Clydebank 2
East Fife 1
League (1st Division)

Match Report

A super double from blond bombshell Joe McCallan gave the Bankies a deserved victory over a plucky East Fife at Kilbowie. Clydebank owe St. Mirren a favour as the Paisley club thrashed Dundee to put the locals on top of the table.

Due to the rain the pitch was treacherous underfoot but both sets of players seemed to cope. Clydebank welcomed Norrie Hall back, who had been under suspension.

As always Bankies made all the early running and should have been a goal up after just seven minutes. McCallan and Hay linked well to send Mike Larnach clear through with just McGarr to beat but the centre made a complete hash of this golden chance and ended up shooting wide.

Joe McCallan was winning everything in the air and a beautiful head flick gave Larnach another chance but McGarr brilliantly held the centre's 18-yard drive.

It was all Bankies and they deservedly took the lead in the 15th minute with a peach of a goal. Gregor Abel took a free kick out on the left touchline just inside the Fifers' half and his kick was flighted to perfection for Joe McCallan to rise above the defence and bullet a header behind McGarr.

Rampant Clydebank carved open the visitors' defence again when Hall and McColl worked their way through only for the full-back's effort to be blocked for a corner. Then Cooper and McCallan combined well and the ball broke across goal, but Lumsden slipped with the goal gaping and the chance was lost.

The Fifers gradually recovered from this barrage and O'Connor tested Jim Gallacher with a couple of snap shots from the edge of the area.

This seemed to give them heart and in the 35th minute Gallacher had to perform heroics to keep Bankies lead intact. Young fired in a cracking 25-yard free kick that Big Jim stopped well but could not hold but as he lay on the ground he somehow blocked Kinnear's point-blank shot then bravely dived at the feet of O'Connor to save the day and earn the cheers of the fans.

The half-time news that Dundee were three goals down should have been the spur for Bankies to press home their obvious superiority but they were shocked in the 50th minute when East Fife scored a beautiful equaliser. Kinnear charged up the right and beat Billy Fanning twice before flighting the ball to the far post where Hegarty brought the ball down on his chest and crashed a six-yard shot past the helpless Gallacher.

Bankies were stunned and struggled to move into top gear against a tough uncompromising defence. Davie Cooper almost scored in the 60th minute with a header from an Abel cross, but with McGarr off his line Young cleared from under the bar.

The Fifers were a no-nonsense side who tackled hard but Referee Alexander proved that he too was standing no nonsense, for when McIvor floored Joe McCallan with a punch after the ball was away he was immediately sent off.

Bankies were making little headway against the 10 men but had Mike Larnach had on his shooting boots then the game would have been well won. Lumsden chipped the ball through to the centre who's shot from six yards was pushed away by McGarr then the keeper incredibly stopped a point blank effort from the centre after a McCallan shot from a Cooper cross and hit the post and rolled almost along the line. An incredible miss that looked like costing Bankies a point until with just 10 minutes remaining Willie Munro produced the substitution that proved to be so vital. Ian Browning replaced Gregor Abel who had no winger to mark and Bankies gambled everything going forward for the winner.

With just two minutes left and the fans fearing the loss of a home point a piece of magic had Kilbowie at fever pitch.

Fallon took a free kick on the halfway line and pushed it forward to Dougie Hay who had acres of space. He ran forward and passed on to Ian Browning who turned the defence with a superb flick to Joe McCallan. Joe found room and rounded Methven before cracking the ball into the corner of the net.

It was late but deserved for Bankies who, although not at their best, were still streets ahead of East Fife who relied only on an occasional break out of defence.

The home side are now back at the top of the League and still have games in hand. Tomorrow they travel to Hamilton and will be looking for more valuable points to keep up their challenge at the top and their unbeaten record intact.