharply but made a poor connection with the ball and trundled past the post.

Rutherglen had their first glimpse of goal at the midway point. A long ball over the top saw Simeon beat the offside trap. He raced towards goal at an angle from the left flank and tried to curl the ball into the far corner but was well off target.

The game descended into a dismal midfield battle until the home side took the lead after 37 minutes. Liam Rowan gave away a free kick away easily 25 yards or more from goal. It was a disaster for Bankies keeper Marc Waters not for the first time this season. As Leyden stepped up to strike the ball Waters took an ill-advised step to his left as the shot spun to his right. The ball entered the net almost in the centre of the goal with the keeper flailing to reach it.

The second half brought no immediate improvement or sign of urgency. In fact Rutherglen could have doubled their lead when Bailey missed a forward pass allowing McRobbie in behind. The winger raced into the box and slid the ball across for Simeon, but Waters redeemed himself when he stopped the first time shot with his feet.

It was just before the hour when Clydebank drew level with an almost fortuitous goal. A harmless looking forward ball drifted beyond the home defence who seemed to leave it for each other. Nicky Little was on to it in a flash and managed to reach the ball before the advancing goalkeeper prodding it past him into the net.

With substitutions on the field it looked like the Bankies might go on and nick all three points and a few chances were spurned. There were a number of close moments where the ball just didn’t run in the Bankies favour in the danger area. The best chance came through Craig Holmes who showed great tenacity to beat his man on the left touchline and hit the ball low across the goal but Nicky Little could only divert it over the bar.

With six minutes left Cammy McClair’s world fell apart as he was hugely to blame for the winning goal and then missed a sitter to reprieve himself. The goal arrived due to a weak attempt from McClair to win the ball when he was favourite to do so. This allowed Simeon to burst through on goal, slip the ball across for the incoming Wingate to ram home past the helpless Waters.

Barely 60 seconds later, Nicky Little got beyond the Rutherglen defence. He was able to round the goalkeeper but took the ball too wide of the goal. He looked up and found McClair in an ideal position to score, but the winger ballooned the ball several feet over the bar.

The Bankies huffed and puffed after this but crashed to another desperate defeat. It’s hard to know where to start with this. Marc Waters has made a lot of errors this season that have directly cost goals. At the very least a new goalkeeper is required for next term and his current position should be considered. The relegation of Jamie Darroch has made no discernible difference. The defence have leaked a minimum of two goals in each of the last eight matches. I believe him to be more reliable than McMenamin and would return him to his defensive position. The midfield and wide areas have been a bit of a shambles in the past few months with barely anyone deserving their place in the team. In the meantime Craig Holmes is more deserving of a start, and it is time to give Kyle Munro a run in the team at the expense of McClair or Lynass who have just not been contributing. It is apparent that there will need to be wholesale changes in the summer, and it is going to be a case of how many or should I say few of these players will be retained for next season

Match report written by Stuart McBay