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JOHN MITCHELL'S FIRST GOAL FOR CLYDEBANK EARNS A REPLAY FOR PLACE IN FOURTH ROUND OF SCOTTISH JUNIOR CUP

Dunipace 1-1 Clydebank

The trip to Westfield Park saw a large travelling support cheer on the Bankies, but after full time it was destined to go to a replay.

This is how both sides lined up:

The match kicked off with a lightning pace, the first half went by very quickly.  With only three minutes gone, Michael Tolland was brought down inside the penalty box but no penalty was given.  This incensed the Clydebank fans, but it was a moment which would've made it an entirely different game of football.

Instead, there was half-chances and no shots, for both sides.  Waddell took a couple of free-kicks, but they were both cleared.  Eventually, on 27 minutes, Dunipace won a free kick and McKinlay got on the end of it.  His flick-on was fortunately right at Halpin, and the scare was over for now.

With 33 minutes gone Clydebank carved out a chance themselves, a Mark Hailstones corner turning into a Waddell corner.  Eventually, Mick Fallen was caught late and treated for it, as no chance was made from it.

With less than five minutes to half time, Ryan Waddell again curled in a free-kick but Meighan collected it well.  Not long after Waddell once again whipped in a good ball from a free-kick which turned into a corner from him and his cross found Fallen, but he couldn't connect properly with the ball and it trailed wide of goal.

McKinlay had an effort on goal for Dunipace with a minute before the break, but it went wide of goal.  And in injury time, Glasgow volleyed wide of Halpin's post and Dunipace's pressure couldn't provide a goal.  At half time, the scores were locked at 0-0.  What a crappy first half!

Mehigan, I was told, had picked up a knock and was not even on the bench, meaning the slightly-injured John McIntyre was in goal for the half-time show.  He couldn't move around much, dunno if it was due to the cold, or his injury, or just not wanting to be the goalkeeper.  Still, it was more entertaining than the first 45 minutes!

The phrase "a game of two halves" certainly applied here, as within a minute of the second half under way, Hailstones had a volley saved from Meighan.  But Clydebank weren't the only side who had shown some improvement - Dunipace were the more dangerous side in this game, and it showed.  With 48 minutes gone, a low cross was missed by everyone but a Dunipace player still got onto the ball and his shot deflected, but Halpin did well to save.

A minute later, Clydebank applied some more pressure, and Hailstones' corner resulted in a throw-in, and after some passing around Des Kelly curled in a good ball for Tolland, who made an arse of his attempted header and missed it altogether.  Fortunately, though, John Mitchell was on hand to slide the ball past Meighan and to make it Dunipace 0-1 Clydebank, after 50 minutes.

A controversial decision from the whistle-happy referee came on 57 minutes when he decided to book Tolland for kicking the ball away after he had blown his whistle for a hand-ball by Simeon.  Tolland argued he did not hear the whistle as he lined up his shot, but the ref had none of it.  The only booking of the day came from this.

A mere ten minutes after Mitchell had grabbed his first official goal for Clydebank, he took a sore one and had to be stretchered off.  A Clydebank fan later said Mitchell has fears it's to do with knee ligaments.  Let's hope it is nothing serious.  Joe Allison came on for Mitchell, and while it's clear that Joe has good great skill on the ball, is not as physical as Mitchell and that strength in midfield is what we missed for the remainder of the match.

A few minutes later Clydebank made another change, the new guy Paul McGlinchey came on for David Simeon after 63 minutes.  Dunipace had a change soon after, but I couldn't see who it was so I can't say who came on and off.  But Dunipace had their best chance on 65 minutes when they won a free kick out wide, and the cross found a Dunipace player who headed it against the crossbar.  Danny Simpson blocked the rebound off the line.

A controversial assistant referee (bloody Linesman) decision caused an uproar from Clydebank fans, as Des Kelly passed it through to Tolland but a late flag for offside stopped the attack.  It didn't seem offside and it came very late, so for the next ten minutes we all hurled abuse at him, going "boo" and "we hate you noo", and such.  He seemed to take it in his stride, being used to abuse from fans.  Anyway, his decision stopped a possible goal-scoring opportunity for Clydebank.

Dunipace searched in vain for an equaliser, and with 69 minutes gone a break down the left saw a low ball hit into the box, but the shot was blasted over the crossbar.  Dunipace dominated the next 5 minutes, but despite pressure from free-kicks and corners failed to make Halpin work.  A header after 74 minutes from a Dunipace attacker went wide of goal, but then a minute after Dunipace finally converted a chance.  A good counter attack split the Clydebank defence apart and McKinlay tucked the ball past Halpin and into the back of the net to make the home support breathe a sigh of relief, and it was now Dunipace 1-1 Clydebank, after 75 minutes.

Clydebank could've took the lead a minute after the equaliser through a Waddell free-kick, but after Meighan fumbled his catch Hailstones couldn't react quick enough to score.  A great chance for Clydebank to have won the game as it was probably the last real chance of the afternoon.

Another injury concern for Budgie occured with ten minutes to go when Danny Simpson was helped off the park hobbling with a sore ankle, so Clinton Maxwell came on for him, and as Hailstones moved to right back Maxwell took Hailstones' place in midfield.

A minute after Clydebank's final substitution, Dunipace had their final chance to win the game, but a shot was blasted over the crossbar.  84 minutes gone, time running out and Michael Tolland played a good one-two and hammered a shot in but Meighan got behind it well.

And the final action of the day saw Joe Allison show his nifty footwork to get past a Dunipace defender and curled in a delightful cross, but Meighan did very well to get a finger-tip on it to take it away from a Clydebank player waiting to pounce.  By now, it was already getting dark and hard to see what the hell was going on, but I think it was Tolland who was waiting to pounce on Allison's cross.  And I believe it was Clinton Maxwell who hammered in a shot seconds later, but his shot failed to bulge the back of the net.

No more chances after that, the clock ran down and Clydebank had actually done really well to not lose, as Clydebank are now only the second team this season not to lose at Westfield Park.  Dunipace are really good at home, so we have no reason to be disappointed at not winning this game.

We CAN be disappointed, however, about how not one Clydebank player really shined.  This is personal opinion, if players read this and go "hey, why do Clydebank fans feel like this?", then they don't, it's how I feel.  And I felt let down about some things, like how Simeon was meant to have played a blinder against Larkhall last weekend in a friendly, but in this match he was a bit disappointing.  He didn't use his height, guys smaller than him were beating him in the air!  And Mick Fallen, I guess he's carrying a slight injury.  If not, then he just had a poor performance.  Maybe it was the pitch, or maybe it was an off-day.  I understand that not every Clydebank player can play amazing every single match, but here's hoping that the form shown in this match doesn't turn in to a regular habit.

Then again, we're kinda ravaged with injury.  And on that note, we did...not too bad.  We're still in the cup, so all is not lost.  Let's hope for a truely memorable match, for the right reasons, in the replay.