Clydebank 3
Largs Thistle 2
League (WoSFL Premier)

Match Report

Nicky Little captained his Bankies side to a 3-2 win over Largs Thistle on his 200th appearance for the club at Holm Park this afternoon. There was to be no fairytale for the skipper, as he was upstaged by the emergence of a new goal scorer in the shape of Connor Higgins who bagged a fine hat trick to help move the Bankies up to fifth place in the table. If you want to see a list of every hat trick ever scored for the Bankies click here

The Bankies were in control of the match from early on when they raced into a two goal lead against a fairly blunt looking Largs side. However, they made a much better fist of it in the second half, and the Bankies were grateful for the final whistle, as they ended the game with just ten players on the pitch with all substitutes used due to what looks like a bad injury to Kevin Green.

Two points here. We now have five substitutions available and this is the second time in three weeks we have been a man down in the closing stages due to an injury. Obviously, bad luck is involved here but surely the prudent thing to do would be to hold on to one of the changes in case of this eventuality. It could have cost us the three points today.

Secondly, you have to feel for Kevin Green. Every time he is on the verge of breaking into the side, he ends up with a bad injury. Hopefully this one isn’t too bad and he’ll be back soon.

There also has to be a word about the referee today. Usually, I’m loathe to blame the referee when things go wrong, as I find this is mis-directed and isn’t the root cause of why you might lose a game. However, Gary Hanvidge managed to book ELEVEN players today, and really there was only one bad challenge in the whole game – the one that crocked Kevin Green. The Bankies suffered six yellow cards and it is hard to reconcile that with the game that took place.

As for the game, the Bankies fielded the same eleven as last week, but changed the formation about with it being back to four at the back with Lee Gallacher in a more attacking role which suited him as he had his best game in a while. It was good to see that Moffat continued with two forwards.

The Bankies got off to a perfect start when Connor Higgins scored his first goal for the club with a terrific low shot into the bottom corner of the net from 22 yards after Nicky Little found him with an incisive pass.

There wasn’t a whole lot happening in the match when the Bankies went two up after 11 minutes . A mix up between two Largs players allowed Gallacher to steal the ball and feed it to Ciaran Mulcahy. Faced with a two on one situation, Ciaran done the sensible thing and rolled the ball into the path of Higgins who side footed the ball into the same corner as his first.

Largs enjoyed decent possession in the first period but created absolutely zero as the Bankies defence were fairly comfortable. A third goal for the home side would really have ended this game as a contest, and there were a few opportunities to do so,

The first came when McGoldrick dithered with the ball in his own six yard box, only to blast it off Connor Higgins. The ball almost spun into the net, with a defender heroically clearing the ball off the line under pressure from Mulcahy.

Then, a corner kick from Gallacher delivered to the near post was headed narrowly over the bar by Jamie Darroch.

The unluckiest moment came just before the break when Lee Gallacher beautifully chipped the goalkeeper on the right hand side of the box. Time seemed to stand still as the ball headed towards the goal only to hit the inside of the post and bounce away to safety.

Largs deserve a lot of credit for really upping the tempo in the second half. Four minutes after the restart saw the first clear shot for the visitors when the ball was nodded over Aidan McDonald on the right hand side. New signing Ramsay blasted the ball from a fairly tight angle, but Bradley-Hurst spectacularly tipped it over the bar.

The Bankies were still in it and a great cross from the left from Gallacher after a cleared corner found Darroch, whose gymnastic header sailed about a foot over the bar.

After the hour a three goal burst in seven minutes determined the destination of the three points. The first came after 61 minutes for Largs from the penalty spot bringing them right back into the game. From a corner kick Jamie Darroch was adjudged to have impeded a forward who was attempting to make a run into the six yard box. It seems like referees just like to give these awards like these when they feel like they should and not when an actual offence has taken place. Stuart Faulds put the ball away to make it 2-1.

A few minutes later the Bankies restored the two goal cushion, and this was all about Lee Gallacher. Set free down the left hand channel he was hounded by a defender the whole length of the pitch, but he showed great tenacity and held the challenge off before racing into the box and squaring the ball for the incoming Connor Higgins who slid it into the net to complete a memorable hat trick.

The Bankies wasted no time in surrendering a goal just two minutes later. A corner evaded everyone and fell for McGoldrick just inside the penalty box. His goalbound shot wasn’t great but it found David Ramsay in the right spot to divert the ball into the net from close range.

There weren’t too many goalmouth incidents after the goals though Chris Black probably should have scored when McMaster tried to nudge a cross ball away at the side of the goal. He didn’t see Black behind him, but he blasted his shot over the bar.

At the other end a curling shot from McMaster had Bradley-Hurst scrambling across his goal line but the ball was always going off target.

Largs certainly were doing most of the probing in the last few minutes, and the injury to Green meant there were seven minutes of stoppage time, but the Bankies saw the game out for a useful three points.

The Bankies face Pollok again next week – this time in the South Challenge Cup, and will be keen to avenge the recent 4-1 defeat. We still seem to be leaking too many goals, and this is proven by the fact that we have one of the worst defensive records in the league and have only managed one clean sheet this season.

To counter this, we also have one of the highest scoring totals in the division, so the manager needs to find the balance of tightening up at the back without reducing the threat at the other end. The Bankies form against Pollok has been really bad in recent times, and a win here would really give everyone a huge lift.

Match report written by Stuart McBay