Clydebank 2
Kirk Rob Roy 0
League (WoSFL Premier)

Match Report

Clydebank stretched their lead at the top of the Premier League to four points with a comfortable 2-0 defeat of Kirkintilloch Rob Roy at Holm Park tonight. As per the reverse fixture at Guys Meadow last month, Rob Roy offered very little from an attacking perspective (although they played much better tonight) and the red card of ex-Bankie Kevin Green gave them a mountain to climb.

The Bankies never really fired on full cylinders at any time during the match, though they had some great spells of possession which with some better decision making could have led to a larger margin of victory.

The goals came along at the right time, with the first scored after just nine minutes following a good spell of Clydebank pressure. An early goal always settles any team down, and you want to get ahead when you are on top. It came from a Gallacher corner which Jamie Darroch headed into the mixer. Thomas Collins chested the ball down into the path of Matt Niven who leathered it through the legs of Aitken.

The second was netted by Liam McGonigle just six minutes into the second half. The Rabs were already down to ten men by this point and the goal essentially assured the three points for the Bankies.

Former Clydebank player Kevin Green was shown the red card for a bad tackle on Oisin McHugh who looked to be on his way to the man of the match award due to his powerful forward runs. Green put paid to that with a poor challenge which instigated a reaction from the Clydebank players closest to the incident. It took several minutes for the ref to contain the situation and hand out some yellow cards to try and restore the peace.

The killer goal was a fairly simple affair, which came from another Lee Gallacher corner, that was met by the head of the in-rushing Matt Niven. Scott Walker did well to block the ball on the line, but McGonigle was in the right place to hook the ball home.

In-between the goals Rob Roy had actually played very well, and had the Bankies on the back foot for much of the time. However, they had no cutting edge and a run and shot from Michael Baber which skipped off the wet surface forcing a decent save from Kieran Hughes was about the best they mustered all night.

Clydebank didn’t create as many chances as they would have liked especially against the ten men, however they could have scored a few more on a different day. Thomas Collins who continues to impress with his all-round performances was unlucky to be denied by the woodwork twice. The first was from a neat lob which clipped the crossbar and the second was from a header which rebounded off the post.

The performance was not too dis-similar to the game at Arthurlie last Saturday. We played well going forward in patches but defended even better giving the opposition very little rope to work with. Kieran Hughes and his defence earned their fourth clean sheet in the last five matches and the defence can sometimes be overlooked in terms of praise.

The best players on the pitch for me tonight were Matt Niven and Thomas Collins. Oisin McHugh had a great half hour before having to come off due to the injury sustained in the Kevin Green red card incident. Frazer Johnstone was industrious as ever, and James Grant has kept his standards high all season.

No game next week, which should hopefully allow any niggles to clear up, and hopefully see Nicky Low return to action. We then finish off October with two cup game at home to St Anthony's and then away to Formartine United.

Match report written by Stuart McBay