Clydebank 2
Auchinleck Talb 1
League (WoSFL Premier)

Match Report

Clydebank’s 2-1 defeat of Auchinleck Talbot saw them complete the league double over the Beechwood Park side and in doing so become the first club to achieve this feat since Glenafton back in 2017.

Lee Gallacher’s double, including a superb individual effort gave the Bankies a deserved win, and It was also a tale of two penalties, one missed from Talbot, and one scored by the Bankies minutes later that could have seen a different outcome. Despite those fine margins and a late consolation from the visitors, the lead was held comfortably.

It was just over a fortnight since the first league meeting between the sides, which the Bankies also won 2-1, and both line-ups showed three changes from that game. The Bankies are missing top scorer Nicky Little through injury, and Josh Weir and Hamish McKinlay were on the bench. Talbot were missing McCracken, McPherson and their top Marksmen, Graham Wilson giving Crawford, Ballantyne and Mason their chance.

The league championship is over for both of these sides, but with a third meeting on the horizon in the West of Scotland Cup final in a fortnight, then this match still had great importance. Form is also a factor with Talbot winning just one of their last five league matches and the Bankies likewise winning just one from the last five at home in all competitions.

There, perhaps, wasn’t the same urgency from both sides that we have seen in recent years and on the whole the first half was quite even with not a lot of clear cut chances created.

Bankies Kelly seen a lot of the ball and was the main avenue of threat early on, just as Taylor was for the visitors, but neither had any great success.

The closest Talbot came was from a header from a Taylor cross that skidded off of Mason’s head where a better connection might have caused a problem.

At the other end, Kelly forced Leishman to tip the ball over the top at the junction of the post and bar as his shot/cross from a tight angle might just have snuck in.

The final fifteen minutes of the first half saw the Bankies have their strongest spell. On the half hour, Slattery won the ball and immediately released Gallacher down the eight hand channel. The winger manoeuvred the ball on to his left foot and tried to side foot into the bottom left corner. However, Leishman threw himself to his right and touched the ball away for a corner.

After this Mulcahy, twice had half chances. The first was from a driven cross by Kelly, but Ballantyne got a toe to the ball just touching it behind Mulcahy. The second was from a through ball that sat up for him, but he made a mess of his attempted lob.

The best chance fell for Larry McMahon after 37 minutes. A patient build-up with a number of fine one touch passes ended with Lee Gallacher threading the needle for McMahon. The midfielder obviously didn’t realise how much time he had as he swivelled and hit the ball first time giving Leishman a much easier save than he should have.

The Bankies continued the probing after the restart, and it was Gallacher again who was the supplier, with a classy dink over the defence. McMahon ran onto the ball, and he managed to get a toe on the ball, but the advancing Leishman did well to block before the two players collided into each other.

Just two minutes later and the Bankies took a deserved leaded. A long diagonal ball by Creag Little released Lee Gallacher down the right hand wing. The wee man raced into the box, and took out, not one but two defenders before cracking the ball into the net giving Leishman no chance.

The Bankies also had to contend with losing two of their most influential players in this period as Slattery and Low both had to go off with injuries. Johnston and Eze substituted.

Talbot’s main threat had come from Taylor in the first half, but he had been quietened down and they were not the danger we have seen from them in the past. An off-target free-kick from Wardrope was about the closest they came but Donnelly had that well covered.

However, the pivotal moment of the match came after 63 minutes when Talbot were given a way back in when Alan Kelly brought down Ross Taylor in the box for a clear penalty. With the crowd singing his name Jamie Donnelly dived to his left to save Aaron Mason’s spot kick and preserve the lead.

Within minutes the Bankies were given their own penalty, when Matt Niven was rugby tackled by Jamie Ballantyne as he tried to reach a Lee Gallacher free kick into the box. With Nicky Little still injured, it fell to deputy penalty taker Lee Gallacher to do the business which he duly did sending the keeper the wrong way.

Unusually for a Talbot side, they seemed to lose heart after this and after a flurry of substitutions from both teams, the game lost any spark it had with little in the way of goalmouth incident.

That was until the 88th minute when Talbot managed a consolation. Mason atoned for his penalty miss with a fine finish completing a sweeping move down the right wing.

There was no grandstand finish as the Bankies saw out the three minutes of stoppage time to keep the three points at Holm Park.

This was a satisfying league double over one of the best teams in the league, and should give Gordon Moffat’s players every bit of confidence going into the West of Scotland Cup final in just under two weeks’ time. Talbot are having as bad a spell as they have had at any point in the last five years, and they have another four games to play before the sides lock horns again at Meadow Park.

The sponsors gave their man of the match to Matt Niven, but he must have been run a close second by Lee Gallacher. Also, a word of praise for Oisin McHugh. He looked to be on his way out of the club when he was loaned to Petershill before the New Year. However, he has done admirably well in recent weeks and will give Danny MacKenzie a run for his money for the left back position next season if he can maintain this level.

The Bankies have three away games before the final, travelling to Glenafton on Tuesday and then Kilwinning on the Friday. We then go to Rob Roy on the Tuesday before the final. The end of the season is relentless and the squad will need to be utilised to its fullest to make sure the players are ready for the cup game.

Match report written by Stuart McBay