Cambuslang R 0
Clydebank 3
League (WoSFL Premier)


Cambuslang R 

0 - 3

Clydebank

League (WoSFL Premier)
Saturday, September 3rd, 2022
Somervell Park
2:00 PM Kick-off


Goalscorers
None. Nicky Little (43)
(Assist Lee Gallacher)
Liam McGonigle (50)
(Assist Ciaran Mulcahy)
Nicky Little (pen.) (58)

Team Managers
Billy Campbell / Paul McColl Gordon Moffat

Starting Eleven
1 Andy Wilson
2
3 Calum McLean
5 Alan Reid
14 Barry McGeechan
22 Ryan Stewart
8 Kyle Maxwell
23 Anthony Stevenson
9 Scott Anson
18 Sam Greenwood
7 David Cox
Kyle King 20
Adam Hodge 2
Aidan McDonald 26
Kevin Green 18
Larry McMahon 17
Creag Little 22
Frazer Johnstone 6
Joe Slattery 8
Ciaran Mulcahy 9
Nicky Little 10
Lee Gallacher 7

Bench
20
11
Jamie Canavan 1
Connor Higgins 27
Alan Kelly 21
Liam McGonigle 11
Oisin McHugh 15
Hamish McKinlay 24
Adam Smith 14

Substitutions
20 -> Barry McGeechan (35)
11 -> Kyle Maxwell ((78)
Liam McGonigle for Adam Hodge (45)
Hamish McKinlay for Ciaran Mulcahy (81)
Connor Higgins for Nicky Little (81)
Alan Kelly for Lee Gallacher (85)
Adam Smith for Joe Slattery (85)

Cautions
Barry McGeechan (13)
David Cox (26)
Ryan Stewart (47)
Anthony Stevenson (63)
Kyle King (21)
Adam Hodge (22)
Aidan McDonald (71)

Red Cards
David Cox (26)
Calum McLean (72)
None.

Match Officials

Chris Gentles (Referee)
Ian Hart & Mark Daly (Assistants)





Match Report


Gordon Moffat will be relieved Clydebank comfortably despatched Cambuslang Rangers – who ended up with just nine men - by three goals to nil at Somervell Park this afternoon as the pitch wasn’t conducive to playing any kind of football whatsoever.

The grass was uneven throughout the pitch, and the ball was bobbling about all over the place. It was difficult for the players to even run with the ball under control as it regularly held up in the thatch.

You wouldn’t want to be playing here in the middle of January, especially when all the home side tried to do was bring the game down to the level of a brawl. Thankfully, the Bankies kept their composure for the most part, and why indiscipline from Cambuslang, and most notably,, David Cox cost them any chance of winning the game.

Cox, was given his marching orders midway through the first half, as he was unhappy about a previous tackle. He remonstrated with ref Chris Gentles so much that he earned a yellow card, but obviously not able to keep his mouth shut the whistler then produced the red.

Up until that point there wasn’t a great deal in proceedings. The Bankies had lined up with what looked like a 3-4-3 system with Hodge and McDonald pushed further up the field, and three central defenders in the shape of Little, Green and McMahon. Most likely because both Darroch and Niven were absent. Ciaran Mulcahy was supported up front by Nicky Little and Lee Gallacher.

The Bankies were the better side early on with Little and Slattery both missing the target with shots from outside the box. Cambuslang had replied with a first time volley from Stevenson that King chose to punch away on his left hand side.

As the game settled into a midfield morass, the tactics from Cambuslang started to become apparent. It was mainly about stopping the opposition playing, and “competing” for the ball by any means necessary.

This over aggression saw the ref having to produce his cards and culminated with the sending off of Cox and with it Rangers chances off getting anything out of the game.

The Bankies still struggled to make much headway in an attacking sense and the best chances came for Cambuslang. In the 29th minute Anson back headed a long throw in to the near post and the ball fortunately bounced off the top of the bar and over for a goal kick.

The just five minutes later Stevenson forced a good save from King who had to be quick to get down to the powerful shot on his right hand side.

The all important breakthrough came for the Bankies just two minutes before the interval. With everyone expecting a cross ball into the box, Gallacher cleverly released Nicky Little down the left wing. The skipper first time side footed the ball into the goalmouth, and it ricocheted off the unlucky Stevenson and into the back of the net.

Adam Hodge had been sucked into some of the needless aggression in the first half and being on a yellow card, he was replaced by Liam McGonigle.

This signalled a change to a more traditional 4-4-2 and it made a world of difference to the Bankies play, and McGonigle would go on to have one of his best games in quite a while.

His impact was immediate, as he scored just three minutes into the second half. Ciaran Mulcahy strode down the left wing and delivered a cracking cross right into the six yard box. Whilst the full back might have got caught napping, all the credit goes to McGonigle for sneaking in front of the defender on his blind side and powering the ball into the net.

McGonigle’s tail was up now and he split the defence with a sumptuous pass which Mulcahy ran on to, but his attempted lob went just high and wide of the goal.

The killer third goal was all down to McGonigle as well. The winger made space on the left wing to cross into the box, but the attempt was halted by the hand of a defender and the ref awarded a penalty. Nicky Little stuck it away into Cambuslang’s Subbuteo sized goals to finish the game as a contest.

After that, one or two of the home players spent too much time trying to get Clydebank players booked, but ended up down to nine men themselves. McDonald played a top quality crossfield pass putting McGonigle clear on goal. His first touch took him across McGeechan who clipped the forwards’ heels denying a goal scoring opportunity. There was only one possible outcome – a red card.

Lee Gallacher smacked a beauty of a free kick into the top corner for what looked like goal number four. However, the linesman drew the ref’s attention to the fact that McGonigle had encroached on the defensive wall and the goal was ruled out. A shame as it was a belter of a goal.

The only downside was that the Bankies didn’t score more goals. Substitute Connor Higgins will be ruing his missed chances. Eager to impress he could have had a hat trick in the last five minutes. He brought out a fantastic one handed stop from Wilson with one effort, then he hit the post from an Alan Kelly pullback. Finally, he headed wide of the goal from a cross, but he probably did see the ball come to him very late at the back post.

So, a better day for the Bankies overall. There is still plenty of room for improvement, but better. The league takes a back seat for the next two weeks as cup football takes over. We travel to Newlandsfield next week to face Pollok in the South Challenge Cup. The Lok have been a bit up and down like the Bankies this season, so it is a hard one predict. Then the week after, The Spartans come to Holm Park in the 1st round of the Scottish cup.


***Postscript*** It would seem that the referee has given the first goal to Nicky Little. If Nicky goes on to pip Ken Eadie by one goal for all-time top goalscorer then this one can be disputed by Ken.

Match report written by Stuart McBay



Squad Statistics (as at September 3rd, 2022)


2022-23 All Time
League Cups All
Kyle King (GK) 2 - 1 - 3 -
Aidan McDonald 3 - 1 - 4 -
Adam Hodge 4 - 0 - 331
Kevin Green 1 - 1 - 231
Creag Little 211 - 31
Frazer Johnstone 4 - 1 - 45 -
Larry McMahon 3 - 1 - 4 -
Joe Slattery 3 - 1 - 4910
Lee Gallacher 4 - 1 - 5910
Nicky Little 2212196119
Ciaran Mulcahy 411 - 3610
Adam Smith (sub) 3 - 0 - 11 -
Hamish McKinlay (sub) 4 - 1 - 449
Alan Kelly (sub) 4 - 1 - 5 -
Liam McGonigle (sub) 421 - 4912
Connor Higgins (sub) 4 - 0 - 4 -







Recent Results


League results since Clydebank's last match
20th August 2022
Cumnock3-1Petershill
2nd September 2022
Darvel4-0Arthurlie
Pollok2-3Beith Juniors
3rd September 2022
Cambuslang R0-3Clydebank
Hurlford United2-0Troon
Kirk Rob Roy1-2Glenafton Ath
Largs Thistle2-1Cumnock
Petershill1-1Auchinleck Talb

League Table (as at September 3rd, 2022)


Pld W D L +/- Pts
1. Hurlford United 4 3 1 0 +6 10
2. Darvel 4 3 0 1 +8 9
3. Beith Juniors 4 3 0 1 +4 9
4. Cumnock 5 3 0 2 +2 9
5. Kirk Rob Roy 4 2 1 1 +5 7
6. Pollok 4 2 1 1 +2 7
7. Glenafton Ath 4 2 1 1 +1 7
8. Auchinleck Talb 4 2 1 1 -1 7
9. Clydebank 4 2 0 2 +2 6
10. Troon 4 2 0 2 0 6
11. Largs Thistle 4 1 2 1 -3 5
12. Kilwinning Rgrs 3 1 0 2 -1 3
13. Irvine Meadow 3 1 0 2 -2 3
14. Petershill 5 0 1 4 -9 1
15. Arthurlie 4 1 0 3 -6 0
16. Cambuslang R 4 0 0 4 -8 -3

Point deductions:
Arthurlie: -3
Cambuslang Rangers: -3