The opening exchanges saw a James Canning free-kick cleared and then Derek Readie responded for Clydebank by shooting wide of goal.  But Benburb shocked the strong travelling support by producing the only goal of the game.  A ball was curled into the back post, where Barry Grant got away from his marker and volleyed it past McNab to make it Benburb 1-0 Clydebank, after 6 minutes.

Barry Grant was a threat throughout the game and a low cross from him on 21 minutes found Alan Thomson, but he fired over from close range.  Ryan Scobie tried his luck on 25 minutes but fired way over the crossbar.  Clydebank kept searching for an equaliser, and came close when a Ryan Waddell corner found John Mitchell at the back post.  He headed it across the face of goal, and nobody was there to connect as it went past the post.

Ex-Bankie Stevie Morrison threatened to haunt his old club with a few chances in the last 10 minutes of the half, but saw his header go wide and then he had a shot go over the crossbar.  Mick Fallen had his best chance when he got his head on to a Mark Hailstones corner, but Bens keeper Neil Watson positioned himself well to save.  With a few minutes of the half remaining Sean Brady threw in a ball from the right and it found John Mitchell, but he couldn't fully connect to the ball with his head and once again Watson dealt with the situation well.  Hailstones tested Watson with a volley and Readie once again fired over the crossbar, and the half-time whistle blew.  The first half was poor, and the fans were left to hope for a much better second half.

I was busy taking a note of the Benburb line-up and missed a Clydebank effort crack off the crossbar in the opening moments of the second half.  Readie missed an absolute howler on 56 minutes, through on goal charging in on the left side of the penalty box he fired it wide when it seemed easier to hit the target.  A minute later Tony O'Neil had his shot well saved from McNab, and this was followed up by another decent stop by McNab from James Canning.  Derek Readie made way for Clinton Maxwell, who the fans were literally screaming at Budgie to bring on in the second half.  This was soon followed up by Graeme Dempsey coming on for Ryan Waddell after 63 minutes.

With 25 minutes to go, Danny Simpson stupidly got himself sent off.  The referee was a card-happy ref, but I thought he generally didn't do much wrong.  Maybe he sticks to the book too much, and doesn't allow much room for common sense at times, but he seemed to know his stuff and I had no real complaints about him except how he thought of dishing out a card at a player instead of actually talking with them to deal with problems.  Little happened after this, Sean Brady had his header go over the crossbar and then Alan Thomson received a second yellow card on 79 minutes, and it was now 10 against 10.  This was soon followed up by Clydebank's last substitution of the game, Fallen coming off for Michael Tolland for a "do or die" finish to the game.

Graeme Dempsey had a well-struck shot just go over the crossbar with 5 minutes left, and then Tolland had his backwards header go over the bar as well.  The last real chance came for Mark Hailstones, who was absolutely shattered with three minutes to go, for a free-kick not far outside the box.  He curled it over the wall but it quickly dropped in power and went wide of Watson's post.  After a lengthy spell of injury time and no other chances created the full-time whistle blew, and Clydebank players and fans alike were feeling downhearted.  The full-time score at Tinto Park was:

BENBURB 1-0 CLYDEBANK

STATISTICS

Benburb - 1
Clydebank - 3