Clydebank 4
Benburb 2
League (WoSFL Premier)

Match Report

Clydebank recovered from a horrendous opening ten minutes to record an emphatic 4-2 win (in the end) over Benburb in the West of Scotland League opening up a six-point gap at the top of the table.

The game can basically be divided into four distinct sections: The horror start, the recovery stage, the post-taking the lead slump, and the finishing the game off when the opposition went down to ten men phase.

Despite losing the two early goals, which were basically gifts, I always felt we had enough about us to turn it around. The Benburb defence were very twitchy throughout, and the keeper was not keen on a good cross-ball, though he did make one world class save from Craig Truesdale.

Anyone expecting a repeat of the midweek win over Beith were in for a nasty shock especially as the news of Nicky Low’s absence through injury filtered through. Gordon Moffat chose to put Craig Truesdale into an otherwise changed side.

There’s nothing complimentary that can be said of the first ten minutes. We were beyond reckless with our passing; players were leaving the ball to each other as if they had just been introduced and the defending which has been the bedrock of the season was atrocious.

Benburb didn’t exactly have to work very hard for the two goals they scored in this period, The first goal after just 70 seconds exposed David Syme’s Achilles heel as a hopeful forward pass allowed Reece McGuire to outstrip the Bankies defender for pace and crack the ball home from an angle off the far post. It was all too easy, but you have to credit the forward for a terrific strike.

Just a couple of minutes later it could have been two as slack defending allowed Ollie Smith a clear sight of goal inside the box. Fortunately, he was off-balance and scooped the ball over the bar.

Not heeding the warnings, more chaotic defending led to the Bens increasing their lead after 9 minutes. Syme, who has held the defence together all season, was found wanting as McGuire got the better of him in the box, and the striker bundled the ball into the net to give the Bankies a severe problem.

Benburb could hardly believe their luck, but to the Clydebank player’s eternal credit there was no sign of panic. They continued to play their game and as time wore on, you could see most of the early errors began to be ironed out and the visitor’s goal came under real threat.

It took a while but when Cameron in the Ben’s goal had to punch a Jimmy Grant header over the bar after 24 minutes, it looked that a goal wasn’t far way. And just two minutes later the Bankies were back in the game from a corner kick.

I don’t believe Lee Gallacher has been on his best form in recent weeks, but you could not fault his dead ball deliveries today. He caused all sorts of bother as he found his mark time and time again. It was from one of these that David Syme rose to head into the net for his first goal for the club, putting his bad start in the game firmly behind him.

After that it was a one-way procession towards the Bens goal in search of an equaliser before the break. Gallacher delivered a fine low cross from the right and an unbelievable scramble ensued which just didn’t fall our way.

Then the Gallacher-Syme combination nearly brought another goal, but this time the frame of the goal saved the Bens. As the pressure ramped up, Aaron Black missed a great chance from close-in, but he made the wrong decision as he tried to lob the keeper rather than going for power and the ball drifted over the bar.

The away goal could not hold out any longer and the build up to the equaliser was top drawer. From Dean Cairns brilliant first-time volleyed pass out to the wing, to the perfectly timed lay-off down the line by Lee Gallacher for the over-lapping Jimmy Grant. The cross into the six-yard box was just asking to be put in the net and the unlucky Giovanazzi was the unlucky man as he steered the ball past his own keeper.

The Bankies continued the second half in the same vein with Little having a free kick saved and Cairns shooting over from the edge of the box. The best chance to take the lead up to this point came from a short corner taken by Craig Truesdale. The forward exchanged passes with both Gallacher and Black before unleashing a tremendous shot from the corner of the penalty box, which was flying into the top corner, but it was bettered by the world class save from Cameron who touched the ball over for a corner.

The save was in vain however as another super delivery by Gallacher from the corner kick was met by Ciaran Mulcahy who outjumped the keeper from a few yards out to head home.

Benburb responded well to falling behind for the first time, but it almost seemed like the Bankies took the foot off the pedal as if they prematurely reckoned the job was done. This led to Benburb having a couple of half-chances, particularly from ex-Bankie Hamish McKinley who forced a save from Leishman following some nice build-up play.

Gordon Moffat brought on McKenzie, moving McGowan into the midfield in order to stem this and he was joined by McGonigle and Samson in the forward areas which would later prove to be a good decision.

However, the pivotal moment was the red card given to Jordan Bow following two bookable incidents in the space of a minute. The first was an elbow on Keir Samson which could have been a red card in its own right, but it was a foul on the same player that led to his dismissal as the Bankies player tried to breakthrough the Bens defence.

From that moment on, the points were secured, and Samson scored a stoppage time goal just to make sure from a McGonigle chip to net his first league goal of the season.

With that the Bankies opened up a six-point lead at the top of the table. It was a bit of a topsy-turvy performance which was good for the most part after a poor start, but we always looked to have a bit more than Benburb.

We move from one massive game to another as we welcome St Cadocs to Holm Park next week. It is the clash of the two form teams in the league and victory would see us move ten points clear of the Cads with a game in hand. It seems like every game is huge at the moment, but the breathing room a positive result next week could afford would be invaluable and put the pressure firmly on to the chasing pack.

Match report written by Stuart McBay