Clydebank 2
Stenhousemuir 1
League Cup (Group 9)

Match Report

A crowd of around 2000 watched the Bankies forge ahead in their section of the Scottish League Cup competition when they beat Stenhousemuir 2-1 at Kilbowie Park.

Man of the day was Tony Moy who scored Clydebank's winner, but the rest of the team put up an extremely good show, especially in the second half, when they forced the visiting team into defence, seldom allowing them to come forward into attack.

Stenhousemuir kicked off on an almost perfect pitch, with very little wind, but the ball was soon lost to them as the homesters went straight into attack.

The first real attempt at a goal came from Stenhousemuir outside left Clark in the second minute of the game when he took a shot from ten yards out in front of Bankies goal. Bankies keeper Madden was decked, and it looked as if the ball would almost certainly go into the back of the net, but Clark's shot went wide, and the ball went past the post.

After this shot it took both teams a while to settle down and apart from a few minor incidents such as Clydebank's right back, Boyd, losing his right boot, neither team took many chances at the goals.

One of the best displays of football ability seen at Clydebank for a long time came in the sixth minute. McGhee engineered the ball upfield towards the Stenhousemuir goal, passed the ball out to Rutherford on the right wing who, in turn, passed to Moy in the centre of the field.

Unfortunately, Moy's shot missed its mark but the cheer which came up from the crowd would have stunted the famous Hampden roar.

In the 14th minute Clark, of Stenhousemuir took a shot at at the Clydebank goal which grounded keeper Madden, and after a slight goalmouth squabble, left half Bowman managed to push the ball into the goal.

The home team protested strongly and after a discussion with the linesman the referee disallowed the goal on the grounds that it was offside.

Stenhousemuir were not to be held down and after a quick attack in the 19th minute centre forward Donnachie sent a Clark pass soaring into the back of the net, leaving the Clydebank defence absolutely stationary.

The visitors managed to hold on to their lead for the remainder of the first half, despite strong attacking play by Bankies.

Perhaps the thing which prevented the Bankies from scoring, more than anything else, was their incompetence at the Stenhousemuir goalmouth, where shots were continually flashing pas the goal, but not the keeper.

It was a very determined Clydebank team that opened the second half. In the 47th minute Clydebank were awarded a corner which was taken by Baxter. Centre forward Fleming managed to get his foot to the ball and his shot was deflected on to the Stenhousemuir left back Russell who inadvertently knocked the ball into his own goal, putting Clydebank on equal terms as far as scoring was concerned.

Clydebank's second goal came in the 67th minute when Moy shattered the visitors defence completely, to place the ball neatly behind keeper Samson into the Stenhousemuir goal.

For the remainder of the game Clydebank managed to hold the Stenhousemuir Warriors back in defence when they hammered ball after ball at the goal, but Samson was in top form, and he managed to hold the Bankies back so that they did not increase their lead.

Match report written by Oliver McGeachy (Clydebank Press)

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Clydebank were very fortunate to gain both points at Kilbowie Park last Saturday. If the Warriors had taken their early chances and the official in charge had been more decisive, at least one of the points would have been retained by the local side.

In the opening minute Clark wasted an excellent chance after a Bowman pass left him with only the keeper to beat. He tried to be too deliberate and hit the outside of the post. Soon afterwards a goalmouth scrimmage ended with Donachie smashing the ball into the net.

The referee was up with play and signalled a goal. After consultation with a linesman about 30 yards away he chopped it off for some unknown reason. The Warriors came back again and after Madden had done well to block a pile driver from McGregor, Donachie netted from the rebound.

This lead was held until the interval and was deserved. After the restart Russell put through his own goal when it seemed easier to clear and the Bankies came more into the game. Moy netted the winner in 66 minutes.

During the closing stages Stenhousemuir did enough to warrant a draw and could have been awarded two penalties. Elliott was repeatedly fouled as he ran in on goal and a final clicking of heels was the last straw, but the referee signalled a goal-kick.

A goal-line clearance by Boyd looked suspiciously like a handling offence but the ex-Morton back had the gumption to collapse holding his stomach. After attention he resumed and rubbed gingerly at his arm several times.

The standard of refereeing was poor and both sides suffered. The official allowed too many illegal tackles before he took notice and booked McGhee. The wing-half deserved this but several other offenders on both sides got off Scot free. Samson, Rae, Bowman (until he ran out of steam late on ting through a tremendous amount of work) and Clark were the best Warriors.

Match report written by Unknown (Falkirk Herald)