Broxburn Ath 0
Clydebank 4
South Challenge Cup (4th Round)

Match Report

Are we running out of superlatives to describe how good this Clydebank side have been this season? Not yet is the answer. The Bankies were simply outstanding against Lowland League Broxburn Athletic in the South Challenge Cup and swatted the hosts away by four goals to nil at Albyn Park.

In a devastating first twenty minutes, the Bankies scored twice and could easily have had double that tally. The red card of Gary Brass just before the interval meant that passage to the next round was all but secured and two second half goals were added in what could have been a real rout.

It is now eighteen games without defeat this season, and what makes this continuing series of results all the more remarkable is that they have been achieved in front of an on-going litany of injuries. Leishman, McGowan, Johnstone, Kelly, Collins and Samson were all absent today for one reason or another.

The depth in the squad has meant that the quality on the pitch has not suffered, but a special word of praise has to be given to 19-year-old keeper Connor Keaney who has now kept five clean sheets in a row after coming in for the injured Andy Leishman. The club record is only seven by Roddy McKenzie and only he and the great Jim Gallacher with six are ahead of Keaney.

He has been protected by the impressive pairing of David Syme and Matt Niven who were impenetrable in the centre of defence at Broxburn today and the home strike force got very little change from them.

It was a clinical start to the game with the Bankies scoring twice with our first two shots in the first nine minutes. The first from a Lee Gallacher free kick evaded everyone except Liam McGonigle whose cut back at the back post was scrambled over the line by Matt Niven.

The resurgent Liam McGonigle who was making his 100th appearance for the club, started and finished the move that led to the second goal. His bursting run down the left wing found Oisin McHugh on the overlap, and he returned the ball inside back to McGonigle who in turn rifled the ball high into the net past Watt.

Ciaran Mulcahy could and should have had at least one goal in the next ten minutes as he missed the ball completely from a low McHugh cross, headed a Gallacher cross straight at Watt and was undone by the outside of the upright after he had taken the ball round the goalkeeper.

The irritated Broxburn side seemed to be taking this doing in a none too charitable manner and their frustration led to them engaging in a game of ‘afters’ and they weren’t shy about leaving the boot in. Arguably the ref could have taken action sooner, but he did caution three Broxburn players including Gary Brass who was ordered off minutes before the interval for a needless late challenge on Oisin McHugh at the corner flag. The ten men of Broxburn at this stage looked to be beyond reprieve.

A third goal early in the second half would almost certainly have killed the game stone dead, and apart from a through ball by Liam McGonigle for Nicky Little which he rattled off the keepers’ legs, the Bankies looked more to encourage Broxburn to come forward and try and exploit the spaces left behind.

For a while there was a bit of a stalemate, but in one moment of brilliance from Owen Wardell, the forward raced the length of the field following a Clydebank corner, and with a thunderous shot from at least 25 yards out he smashed the ball off the inside of the Bankies goal frame with Keaney well beaten.

This mini-fright woke the Bankies up and within minutes the killer third goal was scored. Again, Liam McGonigle and Oisin McHugh were involved with the former releasing the latter down the left wing. His cross was beautifully headed into the net by Ciaran Mulcahy for his sixth goal of the season.

This signalled the end of the remaining fight that Broxburn had to offer, substitute Fionn Kay had a couple of chances; the first brought out a decent save from Keaney and the second was when he made a poor connection with a header from a corner and the ball flashed wide when he should have done better.

The Bankies could have added to the scoreline with the goalkeeper making a notable save from Dean Cairns who pounced on a poor kick out, but Watt recovered remarkably to save. We were also introduced to new loan signing from East Kilbride, Tiwi Daramola who showed up well on his debut.

There was one more goal added with the very last kick of the game with Nicky Little finishing for his 12th goal of the season.

The Bankies players keep leaping over every obstacle put in front of them, and this was another hurdle safely negotiated. Once again, it was near impossible to pick a man of the match so I’ll just throw in a few names of the best players today as everyone will have their own opinions. David Syme is proving to be a real leader on the pitch, Dean Cairns carried on where he left off last week and is on a real hot streak, Liam McGonigle has stepped up to the mark since returning to the side, and he and Oisin McHugh were superb on the left hand side. You could probably add any of the other players into the mix as all contributed to a high level performance.

We now enter yet another crucial phase of the season with old enemies Auchinleck Talbot coming to Holm Park. Talbot are maybe not quite the side of a few years ago, but they are still a massive threat and we will have to be at the top of our game to keep this unbeaten run going. We then host Buckie Thistle in the Scottish Cup third round in a fortnight. The opportunity for both clubs to be in the hat alongside the Premier League clubs in the next round is a huge incentive and it a game that is awaited with huge anticipation.

Match report written by Stuart McBay