Clydebank 2
Cowdenbeath 0
League (Division 2)

Match Report

This was Bankies first win in the league and was well deserved but neither team produced anything like their best football.

Cowdenbeath were one of the top teams in the second division last season but appear to be struggling this season to fin a plan of attack.

Bankies were beset by injury problems as keeper Dick Madden, forward Eddie Jenkins were in bed with flu, and Frank Russell and Eddie Rutherford both have leg injuries.

Eddie is Bankies new signing from Albion Rovers and was injured in the game with Motherwell last Wednesday.

At present he is unable to walk without the aid of crutches and will probably be out of the team for a few weeks.

One of the Bankies players missed the start of the game. John Boyd, the right full back, got held up in the city traffic due to the Rangers and Celtic game and had to be listed as a substitute.

Despite theses set-backs Bankies were able to field a side capable enough of beating the visitors although for a while it was touch and go.

The visitors opened strongly and inside right Taylor came close with one or two good shots which had keeper Sandy MacLachlan stretched to the limit.

After a time however, Bankies began to hit back and a Baxter shot was inches out. The crunch game in 32 minutes when right-half Tommy McGhee headed home a rebound from all of 15 yards to put Bankies into the lead.

From then on it was nearly all plain sailing for the fight seemed to go out of the Cowdenbeath side, although their defence held out strongly.

With all the pressing the Bankies were doing, a goal just had to come and when it did, it was one worthy of a continental side. Centre forward Eddie Moore who had been lying back in midfield for most of the game came up front with the rest of the forwards and collected a cross from the right. He flicked the ball over his head with his heel and before the astonished keeper and defence had time to recover from their surprise the ball was in the back of the net, helped on its way by Eddie's head. A masterpiece in ball control is the only way it can be described.

End to end followed this goal which came in the 47th minutes and it times the football was attractive but the misses were in abundance. Both teams could have added goals galore to the final score but the final killer touch was just not there.

Bankies are slowly working their way through a stiff programme this month but they have two league games to play. They missed their home game against Ayr United last week because Ayr were playing Celtic in the League Cup, and on Wednesday, of course, they missed their away game against East Fife because of the challenge match against English 1st division club Chelsea.

In the meantime it has been confirmed in the meantime that Eddie Rutherford will be out of football for a few weeks because of a new injury. The club have also decided against signing Brazilian player Ayrton Inacio because they feel the players club, Stade de Paris, are asking too high a price.

Match report by Mark Cook (Clydebank Press)