Carluke 1-3 Clydebank

Clydebank strolled to a 3-1 victory after being behind at half time.  The return of Brian Harkins in defence was very influential, as he commanded the back and the Bankies fans helped the team with loud vocal backing.  CHAM-PEE-ON-EES!!!

A large travelling support spectated what was an exciting match, with it's usual amount of controversy.  The referee had a somewhat poor match, and being incredibly lenient on Carluke while some Clydebank players suffered at the hands of late challenges.

Clydebank fielded a different side that lost to Yoker the week before, and such changes were the return of oor captain, Brian Harkins, Paul Halpin in goal for his first league game of the season, Hailstones up front and Da...D'oh!  I almost named the trialist that was playing on the right.  Here's how the teams lined up:

Carluke kicked off, playing in their home attire of blue shirt with red trims on the shoulder, and blue shorts.  Clydebank were wearing their new away top, which looked rather snazzy.  Anyway, feck all happened in the first 10 minutes or so, on 10 minutes Maxwell cleverly back-heeled it to Brady, who whipped a good ball across the face of goal but nobody could get to it.

The first real chance fell to Carluke a minute later, when Fallen conceded a free kick near the edge of the box.  It was curled past the wall, and cracked off the post.  It was hard to tell if Halpin had it covered or not.  It was a close call, and Carluke had Clydebank on the ropes.

Chris Mackie, whom I pointed out as a dangerman, did very well to work his way around the Bankies defence and looked through on goal.  Fortunately for Clydebank, Halpin was quick off his line and pounced at the feet of Mackie to retrieve the ball.

Clydebank's first chance of the match finally fell to Des Kelly with 18 minutes gone, but his shot was saved.  A minute later, Crawford smashed in a shot which produced a very good one-handed save from Carluke's number 1, and a series of rebounds were blocked from the Rovers defence.  Finally, a free kick for Clydebank was won, but Ryan Waddell's effort was saved.

On 25 minutes, after Carluke had got away with a series of rash challenges, Graeme Dempsey was booked for his first foul of the match.  This brought some anger to the Clydebank fans, who were feeling that the referee was being far too lenient on Carluke, either that or being too harsh on Clydebank.

Hailstones whipped in a cross on 27 minutes, but Kelly headed it over the bar.  A couple of minutes later, another Hailstones cross was cleared, but only as far as Dempsey.  Unfortunately, he couldn't get any control on the shot, and it went well over.

Clydebank felt as if they should've had a free kick with 10 minutes until half time remaining, but the referee waved play on.  From this, Carluke played their way up the park, and Chris Mackie worked his way in again, and fired a shot just past Halpin to make it Carluke 1-0 Clydebank, after 35 minutes.

His celebrations included waisting as much time as possible, taunting the Clydebank fans and making the most out of it.  This saw Stevie Latimer whip out the championship flag he (or someone else) dragged along to the came, and most Bankies fans then started singing "CHAM-PEE-ON-EES, CHAM-PEE-ON-EES".  And Mackie was booed every time he got a touch of the ball for the rest of the match.

With a few minutes remaining until half time, Carluke had another effort on goal, a 25 yard shot curling into the top corner.  Thankfully, Halpin produced a fine save to deny Carluke from doubling their lead.  Ryan Waddell then had a shot which went right at the goalkeeper, and Trialist was booked for a kick.  The referee blew his whistle, and the half time score was:

Carluke 1-0 Clydebank

Dempsey on the left wasn't working, so he and Des Kelly switched places.

Clydebank kicked off the second half more positively, and Clinton Maxwell came agonisingly close on 50 minutes, flicking the ball past the keeper but the shot going just wide of goal.  He maybe should've scored, but it was still a good start for Clydebank.

Des Kelly came mighty close on 53 minutes, his header cleared for a corner.  From this corner, the ball was cleared again.  But Clydebank kept Carluke pinned in, and relentlessly pushed forward in search of an equaliser.  And it came through a Crawford backwards header, hitting a defender's hand on the way.  Waddell tried claiming it, and the rest of the Clydebank team said own goal, but Crawford claimed it.  The Bankies faithful were now giving great encouragement for them to push for another goal, and the scoreline was Carluke 1-1 Clydebank, after 55 minutes.

Des Kelly played a delightful 1-2 with Mark Hailstones and was then fouled, but no chance was made from it.

63 minutes: SUB - Trialist OFF, Paul Wilson ON

A minute later, Carluke had a header from a corner saved from Halpin.  Clydebank responded through...well, this was just wonderful to watch.  Dempsey had just crossed the halfway line, on the right hand side.  He floated a wonderful ball in to Clinton Maxwell, who had got in front of the defender, and saw the goalkeeper come off his line, so he headed in the magnificent long pass from Dempsey past the keeper to put Clydebank into the lead.  He somersaulted over, celebrated with the Clydebank fans briefly before being mobbed by joyful Clydebank team-mates.  A truely wonderful goal, the diagram below does little to show how good it was, and the score was now Carluke 1-2 Clydebank, after 65 minutes.

Not a lot happened after this, but as we were about to enter into the last 15 minutes, Carluke almost scored twice in one attack, Dempsey clearing off the line only for it to fall to Mackie, but his shot produced a fine save from Halpin.  Carluke's day was getting worse as they FINALLY received a booking, their number 3 being the only Carluke player to get into trouble.  Look at the fouls stats, then the card stats, then ask if the referee was fair or not.

77 minutes: SUB - Des Kelly OFF, John McIntyre ON

Some more wonderful play on 79 minutes saw John McIntyre play a 1-2 with Hailstones, slicing the ball back to him with all the skill of Zidane himself.  This produced a corner kick, which found it's way to Waddell, but his shot was blocked.  The rebound fell to Jon Crawford, and he drove the ball into the back of the net from the edge of the box.  It deflected on the way in, which saw his team-mates claim for another own goal, but the goal belonged to Crawford, and the score was now Carluke 1-3 Clydebank, after 80 minutes.

Time was running out for Carluke, and Clydebank kept looking for more goals.  Dempsey was brought down on the edge of the box, and McIntyre prepared to shoot.  Unfortunately for him, the shot was dealt with by the keeper.

85 minutes: SUB - Mark Hailstones OFF, Michael Tolland ON

The last chance fell to Carluke, and after a scramble in the Clydebank penalty box, Halpin produced a fine save to cap off a good day's work from him.  The referee blew for full time, and the final score at Loch Park Stadium was:

Carluke 1-3 Clydebank

In-depth analysis

Where do I start?  Halpin had a very good game, perhaps should've done better when Mackie scored his goal, but pulled off some fine saved throughout the game.  Mehigan had his hand bandaged up, injured.

In defence, the return of Harkins had an amazing effect.  He controlled the back superbly, and even Fallen seems to be having good games now.  Some strong challenges from him, Crawford was immense, scoring 2 goals and denying Carluke more.  And Harkins, he's just the glue that holds the Bankies defence together.  A great return for him, he'll be wanting even better when we travel to play Johnstone Burgh next weekend.

Our only problem lies in midfield.  Des Kelly is creative, but a lightweight.  Ryan Waddell is slow but can often pass the ball very well.  Graeme Dempsey on the left doesn't work, he's more effective on the right.  And his ball in to Maxwell was divine.  On the wings, Brady was always surging forward, crossing in balls and being a threat.  Trialist is good in the air, for someone his height.  His temper, though, may be his downfall, booked for a kick and brought off after another hard challenge he made.

Up front, Hailstones and Maxwell.  No use playing in high balls with these 2, keep it on the ground so they can use their quick feet and trickery to good effect.  Maxwell was outstanding today, and Hailstones kept chasing the ball from start to when he was taken off.

Here's a diagram to show the runs made by the Bankies players and positions they got into.  Only change that was made was Des Kelly and Graeme Dempsey switching in the 2nd half.

Man of the Match: Clinton Maxwell