East Stirlingshire 1
Clydebank 3
Lowland League Cup (1st Round)

Match Report

Clydebank returned to winning ways at Ochilview with a comfortable three-goal win over East Stirlingshire in the Lowland League Cup. The Shire provided the opposition for our first ever Lowland League match at the start of the season, so perhaps it was fitting that we came up against our old rivals for our first ever foray into this tournament. It also shouldn’t be forgotten that Clydebank’s first ever senior match, way back in 1966, was also against the Shire.

It has been a tough watch for Shire fans this season. They have lost all twelve of their home league matches, and it was not really any surprise that they were on the wrong end of another defeat against the Bankies. East Stirlingshire will be saved from relegation this season due to reconstruction, but in many ways they look like a club living on borrowed time.

The loss of your home park is always a difficult situation to come back from, and it is now 18 years since Firs Park closed. They are in their second spell at Ochilview Park in Larbert, but without a permanent home and with a dwindling fanbase, the road ahead looks long and hard. It doesn’t help that the club name is so non-specific that it doesn’t particularly lend itself to a defined local community - a bit like Albion Rovers, really.

That being said, they have a hard-working team, and centre-forward Lucas McRoberts has impressed in all three meetings between the clubs this season. If you could knock ten years off Morgaro Gomis, they would have the beginnings of a decent side. And to be fair, apart from the opening half hour of this game, the Shire were tricky opponents for the Bankies. The fact that they have lost all of these matches against Clydebank probably tells you why they are where they are.

For Gordon Moffat, it was the ideal opportunity to introduce new signings Keiran Dolan and Owen Wardell, who were both handed full debuts. Andy Leishman was also between the sticks for the first time since August, and there will no doubt be a clamour from some sections of the support for him to regain the No. 1 spot. Nicky Low also returned after completing his concussion protocol following a head knock suffered in a closed-doors friendly.

With a bit of something to prove after the disappointing defeat against Cumbernauld Colts, the Bankies were everything they weren’t last week. A front-foot start, fast passing and dynamic movement saw us threaten to blow the Shire away.

Two goals in the first ten minutes suggested that we could run up a big scoreline, but wasteful finishing let the Shire off the hook. The first goal came from the head of Neil McLaughlin, who got on the end of a fine Keiran Dolan cross from the left-hand side.

Five minutes later, McLaughlin turned provider as he picked out Nicky Low with a great pass across the penalty box. Low almost passed the ball into the net with a perfect left-footed shot. The only downside in this period was the loss of James Grant, whose return from injury proved too early and who was replaced by Adam Hodge.

Sometimes, when you dominate a game to the extent that the Bankies did in the first half, you can become just a little too cute. It was one pass too many on several occasions, and it was starting to feel something akin to a training session. Had we scored five or six, there could have been no complaints - but we didn’t. In the last ten minutes or so, the Shire began to feel their way into the game as the Bankies’ overconfidence led to some sloppy passing.

Lucas McRoberts tested Leishman with a good effort to remind the Bankies that the home side were not simply going to roll over and have their belly tickled.

After the restart, the Bankies resumed control, but ten minutes into the second half the Shire got their reward for hanging in there. McLaughlin, on the left wing, turned Wardell inside out and delivered a terrific cross to the back post for McRoberts to head past Leishman.

The home side made much more of a contest of it after that, and who knows what would have happened had Finlay Malcolm’s near-post effort gone in rather than ricocheting off the post. A neutral would no doubt have enjoyed this turn of events, but for Clydebank it should never have been allowed to get to this stage.

The Bankies did get a better grip of proceedings in the latter stages, and the Shire never really looked like getting the goal that would have taken the game to penalties. If I felt that we were over-complicating things, the players decided to prove me wrong with an extended passing move that led to Neil McLaughlin scoring his 19th goal of the season in the third minute of stoppage time.

All in all, the best team won. It was comfortable enough, but we made it a bit more difficult than necessary for ourselves in the middle of the second half. The two new players look like they have something to offer, and they are going to have to make a big contribution if we are to wrestle the lead at the top of the Lowland League back from Bonnyrigg Rose.

Next week we travel south of the border to face Berwick Rangers. We were given a tough game at Holm Park against the Borderers earlier in the season, where we could only draw. The pressure is now on as we attempt to chase down a Bonnyrigg side who have won twelve games in a row - it would suggest that nothing less than three points will do.

Match report written by Stuart McBay