Clydebank 4
Queen's Park 1
League Cup (Group 7)

Match Report

Bill Munro would have enjoyed it. For Clydebank turned on the style and treated the Kilbowie faithful to a goal feast, writes.

With one point from their previous four League Cup outings, Bankies countered with a dashing second-half flurry which left Queens breathless.

But at half-time, a clear-cut win looked decidedly remote. Both sides had struggled to settle down and use the ball well on a glorious afternoon for flowing football.

With two goals in the first nine minutes, a classic looked a very real possibility. The brief flutter over, however, the. two sides played the old familiar hit and run, Queen's Park having the slighter edge in the first half.

But what a transformation in the second half! Bankies' toiled and ran and entertained, breaking down the rather shaky Queen's defence with a series of clever attacks.

They had the previously unbeaten Hampden side on the rack for long spells in the second half and silenced the noisy Queen's contingent long before the end of the game.

And so to the action. Queen's Park arrived at Kilbowie on Saturday on the crest of a wave with a 100 per cent win record and the only Scottish side still to concede a goal.

That record lasted only four minutes. Midfield inspiration Gerry Ronald set up the opener, sending big Blair Millar through in the penalty box. The striker's first shot was bravely parried by teenage keeper Atkins, but he slammed the rebound high into the net.

The signs were good for the home side, but it took Queens only five minutes to hit an equaliser and it must rank as one of the craziest goals we'll see at Kilbowie this season.

A long Atkins downfield punt seemed to de drifting harmlessly by until Gerry McLauchlan completely mis-directed it past the startled Jim Gallacher.

In the second half, Bankies found space near goal almost embarrassingly easy to come by, and Gerry McCabe put them ahead in the 63rd minute, before Gerry Ronald made it 3-1 six minutes later.

It was Ronald again who set up the final goal seven minutes from the end, sending Jim Given clear to crash home from close range.

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It was an act of sheer defiance. Perhaps also a plea for recognition from a still proud little football club who have been wrestling with the dreadful prospect of sliding into oblivion. Clydebank may not be simply fighting for first division survival again this season, they may, like the diminishing shipyards around which the town grew, be fighting for their very existence.

Perhaps more than most clubs, Clydebank has been ravaged by falling gates. There was no point in even producing a programme for Saturday's section 7 League Cup match, with crowds that seldom come close to breaking the 1000 barrier there is no economic sense in such luxuries.

Everything seems to be against Clydebank. Even the decision to build Kilbowie Park at the bottom of a hillside cemetery seems now to be turning into a cruel joke. The latest crisis, some more cynical might even say "nail in the coffin", was the departure of manager Bill Munro who had been with them since their inception in happier days 16 years ago.

It was then an achievement for the players to be able to put the club's troubles to the side and meet the challenge of Queen's Park who had not only gone four games with out defeat but whose goal had never been breached.

The Bankies, almost in private since only 450 bothered to come and watch, soon restored some reality into the young minds of the players from Hampden.

Blair Millar scored after four minutes to prove to his team-mates that Queen's were not impregnable and once the message registered there was no stopping them.

Gerry McCabe scored another in 64 minutes, Gerry Ronald made it three five minutes later, and Jim Given scored the final goal six minutes from the end.

Queen's got a goal but they were even denied the honour of scoring it themselves since it was a wayward back header by Clydebank's McLauchlan which soared over the goalkeeper and into the net in nine minutes.

Clydebank's delight could not be grudged by anyone and Queen's Park coach Eddie Hunter almost thanked them for the lesson they taught his youngsters.

"That was an education for our kids," he said. "It will let them know what this season is going to be all about. We will take a few more drubbings like that one but we will learn from them.

"It would be foolish to pretend that we are going to do what we did last season when we won promotion. A defeat like this will not do us any harm as long as we learn from it. "My players, though, learn quickly and I think we have the capabilities to come to grips with the situation and to survive in the first division.

"There are, however, difficult times ahead for us and a lot of hard work to be done. It is best to look upon Saturday as an early warning."