Dumbarton 0
Clydebank 4
League (Division 1)

Match Report

Clydebank underlined their superiority over county rivals Dumbarton with an emphatic Ne'erday win at Boghead.

With St Johnstone losing and Partick Thistle dropping a home point, this was exactly the push Bankies needed on the first day of 1983 to get them back in the promotion hunt.

It took less than a minute for them to make crystal clear their intentions in front of a slightly hungover crowd of around 1000.

A close passing move starting from keeper Jim Gallacher worked its way out to Mark Treanor, who had the chance to make a break down the right.

Instead he chose to push the ball inside to midfielder Martin Hughes who side-stepped a tackle before squeezing a low shot past Tom Carson and into the bottom corner of the net.

Clydebank were ahead before many of their own fans had got on to the terraces, but there was plenty more action to come.

For the next 20 minutes, Dumbarton were pinned back in their own half as Bankies turned on some of their best football of the season.

A cunning Bobby Williamson shot took a slight deflection and hit the foot of the post with Carson expecting the ball to go wide.

Then, after a series of corners the keeper was saved by a brave McNeill block when a Tommy Coyne drive put him the wrong way.

By the half hour mark, Dumbarton had weathered the storm enough to break out and go in search of an equaliser, but they found Jim Fallon and his defence in good form, with Jim Gallacher handling the ball well when Sons did find a way through.

Raymond Blair and Tom Coyle both had chances to level the score but first Gallacher saved Blair's low drive and then Coyle sent the fans behind the Clydebank goal scurrying for cover with a wild 20 yarder.

At the other end Coyne and Williamson, now coming back to the form as one of the league's best striking partnerships, were proving a constant danger to the home defence, but the teams went in at the break with that first minute goal separating them.

Dumbarton's best effort of the match came seconds after the restart and again many Bankies fans missed the action. The game had kicked off with a fair number of the travelling support still making their way round the ground to the back of the home goal.

They arrived just in time to see a Mike Dunlop header beat Gallacher, but strike the top of the bar and go over.

That was as close as the Sons were to come to stopping Clydebank. After a couple of chances had been squandered in front of Carson's goal, Bobby Williamson sunk Dumbarton with two simple goals.

The first came on the hour after a move which left the Sons back four looking very ordinary indeed. Again, it was a similar push and run move to the one which brought Hughes' goal but this time Bankies found themselves in behind the full backs with all the time in the world to find the strikers.

Hughes' cross went straight to a defender's foot, but one mis-kick later and Williamson was left with an easy tap in from near the bye-line.

Dumbarton had hardly completed the post mortem on that goal when they allowed the same thing to happen on the other flank.

Gerry McCabe had just had a two yard tap-in saved by Carson's legs, but he made amends when he got to the line before cutting back for Williamson to stick out a foot and notch his second goal of the game.

Then, with the home side in total disarray, the two Gerrys, Ronald and McCabe, combined to beat the offside trap with a one-two and Tommy Coyne was on the spot to dive and head home when Ronald's chip beat Carson.

Dunbarton were disappointing, there's no doubt about that. But that shouldn't detract from a performance which epitomised Clydebank 's superb away record.

They are now unbeaten since Hearts sent them packing on a cold September evening and, quite frankly, there are very few sides who have looked capable of beating them on their travels since then.

They've had their share of luck on opponents grounds, but that just about evens the scales for all the misfortune that seems to befall them at Kilbowie.

But there was nothing lucky about Saturday's showing... just ask Dumbarton.

They were beaten by a far better side and a good all-round performance. I'd split any man of the match awards between midfielders Gerry McCabe and Martin Hughes.