Clydebank 0
St Mirren 2
Scottish Cup (4th Round)

Match Report

Premier League St Mirren eased their way to a Scottish Cup quarter final place thanks to two first-half goals. But Bankies must be shaking their heads in disbelief at a first half miss which virtually ended any chance they had in the match.

It came in 31 minutes, after goals by lan Scanlon and Frank McAvennie had put Saints well on the way to the last eight.

Debutant full-back Davie Walker tripped Tom Coyne in the box, and Jim Given, the man whose spot-kick kept Bankies in the Cup in the last round, stepped up to take the penalty.

Billy Thomson threw himself to his right to bring off a brilliant save, but Millar seemed to have a simple tap-in from the rebound three yards out.

The big striker, however, somehow managed to put his shot wide of the far post. At that, the Clydebank players' heads visibly dropped.

After the break, Tom Coyne was foiled by the diving Thomson, and right at the death Gerry Ronald, the game's outstanding player, hit the post with a vicious drive. But by then it was too late.

St. Mirren had taken the lead with a stunning 10th minute goal. Jackie Copland calmly broke up a Bankies attack and put lan Scanlon free on the left.

The former Aberdeen winger skipped a couple of tackles, then switched the ball to his right foot and sent a dipping shot over Jim Gallacher and in off the far post.

Then, after Jimmy Bone had missed a great chance in the 24th minute allowing Gallacher to rob him on the edge of the box. Fallon missed a through ball, and from Scanlon's reverse pass, Frank McAvennie stroked home goal number two.

Just like the previous Saturday, when Ayr raced to an early lead, Bankies had let their opponents get the upper hand in the first half-hour.

In the second half, Clydebank controlled the game for long spells, confining St. Mirren to a few breakaways, but they never really looked like scoring.

They seemed too intent on walking the ball past Thomson, but crashed all too often on the rock formed by Copland and Mark Fulton in the Paisley defence.

And so Clydebank's Cup run came to an end, stopped by a St. Mirren side who were never really stretched after the hectic first thirty minutes. It's the oldest cliche in the book, but at least now Bankies can settle down and concentrate on their League efforts.

No matter where they finish at the end of season, they will long remember the penalty miss which cost them their chance of Cup glory.