East Stirlingshire 0
Clydebank 0
League (Division 1)

Match Report

Clydebank's indifferent finishing let them down badly again on Saturday as East Stirling held out for an undeserved draw at Firs Park.

It was an all too familiar sight for Clydebank fans as they watched their favourites do everything right... until they reached the penalty area.

Tom McGorm and Jim Given were the main culprits, throwing away chance after chance as the Falkirk side floundered in the first half.

A heartening mid-week win over Hamilton Accies had helped to erase the memory of the 7-1 trouncing by Motherwell and Bankies were looking for a good result at East Stirling in a bid to rid themselves of their unpredictable tag. The Kilbowie side have yet to win three games in a row this season.

In a fast and flowing first half, Clydebank had all the chances - but failed miserably to cash in on them.

Young Campbell McKeown, who made such an impressive debut in a 2-0 win over East Stirling last season, failed to find his recent form.

He miskicked in front of goal in possibly Bankies' best chance of the game, as East Stirling defended dourly and sometimes shakily.

Jim Given missed at least two fine scoring chances and Tom McGorm also lost his goal touch as East Stirling failed to contain the lively attack.

In the second half, though, the Kilbowie side had to thank keeper Jim Gallacher for some fine saves. Jim has been unusually awkward in recent matches, but he returned to his best as East Stirling strived to snatch the points.

East Stirling looked a very ordinary First Division side and Clydebank's inability to kill off the Firs Park challenge in the first half must be worrying for Sammy Henderson.

The disappointing draw leaves Bankies with a very average record with nearly a third of the League campaign completed. With 12 games gone Clydebank have four wins, four draws and four defeats; 18 goals scored and 19 conceded.

That just about sums it up. For Clydebank have proved to be competent one week and indifferent the next. Able to live with the top sides like Hearts and Kilmarnock one week and failing at Queen of the South the next. They can rightly claim to have strength in depth, for youngsters have been pulled into the side and performed extremely well. But Clydebank certainly missed the steadying influence and killer touch of Blair Millar.

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How the other side saw it
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Martin Ferguson's ambition to transform this Shire team into an attacking entertaining outfit - in a bid to bring the fans back to Firs Park appears to be a distant dream on the evidence of this performance.

It's hard to teach an old dog new tricks - and when the going gets tough (as it did against a lively Bankies side on Saturday) Shire are still huddling back into a defensive shell as they did so often in the past.

It might have been understandable to see the Firs Parkers spend most of the match in their own half if they had been playing against a team obviously superior to themselves but Clydebank were hardly in that class, and with a bit of application and hard work Shire could have taken both points.

As it was, too many Shire players weren't in the mood for a fight and in the end only some appalling finishing stood between the Kilbowie side and a comprehensive victory. Striker Alex Grant was welcomed back into the side after a seven-month absence, but after a match in which he seldom saw the ball he must have wondered if his long struggle to regain fitness was really worth the effort.

The problem area for Shire was the midfield, which was conceded to the visitors at an early stage in the match. Paul Lamont had a match to forget.. and even Bobby McCulley, who can usually be relied upon to play with spirit when the chips are down, had an off day.

Shire's positive contribution to the match was restricted to two efforts at goal in the dying minutes of the first half. In the 41st minute Grant showed he had lost none of his speed when he pounced on a bad passback, but his attempted chip was held by advancing keeper Gallagher.

Four minutes later a high ball played forward by Kenny Ashwood caused all sorts of problems. Substitute Jackie Goodall (brought on for the injured Willie Howitt) nodded the ball across the goalmouth, and Grant's shot was deflected to Ray Edgar, who shot straight at the Clydebank keeper when he really should have scored.

Prior to this flurry from Shire, and indeed after it, Clydebank were in complete command. The main danger to the Shire defence was presented by striker Tom McGorm, who saw one dipping shot fly just over, a glancing header flash wide of the post and another long-range shot from a narrow angle bounce off the top of the crossbar.

But at the end of the day Bankies would be kicking themselves over two missed chances in particular. In the 14th minute McCabe struck a penetrating through ball which left Given with only keeper Brian Pearce to beat. However, he shot straight at the keeper, although to Pearce's credit it must be said that he reacted very quickly to narrow the angle

Then nine minutes from time Craig Renwick, one of Shire's best players on the day, made an uncharacteristic mistake which should have been punished by Bankies. He squared the ball across his own 18-yard box and McKeown nipped into intercept, but he blasted the ball high over the crossbar.

Treanor and Gervaise of Clydebank were both booked