Clydebank 2
Cumbernauld Un 0
West of Scotland Football League Cup (3rd Round)

Match Report

Clydebank progressed to the fourth round of the West of Scotland Football League Cup with an expected 2-0 victory over struggling Cumbernauld United from the 1st Division at Holm Park this afternoon.

The game should really have been wrapped up by half time as the Bankies had enough good chances in the first period, but only had a solitary strike from Hamish McKinlay to show for their efforts.

As it was a cup game, you would have expected Cumbernauld to have a go in the second half, and they did that to the best of their ability but they were largely ineffectual.

However, the Bankies weren’t much better, and toiled for much of the second forty five minutes. It was only really in the latter stages of the match that they started to control proceedings once more, and a penalty in the last minute from Lee Gallacher made the scoreline just a little bit more respectable.

Gordon Moffat made three changes to the side that won down at Largs last week. Nicky Low made his first start for the club, with Adam Hodge and Hamish McKinlay preferred over McHugh and Weir. McMahon was the player to make way for Low.

Clydebank dominated the first half from start to finish without really ever looking likely to overwhelm their opponents. United were happy to sit back, keep it tight and hopefully nick something on the break.

Had Nicky Low’s shot in the first minute from a Gallacher corner gone in, then it might have opened the floodgates. Unfortunately the ball was blocked and cleared and it took another fifteen minutes before another good chance came Clydebank’s way.

It came from a Hodge pass down the right wing, which was swung into the back post area first time by Nicky Little. With the whole goal to aim for Kelly blasted the ball off a defender and then volleyed the rebound wide of the goal.

This was Kelly’s best spell in the match and he created a decent chance just after, working a neat one two with Gallacher, but his shot was parried away by Wallace. He followed this up a minute later with a 25 yard shot to the keeper’s left hand corner but he saved comfortably.

At this stage a goal looked imminent, and Nicky Low should have scored when he found himself free in the box just two minutes later, but his attempted dink was poorly executed and it floated over the bar.

It went quiet again for a period, but a goal should really have been scored after 37 minutes when Nicky Little missed a sitter.

Nicky Low hit a 25 yard free kick up and over the wall to the keeper’s right hand corner, and Wallace got down well to keep the ball out of the goal. Nicky Little pounced on the rebound and with the keeper on the deck it was hard to see how he could miss, but credit to Wallace who reacted quickly to save once again.

Cumbernauld must have thought they were going to reach the break with the scores blank, but they were to be disappointed just four minutes before the break. A cross field pass from Johnstone found Gallacher on the right wing. Lee rushed to the bye line and drove the ball across the box to give Hamish McKinlay the easiest of tap-ins from a couple of yards out.

Cumbernauld showed much more intent in the second half, but in reality it is hard to remember any kind of shot at goal from them throughout the match.

However, the Bankies were similarly disappointing in the second half. It seemed that Johnstone and Low were both sitting in deep just a little too much, and we could have done with one of them joining up with the attack a bit more especially against inferior opposition. Both players almost seemed to be fulfilling the same role, and Low should probably be the one who should be looking to advance and dictate the terms of play.

Goal scoring opportunities were thin on the ground. Gallacher had an effort from just inside the box which he scooped beyond the far post after 56 minutes, but it took some substitutions to give the Bankies a wee bit of extra impetus.

Josh Weir was barely on the field a minute when he powered down the left wing a fired in a shot which forced a decent save from Wallace. The same player was the recipient of the ball inside the penalty area following a fine passing move, but Weir struggled to get the ball onto his shooting foot, and his effort was blocked.

With the game approaching the end of regulation time the Bankies finally put the game to bed when Lee Gallacher was brought down in the box by Harrison for a clear penalty kick. Gallacher scored a penalty the last time the sides met, and the sponsor’s man of the match made no mistake with this effort as well.

As ever, the most important thing about cup competitions is to get into the next round. There is no doubt that the Bankies were always going to be the winners in this game, but we just seem to have lost a wee bit of zip from our play in the last few games.

Next week, we face Stirling University from the Lowland League in the South Challenge Cup. The Uni boys are challenging for the title and entry into the SPFL, so we are going to have to play much better by a number of magnitudes if we are going to get a result in this game.

We have lost every game this season against the top teams in our League and to Spartans from the league above in the Scottish Cup. It is by no means impossible, but we will have to make sure we are at it from the first whistle if we are to make it to the Quarter Finals.

Match report written by Stuart McBay