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Central District League Division 1

Clydebank shot themselves in the foot by throwing away any title hopes with the defeat to Greenock Juniors. Vale of Clyde are now champions and morale will have plummeted for the Bankies players as Budgie faces a near-impossible task of getting the team prepared to face St Anthony's after such a dismal showing at Ravenscraig Stadium.

Clydebank played a decent footballing game in the first half but little happened. Greenock Juniors kept having shots from far out, hoping for an opportunistic wonder-goal. With 5 minutes gone Ryan Waddell touched the ball past a defender but fired over the bar. Soon Maxwell won posession but he too fired over Meechan's crossbar. Then it was Greenock's turn to have a go, Scott Foreman coming fairly close with his effort but McNab wasn't troubled as it just went over.

Greenock Juniors were forced into making a change, a trialist coming on for Gordon Lappin. Half an hour had gone by now - a sign that feck-all had happened! Sure, Clydebank were playing nice but they made nothing of it. On the stroke of half time some good persistance from Scobie set up a chance for Hailstones but his effort from the edge of the box deflected wide. The half-time score stood boringly at:

GREENOCK JUNIORS 0-0 CLYDEBANK

Clydebank scored within 5 minutes of the re-start when Crawford guided a carefully-struck volley into the corner of the net, Meechan being put off by a Bankies attacker that let it run on. Clydebank seemed more relieved than anything to have scored and I still remember my reaction to the goal - I just stayed on my arse and didn't even show any emotion. It was more luck and relief than anything else, really. The score was now Greenock Juniors 0-1 Clydebank, after 50 minutes.

It could've been 2-0 to Clydebank had Clinton Maxwell not been offside, and the offside trap Greenock were playing seemed to be working alright for them. Clydebank now made their biggest mistake all evening - they decided to sit back for half an hour and try to hold on to their lead. Mark Bowie came on for Alan McIntyre after 62 minutes and the flow of the game soon changed completely. Crawford had a header easily saved and then Maxwell went off for Des Kelly. There was 25 minutes to go and the Bankies were holding on for dear life to this slender lead. Not that Greenock had Clydebank on the back foot, far from it! The Bankies just didn't want to attack, was all. John Paul Dow came off for Graeme Black after 72 minutes in Greenock's final change.

A few minutes later, Ryan Waddell was nearly destroyed from a ferocious challenge which had Clydebank players and management furious. This resulted in a booking for the Greenock offender. Waddell was able to continue, fortunately. Scobie came off for Readie with less than ten minutes remaining - and then it all went downhill from there.

Thomas Docherty picked up the ball and, following Greenock's theme for that evening, had a go. This time it would end up in the back of the net, a great strike from an opportunist who had a go and it paid off dividends. The score was now Greenock 1-1 Clydebank, after 86 minutes.

Sinclair Soutar came off for Paul McGlinchey. And as Clydebank went for the victory, they'd start wishing they just held on for a point as a Greenock counter-attack completely tore the Bankies apart. A lovely ball over Crawford's head found Andy Monaghan charging down the right wing and he cut it back to super-sub Mark Bowie, who fired home from close range to send the home support in a frenzied state. So frenzied that one of them, an annoying Ginger one, threw a missile down towards the ruck of Clydebank fans below them and the police (about a few yards away) completely ignored this. What a lovely place Greenock is! Greenock's best move of the game resulted in a winning goal and the delight was obvious on the players' faces, the score now Greenock 2-1 Clydebank, after 88 minutes.

A few minutes of injury time played but no other chances were made. The look on several Clydebank players' faces matched the general feeling most fans shared - devastation. They knew anything less than a victory would throw away any title hopes and they have now given Dunipace some hope. Maybe it was tiredness, maybe it was nerves. Maybe it was, once again, Clydebank underestimating the opponents. How many times have we lost to relegation-threatened teams this season? I count at least three times. The final score at Ravenscraig Stadium was:

GREENOCK JUNIORS 2-1 CLYDEBANK

What's there to say? It's do or die time come Wednesday. A victory, and a convincing one at that, is the only option available to the team. Otherwise we better get comfy in this division because we'll be playing in it next season with Lanark and whoever survives in this league.

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