Formartine Utd 3
Clydebank 2
Scottish Cup (2nd Round)

Match Report

Clydebank exited the Scottish Cup in what can only be described as a hugely disappointing display after losing out by three goals to two against a decent, but no more, Formartine United side.

The second half was desperately poor with virtually no redeeming value from a Clydebank point of view at all. The players looked flat and without any idea on how to trouble the Formartine defence. Forward passes were made with little purpose, and it was up there with the worst of this season.

If the truth be told, the performances have been ebbing away in terms of quality in recent weeks. If you take the mis-match out against St Anthonys from last week (where we were rather uninspiring against a poor side) we have now lost the last two against clubs at around our level. Since we lost to Beith the form has been declining. Even the wins we picked up against Arthurlie and Rob Roy were patchy with the defence bailing us out to a certain extent.

I also believe Gordon Moffat got his substitutions wrong today by removing Thomas Collins when we went 2-1 down. Despite not having his best game, Collins is one of the few players who is capable of getting us a goal. At that stage, I thought replacing either McGonigle or Gallacher would have been a better course of action, as neither were anywhere close to their best form.

The like for like substitutions really changed nothing, and it took a flukey deflected goal from Alan Kelly with a few minutes to go to give the Bankies fans a brief, but fruitless bit of hope in the dying minutes.

It had all started so well with Nicky Low giving the Bankies the lead after 40 seconds. I would like to describe it, but I only saw the ball flying past the despairing dive of MacDonald as I was just getting into position due to the Bankies switching sides at the kick off electing to have the strong wind and driving rain at our back.

The goal and subsequent opening fifteen minutes seemed to make this a wise course of action, as Low sent a free kick over the bar. Several corner kicks caused consternation in the Formartine defence with Niven heading over, and some desperate defending.

Gallacher could have extended the lead after 17 minutes after Collins won a header from a long kick out. Nicky Little received this flick on and slid the ball to Gallacher who attempted to curl the ball into the top corner, but MacDonald saved for a corner.

After 20 minutes, the home side created their first real chance when they broke down the right wing and the ball was slid across the penalty area for Rodger who first timed it low towards the corner. It took a terrific save from Hughes to keep the ball out.

Formartine took great heart from this and really started to make the real headway despite the conditions. They duly equalised after 26 minutes, and it was a bit of a disaster for Kieran Hughes. I touched on this in the Benburb report about his unwillingness to come off his line. The cross from the left may have held up in the wind, but his hesitancy cost him as he thought about coming for the ball, but ultimately took a step back allowing Wade to nip in front of him and head home. You can be a great shot stopper, but goalkeepers need to be brave at cross balls. The defence can only save you so many times.

In fairness, Clydebank recovered well from the set back and finished the half much the stronger of the two sides. This led to what was probably the pivotal moment of the game and contributed greatly to the Bankies downfall.

Oisin McHugh fired the ball down the right wing, and it looked way too hard for Lee Gallacher to do anything about it, but his first touch was world class as he brought the ball down and sent him charging towards the goal in one movement. This was the good bit. With Collins and McGonigle to his left, all he had to do was slide the ball across the area for a simple tap in. For reasons best known to himself he opted to shoot when the angle wasn’t really on, and it ended up being a comfortable stop for the keeper. Had we regained the lead just prior to the interval it would probably have been a different game in the second half.

The rain stayed away for most of the second half and with it the wind, but Clydebank were never really in it. Wade started to cause all sorts of problems for the Bankies defence. He beat Niven on one occasion, and his low, driven cross just needed a touch for a goal.

Wade then missed an open goal when he was unmarked at the back post, but he seemed to get his feet in a bit of a fankle, and thankfully fluffed his lines. He then had another remarkable miss, when he outpaced the struggling Niven, but Hughes showing his real goalkeeping strength made a superb save when it looked like a certain goal.

It didn’t take much longer before Wade got his second goal of the game, and we basically handed it on a plate. I’m still not sure what Nicky Little was doing, but I assume it was a back pass to Hughes which was woefully short. Wade said thank you very much as he took on the ball rounded the keeper and scored a gift of a goal.

The Bankies subs didn’t affect a retaliation from the Bankies and a third came shortly afterwards from yet another mistake. McHugh mis-judged the flight of the ball and kind of headed it backwards down the left wing. It was that man Wade again who powered down the flank, and sent the ball over for Emslie to score the killer goal.

Kelly’s goal for the Bankies came too late to make much difference, and despite five minutes of stoppage time there was no real prospect of a comeback. The Clydebank fans sportingly clapped their team off the pitch, which was a nice gesture as it was scarcely deserved.

Losing this game is disappointing on a number of levels as the rewards for progressing in the Scottish Cup can be huge for clubs at our level in terms of prestige and financial rewards. Formartine were always going to be testing opponents, but they were solid, unspectacular and beatable which is the sad thing.

The manager now has to turn around the fortunes of his squad for next week’s game against second placed Beith. We lead the table by four points from the Ayrshire side, but they have four games in hand. This is a must win game, so a loss is unthinkable. Prior to the Benburb game we looked to be in a really strong position but we have lost all the important games since then. Would it be too strong to suggest the rest of the season rests on this game?

Match report written by Stuart McBay