Pollok 0
Clydebank 2
League (WoSFL Premier)

Match Report

Newlandsfield Park has all too often in the recent past been a ground where Clydebank have been found out and put in our place by a side who were just too strong, too clever and too experienced. However, it is a brave new world we are in now where the above applies to the Bankies.

The 2-0 victory at Pollok was entirely expected by both sides. Clydebank just had too much in every department over the Southsiders and once we took the lead from the penalty spot the result scarcely seemed in any doubt. It is a remarkable squad that Gordon Moffat has built over the last five years, and he couldn’t have done any of it without the backing of the ever-growing support base led by the board which has brought the club to the verge of some real success.

It put me in mind of a couple of games at the end of Moffat’s first season in charge. The last two games before the pandemic broke out were at home to Pollok and then Auchinleck Talbot. We lost 4-1 and 2-0 respectively, and it was a complete reverse of where we are today. Not quite a case of men against boys, but two teams who had the strength, the skill and know how which the Bankies were sadly lacking. In all my years following Clydebank, we often had great players and were a joy to watch, but we always faltered against sides who just had a bit more about them, so it almost feels surreal to see the Bankies be that team.

Pollok are a side down on their luck at the moment with financial issues dogging the club. Prior to the match their supporters didn’t have great expectations, and it is how the game panned out. The pitch which is normally one of the best in non-league football was very heavy due to a couple of days of torrential rain, and with a bit of a breeze it wasn’t a day for silky football.

In all honesty, it was one of the worst games of the season, which was scrappy for large parts and there was generally a dearth of goalscoring opportunities. It was a thirteenth clean sheet of the season for the Bankies, and our defence was so strong that we could still be playing now and Pollok still wouldn’t have scored. How many times have Pollok failed to have a shot on target at home? Not often I would wager, but that is exactly what happened today.

David Syme was absolutely imperious at the back and was my man of the match. He barely put a foot wrong, as did his fellow defenders. He was run close by Jimmy Grant who had one of his best games for the club. But the defending also came from the front with Dean Cairns putting in a great shift and guys like Aaron Black playing his part out of possession.

Pollok actually started the game fairly brightly with some decent possession in the middle of the pitch without causing any real alarm, but the needless conceding of a penalty after just eight minutes set out the template for the rest of the game.

Scott Forester was the culprit as he bowled over Keir Samson in the box. It looked soft at the time, but footage of the incident shows it was probably the right decision. Nicky Little missed his last penalty against Arthurlie but made no mistake this time sending the ball just inside the post.

The second goal arrived just after half an hour with neither side really creating anything in the intervening period. It was great awareness from Keir Samson as his reverse pass found the forward run of Nicky Little. With the forward being closed down by a defender, the keeper made an error in judgment coming off his line. Little with all his experience dinked the ball at just the right moment leaving Fry in no mans land and the ball rolled into the net.

We were treated to more of the same scrappy football in the second period. Pollok’s young team were full of effort and running, but Clydebank had every answer defensively, and managed the game perfectly.

It was only in the last twenty minutes with Mulcahy, Hodge McGonigle and Truesdale coming on that Clydebank looked like they may add to the tally. Nicky Little could have scored a hat-trick as he tried an Ill-advised 50 yarder, but was more unlucky with a double chance from a corner which was blocked by a raft of bodies in the penalty box.

Now, despite being uncharacteristically complimentary in this report, the job is only half done as we are all aware. Commentators are already awarding Clydebank the title conveniently forgetting that Johnstone Burgh are snapping at our heels. Scoring twice in the last couple of minutes against Gartcairn to come back from one down doesn’t sound like a club who are about to give up the ghost.

We, of course, play Johnstone Burgh at Holm Park next week and for the tenth week in a row it is Clydebank’s biggest game of the season. The ramifications of a win are enormous and the position of strength the Bankies would be in with a potential ten-point gap and a game in hand. However, a first defeat of the season for Clydebank would give Burgh all the ammunition they need to believe they could overhaul what would be just a four-point lead.

It goes without saying how important this game is and we need to get as many into Holm Park as possible next week to give the players the backing to push us closer to our ambitions.

Match report written by Stuart McBay