Hamilton Accies 0
Clydebank 2
League (Division 1)

Match Report

Bankies returned to the ground which saw them go second top of the First Division last season and turned on a carbon-copy performance to sink John Blackley's side.

The new player-coach of the Douglas Park outfit sat through the agony of his side missing chance after chance only for Clydebank to rip his defence apart with two brilliant moves and excellent pieces of finishing.

And what a nice change it was to see Bankies soak up pressure and then kill off the opposition with a couple of counter-punches, rather than vice-versa as happened so often in the past.

Gerry Ronald and Tommy Coyne added the final touches to seal a good win, but it was the speed and accuracy of the leading-up work which was more impressive.

Both times it was Gerry McCabe who did most of the damage to his home-town side. After 14 minutes, his long pass turned midfield stalemate into attack and then, after he missed the easiest chance of the afternoon, the little number 11 raced to the by- line before crossing for Coyne to slide the ball home.

The first pass was brilliantly caught by Jim Given, whose teasing cross was headed just inside the far post by Ronald.

But in between the goals, Bankies suffered. Some of the opportunities missed by Accies had to be seen to be believed.

And for the second week in a row the man the Kilbowie faithful had to thank was keeper Jim Gallacher. As against St. Johnstone, he stopped everything the Lanarkshire side could throw at him... and not always legally.

A crazy first-half incident saw the big keeper booked for the second time this season. Faced not for the first time by the onrushing Joe Craig, Gallacher raced from his box to clear. For some reason, he chose not to punt the ball away as before, but instead slid at it, catching it 25 yards from his goal.

Referee Syme, whose whistling punctuated the game far too often, had no hesitation in showing Jim the yellow card. Gallacher followed Gerry McCabe into the book. McCabe's tackle on Jamie Fairlie was high, but was more the result of bad timing than malice.

But any traces of cynicism or "professionalism' from individuals were over- shadowed by a thoroughly competent and controlled performance from Clydebank as a unit.

The back four, marshalled back by Jim Fallon, stroked the ball around and always found time and space to venture into the opposition's half.

Fallon looked as if he could play all day without getting flustered, despite the mayhem in the Bankies penalty area. Saturday showed that the youngsters are certainly learning from the "old man" of Kilbowie There was nothing rash about the way they harnessed Hamilton's aggression and frustrated it until the home side ran out of time and ideas.

One word of warning though for Sammy Henderson... St. Johnstone and Hamilton missed enough chances in the past two games to win several matches, but one week a forward line might not be as lax.