Clydebank 2
Bonnyton Thistle 1
League (WoSFL Premier)


Clydebank
2 - 1
 Bonnyton Thistle

League (WoSFL Premier)
Saturday, February 12th, 2022
Holm Park. Att. 280
2:00 PM Kick-off

Goalscorers
Ciaran Mulcahy (37)
(Assist Hamish McKinlay)
Martin Smith (82)
(Assist Paul Byrne)
Stewart Davidson (70)

Team Managers
Gordon Moffat
Alan Robertson

Starting Eleven
1 Jamie Stevenson
17 Dom Slattery
3 Paul Byrne
5 Jamie Darroch
4 Matt Niven
6 Frazer Johnstone
25 Lee Gallacher
10 Nicky Little
9 Ciaran Mulcahy
24 Hamish McKinlay
19 Kyle Munro
Leitch 1
Kelly 2
Gardiner 3
Robertson 4
Walsh 5
Hannah 6
Stevenson 7
Dempsie 8
McColm 9
Davidson 10
Gilroy 11

Bench
16 Chris Black
1 Jamie Donnelly
25 Liam Harris
15 Oisin McHugh
21 Matt McLean
27 Ross McPherson
14 Martin Smith
Walker 12
Jenkins 14
Ablorh 15
Walker 21

Substitutions
Liam Harris for Hamish McKinlay (61)
Chris Black for Dom Slattery (65)
Martin Smith for Kyle Munro (68)
Ablorh -> Stevenson (50)
Walker -> Leitch (54)
Jenkins -> Dempsie (84)

Cautions
None. Walsh (59)
Robertson (79)

Red Cards
None. None.
Match Officials

Andrew Craven (Referee)
Alex Bebbington & Matthew Malpass (Assistants)


Match Report


Despite recording their first win of 2022 by defeating bottom club Bonnyton Thistle by the odd goal in three, the Bankies were rather poor and look like a side who have lost their way in recent times. Had Bonnyton brought their shooting boots to Holm Park, the Bankies could easily have been staring down the barrel of a fifth consecutive defeat. The only bright spark was the introduction of Under-20s forward Martin Smith from the bench who looked lively and scored the winning goal with eight minutes to go.

As always seems the case, the Bankies are juggling a few injury issues and a couple of new faces were in the side for the visit of Bonnyton. Kyle Munro returned for a second loan spell at the club and was straight in the side as was Dom Slattery (brother of Joe) who replaced the absent Adam Hodge.

The first half was played in horrible wet and windy conditions, and the Bankies controlled the game in the main without putting Bonnyton under any particular pressure. It never looked at any stage that Clydebank were going to run up any kind of score against the club who are bottom of the table with 90 goals conceded in 29 games, including recent fives (twice), a six and an eight against Largs Thistle just last week.

Both teams could have scored early on as Lee Gallacher hit a sweet volley from the edge of the box after four minutes but the ball was just a little high and wide. Just five minutes later Stevenson had a clear opening when he ran onto a flick on, and found himself with just his namesake to beat, but Bankies Jamie, won the battle as he dived to his right to block the shot.

The Bankies had a few threatening moments after this, the best of which was a great cross from McKinlay on the right wing which was nodded towards goal by Mulcahy. The ball bounced off the ground and struck the outside of the post which keeper Leitch strangely didn’t seem to be all that troubled by.

With the rain teeming down, the play became quite scrappy for a period and was broken by the Bankies taking the lead after 37 minutes. It was good work by McKinlay on the right wing and he sent in a low curling cross which Mulcahy got the faintest of touches to, as it went past the keeper at the far post. McKinlay quite rightly asked Mulcahy if he actually touched the ball, and he said he did but it looked a bit iffy whether he actually did. For a while afterwards, the Bankies kept Bonnyton pegged back without any end product.

The weather cleared up for the second half, and for the most part Bonnyton were the better of the two sides. McColm had a shot from the edge of the box which had the sting taken out of it thanks to a defensive block allowing Stevenson to gather. At the other end Munro could have scored on his first match back as he got on the end of a Gallacher free kick at the back post but he could only steer the ball into the side netting.

Bonnyton then had another gilt edged opportunity after 57 minutes when a long ball on the left hand side beat trialist Slattery who seemed to touch the ball directly into Gilroy’s path. For the second time Bankies keeper came to the rescue by leaving his line quickly and beating away the strikers shot.

With the visitors looking the more likely Gordon Moffat used all three substitutions in quick succession, but just minutes later Bonnyton were back on level terms. A mis-judged back header to the keeper by Niven started it, as Gilroy intercepted and once again Stevenston saved the Bankies by blocking the ball for a corner kick.

From the corner kick, however, Davidson netted from close range as the deep in-swinger to the back post was headed back into the danger area by McColm, and gratefully put away.

The game could have gone either way in the final quarter, as Clydebank’s substitutions finally started to make a difference. With 75 minutes on the clock Chris Black raced down the right wing and quite cleverly cut the ball back across the 18-yard line for Martin Smith. The youngster had plenty of time to control the ball and get his shot away but went for just too much power and rifled the ball over the bar.

Bonnyton were, however, to get the kind of luck only teams at the bottom of the table get as they could have scored only to lose one down the other end. With just ten minutes remaining they had a double chance to take the lead as a shot crashed off the crossbar, and the following scramble saw another effort that was pushed away by Stevenson diving full length to his left hand side.

Almost immediately the play switched down the other end, and Martin Smith found himself in possession on the left wing. He skilfully skipped between two defenders and sent in a curling shot. It looked like the keeper was going to make a save but for a vital deflection that did enough to divert the ball into the net.

It was a bit of a sight at the end watching the Bankies waste time down at the corner flag against a team who had only won twice all season, but it was a relief to get a win after a bad run of defeats.

It was good to see Martin Smith finally get his chance. He has been scoring a lot for the under-20s and was long overdue his opportunity. Say what you like about Jack Steedman in the past but he had a sink or swim attitude with young players. He was never worried about throwing a player in at the deep end, and you soon found out if he was up to it or not. Smith should start against Rossvale next week as there is now a bit of an opportunity to try a few things out in the league with an eye to next season. This is probably the most difficult period in Gordon Moffat’s managerial career at Clydebank when things aren’t going quite as well. This was another performance way below standard – a standard which he set by doing so well earlier in the season. It is clear that to reach that standard on a more consistent basis that changes will need to be made, and the upcoming recruitment for next season will be his most crucial decisions yet. Bonnyton were as good as relegated today but they deserve most of the plaudits as they were unlucky to leave Holm Park with nothing.

Match report written by Stuart McBay



Squad Statistics (as at February 12th, 2022)


2021-22 All Time
League Cups All
Jamie Stevenson (GK) 10 - 3 - 13 -
Matt Niven 2026 - 323
Dom Slattery 1 - 0 - 1 -
Jamie Darroch 1937215114
Paul Byrne 19 - 9 - 58 -
Lee Gallacher 26381426
Kyle Munro 1 - 0 - 343
Frazer Johnstone 23 - 5 - 36 -
Ciaran Mulcahy 7332187
Nicky Little 241097180112
Hamish McKinlay 20584289
Chris Black (sub) 1928212212
Liam Harris (sub) 2 - 0 - 6 -
Martin Smith (sub) 110 - 31







Recent Results


League results since Clydebank's last match
22nd January 2022
Benburb4-1Cumbernauld Un
Irvine Meadow3-1Cumnock
Kilbirnie Lade1-2Glenafton Ath
Kilwinning Rgrs4-0Bonnyton Thistle
Kirk Rob Roy2-3Troon
Largs Thistle0-2Pollok
Rutherglen Glen1-4Hurlford United
29th January 2022
Beith Juniors1-2Auchinleck Talb
Blantyre Vics0-2Troon
Cumbernauld Un4-1Irvine Meadow
Cumnock3-1Rossvale
Darvel2-1Glenafton Ath
Hurlford United1-1Kilwinning Rgrs
Kilbirnie Lade1-1Kirk Rob Roy
Pollok1-0Benburb
Rutherglen Glen3-0Bonnyton Thistle
5th February 2022
Benburb3-0Glenafton Ath
Bonnyton Thistle1-8Largs Thistle
Cumnock1-2Kirk Rob Roy
Kilwinning Rgrs3-0Rutherglen Glen
Rossvale1-1Kilbirnie Lade
12th February 2022
Auchinleck Talb1-0Pollok
Beith Juniors5-0Rossvale
Benburb4-1Blantyre Vics
Clydebank2-1Bonnyton Thistle
Kilbirnie Lade5-0Hurlford United
Largs Thistle2-2Kilwinning Rgrs
Troon2-1Cumnock

League Table (as at February 12th, 2022)


Pld W D L +/- Pts
1. Pollok 28 20 5 3 +43 65
2. Auchinleck Talb 23 18 3 2 +34 57
3. Kilwinning Rgrs 27 15 8 4 +33 53
4. Clydebank 27 15 6 6 +16 51
5. Hurlford United 25 13 6 6 +10 45
6. Darvel 20 14 2 4 +25 44
7. Troon 28 13 3 12 -1 42
8. Benburb 28 11 6 11 +9 39
9. Beith Juniors 23 11 5 7 +25 38
10. Irvine Meadow 23 11 4 8 +5 37
11. Rutherglen Glen 26 11 4 11 -1 37
12. Cumnock 27 11 1 15 -8 34
13. Largs Thistle 25 9 5 11 +6 32
14. Kirk Rob Roy 23 10 2 11 -11 32
15. Glenafton Ath 24 8 3 13 -7 27
16. Cumbernauld Un 24 7 5 12 -15 26
17. Kilbirnie Lade 28 7 5 16 -20 26
18. Rossvale 29 7 3 19 -35 24
19. Blantyre Vics 24 2 4 18 -43 10
20. Bonnyton Thistle 30 2 2 26 -65 8